Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Albert Goldbarth's "That Gap" navigates the intricate spaces between perception, communication, and understanding, weaving a complex tapestry that ties together the scientific, personal, and metaphysical realms. The poem's exploration of "gaps"—whether in language, time, or experience—serves as a meditation on the inherent distances that shape human existence and our attempts to bridge them.

The poem begins with an image from the County Home for the Blind, where children press their fists against their eyes to see "phosphenes," or the flashes of light that appear without actual visual stimuli. These "starbursts of a yawny, late-night massage" symbolize the limited yet vivid hints of sight for the blind, representing the sensory gaps they experience. Goldbarth extends this concept to the broader idea of gaps in knowledge and understanding, where scientific classifications fail to capture the full essence of human experience.

The narrative then shifts to a personal correspondence between the speaker and a distant partner conducting research at the Institute of Ancient Textile Design. This geographic and emotional distance is accentuated by the mundane yet significant act of reading a letter. The partner's description of a shrimper tossing shells and offal, followed by a gull's graceful flight, highlights the contrast between the tangible reality and the poetic interpretation. The letter attempts to bridge the gap between the sender and the receiver, yet the emotional distance remains, as photographs and words fall short of capturing the fullness of presence.

Goldbarth juxtaposes the personal narrative with reflections on time and evolution. The speaker's contemplation of a childhood photograph, "a primitive something the old dun Kodak fixative holds like a fossil me," underscores the temporal gap between the past and present self. This image evokes a sense of continuity and change, much like Darwin's evolutionary timeline that spans from ancient fossils to contemporary life. The distance between "the gymshoe track that's a trilobite fossilized in shale" and "the pink-bikinied sweetie" underscores the vast temporal and contextual gaps that connect disparate moments in time.

The poem continues to explore these gaps through various lenses: the space between private emotions and public expressions, the distance between scientific facts and their imaginative applications, and the transformative journey from simple to complex forms, as illustrated by the paper-dot evolving into an origami man. The narrative of the girl and the turtle, with its intricate blend of observation and reflection, serves as a metaphor for the ongoing process of understanding and interpretation.

Goldbarth concludes with a return to the theme of phosphenes, tying it to both the scientific study and the primitive drawings of young children. This closing reflection suggests a fundamental interconnectedness between inner experiences and outer realities, where "stars in the one mean stars in the other." The letter's sign-off, "Love," signifies an attempt to close the emotional gap, despite the persistent separations.

In "That Gap," Goldbarth masterfully navigates the spaces between perception, memory, and understanding, illustrating how these gaps shape our experiences and relationships. Through a blend of vivid imagery, scientific references, and personal reflection, the poem captures the multifaceted nature of human existence and the continuous effort to bridge the distances that define our lives.

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