Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Robert Wrigley’s "Horseflies" is a visceral and surreal narrative that combines grotesque imagery, rural labor, and a sense of mythic transformation. The poem reflects on the act of disposing of a decaying horse carcass, but beneath its gritty surface lies a meditation on mortality, transformation, and the interplay between life and death. Through its vivid sensory descriptions and imaginative leaps, the poem elevates a gruesome task into an almost otherworldly experience, blending the physical with the metaphysical.

The poem begins starkly: "After the horse went down / the heat came up." These opening lines establish a sequence of events where the fall of the horse triggers a cascade of natural and emotional reactions. The "smell of its fester" becomes an oppressive presence, described as an "open mouth of had-been air." This phrase encapsulates the idea of decay as something alive and invasive, a force that consumes the "local world." The boy’s role as a volunteer to deal with the carcass situates him as both participant and witness to the unsettling realities of death and decomposition.

The speaker’s preparation for the task—"shunts of chawed cardboard / wadded up my nostrils / and a dampened bandana / over my nose and mouth"—emphasizes the visceral and intolerable nature of the experience. The details root the reader in the physicality of the scene, underscoring the weight of the boy’s duty. The speaker’s journey into the "ever-purpler sink / of rankness and smut" is described with a sense of foreboding, as though he is descending into a hellish realm. The contrast between the mundane objects he carries—a bucket of kerosene and a smoking fusee—and the epic tone of the description transforms the scene into a moment of mythic confrontation.

The imagery intensifies as the speaker describes how the stench "came over me like water," invading every part of his being. This personification of decay as a force that "hoped to fly from my very head" captures the overwhelming and almost supernatural power of the experience. The boy’s sensory overload blurs the boundaries between his body and the environment, suggesting a loss of self in the face of nature’s raw processes.

The climax of the poem occurs as the boy begins to burn the carcass: "the first splash of kerosene / launched a seething skin / of flies into the air / and onto me." The flies, initially described as a "cloud... so dense and dark," become an active, almost sentient force. The mother’s misinterpretation of the scene—believing her son has set himself aflame—adds a layer of tension and irony, as her fainting distances her from the unfolding transformation.

In a moment of surreal brilliance, the flies take the shape of the horse: "the other billion flies airborne / exactly in the shape / of the horse itself." This resurrection-like image transforms the act of destruction into a fleeting recreation of life, as the horse’s form rises for an "instant." The speaker’s description of riding the horse—"in a livery of iridescence, / in a mail of exoskeletal facets, / wielding a lance of swimming lace"—blends the grotesque with the sublime. The boy becomes a knight of decay, momentarily elevated by the surreal beauty of the scene.

The poem concludes with the return to earth: "just as night rode the light, and the bones, / and a sweet, cleansing smoke to ground." The mention of "sweet, cleansing smoke" suggests a purgation, where the fire purifies the remains and brings closure to the cycle of life and death. The imagery of "night riding the light" encapsulates the transition from chaos to calm, from the oppressive presence of the carcass to the stillness of its absence.

Wrigley’s use of free verse allows the poem to flow naturally, mirroring the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the event. The language is dense and textured, with precise yet evocative descriptions that immerse the reader in the sensory overload of the scene. The surreal elements—such as the horse-shaped swarm of flies—elevate the narrative from a mundane account of labor to a profound meditation on transformation and mortality.

"Horseflies" captures the intersection of the physical and the metaphysical, finding beauty and meaning in a grotesque and harrowing experience. Through its vivid imagery and imaginative scope, Robert Wrigley explores the cyclical nature of life and death, transforming an act of destruction into a moment of transcendence. The poem resonates as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of decay and the strange, haunting beauty of nature’s processes.

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