Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Kevin Young's "Song of Smoke" is a stirring examination of desire, danger, and transformation, written in the language of fire and smoke. The poem seems to center around an unnamed "you," presumably a romantic interest, whose simple act of walking across a room evokes complex feelings and imagery. Young employs rich metaphors, strategic line breaks, and sound devices to convey the poem's multifaceted themes.

The opening lines, "To watch you walk / cross the room in your black / corduroys is to see / civilization start," immediately establish the poem's grand scope. The act of walking across the room is not merely a physical movement but a metaphor for the inception of civilization, as if the subject is setting in motion a whole world of complexity, culture, and meaning. Young continues this theme by likening the "wish- / whish-whisk" sound of the subject's corduroys to the primordial act of creating fire, "flint / striking rock."

Young employs onomatopoeia in "wish-whish-whisk" to mimic the sound of the corduroys, and by doing so, he suggests that even the mundane can be fascinating and meaningful. This stylistic choice serves to make the subject's actions seem elemental, transforming an everyday experience into something that ignites the speaker's passion. The sound is portrayed as a spark, leading to smoke and fire, aptly symbolizing how simple actions or moments can catalyze intense, smoldering feelings.

The imagery of fire is consistently woven throughout the poem. Words and phrases like "flint," "spark," "smoke," "coal," "smoulder," "burn," and "chimney" construct a thematic tapestry of heat and danger. Fire becomes the central metaphor for both passion and risk. It represents the undeniable attraction the speaker feels, an allure so compelling that it cannot be extinguished, even if it threatens to consume everything.

The speaker mentions, "I am no more / a Boy Scout and, besides, / could never / put you out," underscoring a sense of helplessness in the face of their emotions. Here, the inability to "put out" the fire reflects the speaker's surrender to an all-consuming attraction. The phrase "brick- / house" introduces a different metaphor but still connected to the theme of fire, as brick houses are often considered more fire-resistant. Yet even this 'brick-house' threatens to "burn / all this down," alluding to the overwhelming power of passion and desire to transform or even destroy.

The poem closes with the evocative line, "You leave me / only a chimney." After the emotional blaze, all that remains is a chimney-the empty shell of what was once a house, or metaphorically, the individual. This could be read both as a warning and a tribute: a recognition that profound passion, while life-affirming, carries the risk of leaving you stripped down to your most elemental self.

Thus, "Song of Smoke" is an intricate blend of simplicity and complexity, using the everyday as a lens to explore universal themes of desire, risk, and transformation. Kevin Young masterfully uses metaphor, sound, and structure to create a poem that is as rich and intricate as the emotions it seeks to express.

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