Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

In "Barbecue Service," James Applewhite navigates the Southern landscape, both physical and emotional, to explore themes of memory, tradition, and mortality. The poem starts with a search for the "elusive aroma" of barbecue, a quintessential element of Southern culture, which takes the speaker through rural settings imbued with historical significance, including cornfields and sites of Civil War surrenders. This journey is not just geographical but temporal, connecting the present with layers of the past.

The barbecue pit, described as "no wider than a grave," introduces an early metaphor linking food preparation with ritual and mortality. The men tending to the barbecue are likened to "weathered ministers," suggesting a sacredness in their labor. They work with "the simplest of elements," which includes not just the physical ingredients of vinegar, pepper, pig, and fire, but also the intangible qualities of tradition, community, and the passage of time. This act of cooking, then, transcends mere sustenance, becoming a ritual of purification and transformation—of the pig, but also metaphorically of the community and individuals themselves.

Applewhite's imagery of "a glistening mountain in air" and the comparison to a fish pulled from a creek or an intimate moment "in a motel / With whiskey and twilight" elevates the barbecue to a sensory and nostalgic experience. It represents a connection to the natural world, to human desire, and to fleeting moments of beauty and satisfaction.

The poem then shifts to a more somber reflection on community gatherings, which are tinged with the recognition of mortality. The desire "to see all the old home folks" is driven by an awareness that time is passing, and some may not be around much longer. These gatherings on porches, silent and reverent, become sacred spaces where the complexity of human life—joy, sorrow, loss—is acknowledged without words, "Impenetrable as different barks of trees."

The reference to "the brother who drank" and his burial brings the theme of mortality to the forefront, highlighting the communal process of mourning and remembrance. The act of passing the bottle among the men still living is another ritual, one of solidarity and shared grief.

Finally, the barbecue itself, with its "blue sacrifice / Across Carolina," stands as a symbol of continuity amid change, a celebration of life even in the face of death. The "tin-roofed sheds with embers" smoking across the landscape evoke a sense of enduring tradition, a communal effort to hold onto the essence of what binds people together in the face of inevitable loss.

"Barbecue Service" is a poignant reflection on the ways in which food, tradition, and communal gatherings serve as conduits for navigating memory, preserving culture, and confronting mortality. Through the lens of a seemingly simple barbecue, Applewhite captures the complex tapestry of Southern life, where joy and sorrow, life and death, are inextricably intertwined.

POEM TEXT: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Yellow_Shoe_Poets/2D6aqhb651oC?q=BACA+%22MEN+LATE+AT+NIGHT+COOK+COFFEE+IN+RUSTY+CANS%22&gbpv=1&bsq=BARBECUE#f=false

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