Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Linda Hogan's "Remembering the Lightning" is a powerful, atmospheric poem that captures a fleeting, charged moment in time, blending natural forces with personal memory and emotion. Hogan, known for her ability to intertwine the natural world with the human experience, uses the imagery of lightning—a sudden, ephemeral force—to illuminate relationships, fear, and the delicate line between light and darkness, presence and absence.

The poem opens with an electrifying image: "In that flash of light / Our faces are shiny, silver as the new silver dollars / in Grandpa’s cold pockets." The flash of light immediately situates the reader in a moment of sudden illumination, both literal and metaphorical. The comparison of faces to silver dollars introduces a sense of value and transience; silver dollars are shiny when new but tarnish over time, much like memories that begin vivid but fade. The cold pockets of Grandpa suggest a duality: warmth in the faces contrasted with the coldness of metal, perhaps even hinting at death or absence, as if Grandpa is no longer present, leaving only the coins behind.

As the lightning fades, the scene becomes more intimate: "At the dark window we breathe each other’s hair, warm skin." This line brings us into a shared physical space, where the tactile sensations of hair and warm skin offer comfort against the surrounding darkness. Hogan’s use of breathe implies a deep, almost unconscious connection between the individuals, as if their very existence is intertwined in this moment of pause.

The next image deepens the sensual and corporeal undertones: "Blue, female thighs beneath the hems of our slips." The color blue here evokes both the coldness of the lightning and the vulnerability of exposed skin. Hogan's decision to focus on female thighs emphasizes both the fragility and strength of the women in this scene, grounding the cosmic phenomenon of lightning in the physical, human world. The hems of our slips hint at a domestic setting, perhaps a bedroom, suggesting that this moment of exposure—both literal and emotional—occurs in a private, intimate space.

Hogan then shifts to the figure of a man: "Silver light down the dark sky stops the man we love and fear / between heartbeats." The man is suspended in the liminal space between light and dark, love and fear, life and death. The juxtaposition of love and fear suggests a complex, possibly fraught relationship. The lightning’s ability to stop him between heartbeats introduces a tension that resonates throughout the poem—the fragility of life and the power of nature to interrupt or reveal hidden truths.

“It’s dark. The place where he stood is empty with night.” These lines mark a stark transition from the illuminated moment to the engulfing darkness. The emptiness left by the man’s absence mirrors the emotional void that follows intense experiences—whether of fear, love, or loss. The night becomes a physical entity, filling the space where the man once was, emphasizing the ephemeral nature of presence.

Hogan expands the scope of the poem from personal memory to elemental forces: "Behind the fences nitrogen and oxygen are splitting apart." This scientific description of lightning’s impact on the atmosphere connects the intimate, human experience to broader natural processes. The splitting of elements mirrors the emotional fissures within the relationships described, suggesting that both the natural world and the human heart are subject to sudden, uncontrollable forces.

The man returns in memory, but now as a spectral figure: "And we remember him a blur of flesh / moving in starts across the slow field." The image of him as a blur of flesh suggests that he is no longer a solid, dependable presence but a fragmented, disjointed memory. His starts across the slow field create a sense of dissonance—the man is hurried, erratic, while the field remains calm and unchanging. This contrast emphasizes the disorientation that follows trauma or loss.

The poem reaches a mystical climax with the image of the man’s dark hand brushing light out of the fur of an enchanted horse. The enchanted horse introduces a mythical element, suggesting that the man’s actions exist on the border between reality and fantasy. The act of brushing light implies an attempt to control or dispel the natural forces around him, but the juxtaposition of dark hand and light hints at a struggle between opposing energies—perhaps the man’s inner conflict or his inability to reconcile love and fear.

Hogan concludes the poem with a return to the atmospheric tension: "The sky crackles like a gun / and shadows of thin trees fall down to the ground." The sky crackles like a gun returns us to the violent imagery of earlier lines, reinforcing the sense of danger and unpredictability inherent in both the natural world and human relationships. The shadows of thin trees falling to the ground evoke the fragility of life, as if even the trees—symbols of endurance and rootedness—are vulnerable to the forces at play.

Structurally, the poem flows in a series of vivid, interconnected images, with each line building on the last to create a layered, immersive experience. Hogan’s use of enjambment propels the reader forward, while her sparse punctuation allows for a natural, breathless rhythm that mirrors the tension of the scene. The lack of traditional stanza breaks creates a sense of continuity, as if the poem itself is a single flash of lightning, illuminating multiple facets of memory and emotion before fading into darkness.

“Remembering the Lightning” explores the intersection of natural and personal forces, using the ephemeral brilliance of lightning to reflect on relationships, memory, and the inescapable presence of fear and loss. Through her evocative imagery and precise language, Hogan captures a moment suspended between light and dark, presence and absence, inviting readers to consider how such fleeting experiences shape our understanding of the world and ourselves. The poem is both a meditation on the power of nature and a deeply personal reflection on love, fear, and the impermanence of life.

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