Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Cleopatra Mathis's "In a White Absence: Fog and Earthlight" captures the haunting interplay between memory, grief, and the unrelenting presence of loss. The poem is steeped in a liminal atmosphere, where the external fog mirrors the internal haze of the speaker’s emotions. Through fragmented imagery and introspective narration, Mathis explores the complexities of mourning and the ambivalent pull of familial connections.

The poem opens with a disoriented scene: the speaker emerging into a fog that envelops the landscape in a "white stasis." This physical fog operates as both a literal and metaphorical space—its formlessness reflects the speaker’s emotional disarray and the opacity of unresolved grief. The encounter with a blind man "tapping with a cane" further underscores the themes of disconnection and searching. His brief appearance and subsequent disappearance emphasize the transience and elusiveness of understanding, as well as the isolation inherent in the speaker’s experience.

The dreamlike quality of the poem intensifies as the speaker recalls the moment that jarred her from sleep: a "brightness too false for sun or starlight," reminiscent of the distorted hues of an aged photograph. This description situates the poem in the blurred boundary between reality and memory, where the past refuses to remain confined. The pickup truck that slows beside the speaker introduces an uncanny encounter: the brother, seemingly resurrected, dressed in familiar clothing that evokes a shared history. The details of his attire—"the blue-plaid flannel" and "the thermal undershirt" dyed pink—are rich with intimacy, anchoring the spectral figure in the tangible.

The speaker’s reaction to this apparition is complex and fraught. Her initial impulse is to quicken her pace, an act of resistance against the brother’s steady presence. This instinct reveals not only the speaker’s fear but also her guilt, as she contemplates how she would react if her brother were truly alive. The hypothetical reunion is not imagined as joyful but as an occasion for confrontation, where the speaker would struggle to justify "lies to the world." This tension speaks to the weight of familial expectations and the burden of memory, as the speaker navigates her feelings of shame and betrayal.

Mathis imbues the poem with a profound sense of absence, reinforced by the imagery of whiteness and emptiness. The fog erases all markers of distance and light, leaving the speaker in a space where "there is no moon returning the earth’s glow." This absence of celestial guidance underscores the speaker’s detachment from both the external world and her own emotions. The phrase "so much goodbye" encapsulates the cumulative weight of loss, suggesting not just the brother’s death but the ongoing farewells that grief necessitates.

The poem’s title, "In a White Absence: Fog and Earthlight," captures its thematic essence. The "white absence" signifies both the literal fog and the figurative void left by loss, while "earthlight" suggests a faint, indirect illumination—perhaps a faint hope or an acknowledgment of continuity amidst the void. However, the poem resists resolution, ending in the stark acknowledgment of the speaker’s inability to reflect or connect: "I reflect nothing, no distance, no light."

Mathis’s use of language is spare yet evocative, with each image contributing to the poem’s atmospheric and emotional depth. The fragmented structure mirrors the speaker’s fractured state of mind, while the interplay between external landscapes and internal states creates a layered, resonant exploration of grief. The poem’s power lies in its refusal to offer solace, presenting instead an unflinching depiction of mourning as an ongoing, inescapable process.

Ultimately, "In a White Absence: Fog and Earthlight" confronts the reader with the complexities of familial love and loss. Mathis captures the paradox of mourning: the desire to hold on to the past while grappling with the impossibility of truly doing so. Through its haunting imagery and poignant introspection, the poem becomes a meditation on the enduring presence of absence, and the way it shapes our understanding of ourselves and the world.

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