Michael Hakim Week 9 - “BABE THE PIG DOES THE SHEEP-NOISE WHEN MOURNING THE SHEEP” - Sam Sax

      In “BABE THE PIG DOES THE SHEEP-NOISE WHEN MOURNING THE SHEEP” Sam Sax takes a very interesting approach to grief. He starts off the poem by comparing grief to an animal, giving it living qualities. He then goes into detail about a personal experience, and how it made him “[make] sounds [he] [hasn’t] made since.”

     I honestly don’t know what to think about this poem. I don’t fully understand all of the messages said here, and I have been sitting here, trying to figure out what it means. I think I understand it briefly now, though. Essentially, Sax is saying that grief makes people act in ways they would have never expected to act, which explains the title. This is similar to if an animal made another sound that was out of line with what they normally do. If I am correct with my analysis, this is a very interesting take on grief.

     The line that stuck out to me the most in this poem was, “what kingdom, what family, is it ever a fish?” This line was very interesting to me because if grief were to be compared to an animal, it would usually be compared to something more intimidating, or something that is more expressive. The simple nature of a fish is not what I would normally think of when thinking of grief.

     This poem, like many others by Sax, was an intense, depressing, yet sophisticated read with interesting comparisons and ideas. Though it was short, it felt as if there was a ton of meaning packed into each word. Overall, I liked the poem, and honestly, I wish it was a tiny bit longer. However, I think there is beauty in the shortness of the poem, in a way.

https://granta.com/two-poems-sam-sax/#:~:text=BABE%20THE%20PIG%20DOES%20THE%20SHEEP%2DNOISE%20WHEN%20MOURNING%20THE%20SHEEP&text=what%20kingdom%2C%20what%20family%2C%20is%20it%20ever%20a%20fish%3F,-does%20its%20voice&text=a%20bestiary%20somewhere%20in%20the%20chest%3F&text=lamentation.,the%20grieved%20thing%20as%20noise.

Grief: Navigating Your Own and Supporting Others I Psych Central

Comments

  1. Ariella GreenNovember 21, 2022 at 9:01 AM

    Sax must have just experienced grief, and sometimes it just hits you in a way you'd never expect. He also addresses the before and after of experiencing grief. Interesting poem, not my cup of tea.

    ReplyDelete

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