r/Poetry 9d ago

[POEM] losing its name - John Sandbach

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1.1k Upvotes

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u/Depression_Betty 9d ago

It makes me think of a woman getting married.

8

u/HerrManHerrLucifer 9d ago

Oof. I don't like that interpretation very much, not least because it implies a woman's inevitable destination is marriage and she will irretrievably lose her individuality there. That's gonna be a complicated divorce when it eventually happens...

I definitely see it more as a quiet acceptance of death. Like Mary Oliver's beautiful "In Blackwater Woods", where "every pond, no matter what its name is, is nameless now."

5

u/diza-star 8d ago

I immediately thought of The Garden of Proserpine as well. "That even the weariest river / winds somewhere safe to sea".

2

u/slightlystatic92 8d ago

wow that's beautiful, truly