“Gentrification” a poem by Sherman Alexie
Let us remember the wasps
That hibernated in the walls
Of the house next door. Its walls
Bulged with twenty pounds of wasps
And nest, twenty pounds of black
Knots and buzzing fists. We slept
Unaware that the wasps slept
So near us. We slept in black
Comfort, wrapped in cocoons,
While death’s familiars swarmed
Unto themselves, but could have swarmed
Unto us. Do not trust cocoons.
That’s the lesson of this poem.
Or this: Luck is beautiful
So let us praise our beautiful
White neighbor. Let us write poems
For she who found that wasp nest
While remodeling this wreck.
But let us remember that wreck
Was, for five decades, the nest
For a black man and his father.
Both men were sick and neglected,
So they knew how to neglect.
But then death stopped for the father
And cruelly left behind the son,
Whose siblings quickly sold the house
Because it was only a house.
For months, that drunk and displaced son
Appeared on our street like a ghost.
Distraught, he sat in his car and wept
Because nobody else had wept
Enough for his father, whose ghost
Took the form of ten thousand wasps.
That’s the lesson of this poem:
Grief is dangerous and unpredictable
As a twenty-pound nest of wasps.
Or this: Houses are haunted
Not by the dead. So let us pray
For the living. Let us pray
For the wasps and sons who haunt us.
“Gentrification” is another very interesting and metaphorical poem by Sherman Alexie. It contains many of the same elements as the last work I analyzed, “Grief Calls us to the Things of This World.” Both poems discuss death and despair in life, but in a way that is almost humorous. Alexie does a very good job of discussing topics such as death without sounding so serious and grim as some authors. For example he includes the line “Do not trust cocoons.” This gives off the idea that although Alexie is trying to portray a serious topic he does not want to reflect such a serious tone in his own writing.
What is interesting throughout the whole entire poem is Alexie’s use of wasps. They represent both a physical entity and stand for something deeper at the same time. Alexie talks about how lucky they were that even though they slept so near to the wasps they were never affected them. This in a literal sense shows how they were lucky the wasps never left the wall causing them pain and problems. Metaphorically the wasps stand for grief, which can be seen clearer later in the poem. Since the wasps hide in walls so near to us Alexie can relate this to grief. He means to show that grief can be hiding right around the corner or right behind the walls where we least expect it.
Grief is so comparable to these wasps in many ways. A line that really sticks out to me is, “Grief is dangerous and unpredictable as a twenty-pound nest of wasps.” This line to me was the defining point in the poem. This is where Alexie gives the reader the true meaning behind the poem. It is in this line where it can be realized the wasps truly do stand for more than literal wasps. I think Alexie hints at this throughout the poem, but by including this line he ensures the reader understands. I like this about his poetry style because many poets attempt to confuse and lead you away from the true meaning of the poem with deep metaphors and complicated syntax or diction. In Alexie’s case he outright states the true meaning for why he writes the poem or what the poem really means, which I really like.
The title of this poem is also very interesting. Gentrification, or to gentrify, means to renovate and improve (especially a house or district) so that it conforms to middle-class taste. I think this diction of the title can be seen most through stanza seven where the siblings of the son sell the house he and his father lived in. He writes that they sold it, “Because it was only a house.” To me this stand out and shows the siblings of this black man who are making an attempt at gentrification. Since the son and father were so good at neglecting I’m sure they greatly neglected the house itself. By neglecting the house it was most likely turned into a ruin of what used to be. The siblings sold it in hope that the next tenant would fix it up and make it more presentable to the world.
I find the syntax within the poem very meaningful and important to the poem. Alexie italicizes important ideas throughout the poem. Another reason I think he might italicize these certain phrases is to help lead the reader to different conclusions as he/she goes through the poem because by the end the true meaning or what I perceive to be the true meaning is revealed. Without this syntax throughout the poem I don’t think the reader would be able to as easily identify the main ideas of the poem.
Overall I enjoyed this poem by Sherman Alexie. I think the meaning behind it is very true and interesting. The way he presented his ideas is also very clever, even if not very complicated. Relating wasps to grief allows the reader a simple and clear understanding of what Alexie writes about, which is why I like his poetry. It is never hard to understand and in at the end I always feel as if I’ve learned or gained something without having to constantly reread the poem.
Let us remember the wasps
That hibernated in the walls
Of the house next door. Its walls
Bulged with twenty pounds of wasps
And nest, twenty pounds of black
Knots and buzzing fists. We slept
Unaware that the wasps slept
So near us. We slept in black
Comfort, wrapped in cocoons,
While death’s familiars swarmed
Unto themselves, but could have swarmed
Unto us. Do not trust cocoons.
That’s the lesson of this poem.
Or this: Luck is beautiful
So let us praise our beautiful
White neighbor. Let us write poems
For she who found that wasp nest
While remodeling this wreck.
But let us remember that wreck
Was, for five decades, the nest
For a black man and his father.
Both men were sick and neglected,
So they knew how to neglect.
But then death stopped for the father
And cruelly left behind the son,
Whose siblings quickly sold the house
Because it was only a house.
For months, that drunk and displaced son
Appeared on our street like a ghost.
Distraught, he sat in his car and wept
Because nobody else had wept
Enough for his father, whose ghost
Took the form of ten thousand wasps.
That’s the lesson of this poem:
Grief is dangerous and unpredictable
As a twenty-pound nest of wasps.
Or this: Houses are haunted
Not by the dead. So let us pray
For the living. Let us pray
For the wasps and sons who haunt us.
“Gentrification” is another very interesting and metaphorical poem by Sherman Alexie. It contains many of the same elements as the last work I analyzed, “Grief Calls us to the Things of This World.” Both poems discuss death and despair in life, but in a way that is almost humorous. Alexie does a very good job of discussing topics such as death without sounding so serious and grim as some authors. For example he includes the line “Do not trust cocoons.” This gives off the idea that although Alexie is trying to portray a serious topic he does not want to reflect such a serious tone in his own writing.
What is interesting throughout the whole entire poem is Alexie’s use of wasps. They represent both a physical entity and stand for something deeper at the same time. Alexie talks about how lucky they were that even though they slept so near to the wasps they were never affected them. This in a literal sense shows how they were lucky the wasps never left the wall causing them pain and problems. Metaphorically the wasps stand for grief, which can be seen clearer later in the poem. Since the wasps hide in walls so near to us Alexie can relate this to grief. He means to show that grief can be hiding right around the corner or right behind the walls where we least expect it.
Grief is so comparable to these wasps in many ways. A line that really sticks out to me is, “Grief is dangerous and unpredictable as a twenty-pound nest of wasps.” This line to me was the defining point in the poem. This is where Alexie gives the reader the true meaning behind the poem. It is in this line where it can be realized the wasps truly do stand for more than literal wasps. I think Alexie hints at this throughout the poem, but by including this line he ensures the reader understands. I like this about his poetry style because many poets attempt to confuse and lead you away from the true meaning of the poem with deep metaphors and complicated syntax or diction. In Alexie’s case he outright states the true meaning for why he writes the poem or what the poem really means, which I really like.
The title of this poem is also very interesting. Gentrification, or to gentrify, means to renovate and improve (especially a house or district) so that it conforms to middle-class taste. I think this diction of the title can be seen most through stanza seven where the siblings of the son sell the house he and his father lived in. He writes that they sold it, “Because it was only a house.” To me this stand out and shows the siblings of this black man who are making an attempt at gentrification. Since the son and father were so good at neglecting I’m sure they greatly neglected the house itself. By neglecting the house it was most likely turned into a ruin of what used to be. The siblings sold it in hope that the next tenant would fix it up and make it more presentable to the world.
I find the syntax within the poem very meaningful and important to the poem. Alexie italicizes important ideas throughout the poem. Another reason I think he might italicize these certain phrases is to help lead the reader to different conclusions as he/she goes through the poem because by the end the true meaning or what I perceive to be the true meaning is revealed. Without this syntax throughout the poem I don’t think the reader would be able to as easily identify the main ideas of the poem.
Overall I enjoyed this poem by Sherman Alexie. I think the meaning behind it is very true and interesting. The way he presented his ideas is also very clever, even if not very complicated. Relating wasps to grief allows the reader a simple and clear understanding of what Alexie writes about, which is why I like his poetry. It is never hard to understand and in at the end I always feel as if I’ve learned or gained something without having to constantly reread the poem.