Outside Worcester, Massachusetts,
Aunt Consuelo was at her dentist,
appointment. It was light. The,
bright sun was shining,
for a while and then,
I tried to climb up a tree,
Because I was bored.
The long sinewy lines weaved,
their way up and down,
it was dazzling like,
Mozart on his piano,
Or a shining knight ready,
to joust for his fair lady.
I went up and up,
Until I could see no higher,
Reach no longer,
Climb not a step more.
Wait! No – it couldn’t,
be; that girl up there,
Who was she?
Was she stuck there,
Of her own accord,
And why did it really,
Shock me. She didn’t
Speak.
Then I was in,
My aunt was outside,
In Worcester, Massachusetts,
And it was still light.
Analysis:
While reading “In the Waiting Room”, I thought that it would be intriguing to invert the dynamics of the poem thus “Outside the Waiting Room” was born. I found Bishop’s worldview and her way of describing the poet as someone who is keenly aware of their observations, interesting. “In the Waiting Room” represents an intrinsic dive that the author must take in response to his/her surroundings in order to create poetry. My remake looks at the possibility of, not looking inwards, but outwards. I discovered that the character lost intimacy with the waiting room (the waiting room seems to represent a temporal space, both physical and mental). My character was quite confused as she states, “Who was she? / Was she stuck there?” Unlike Bishop’s Elizabeth who is “falling” and drowning under “black waves” of grand philosophical realizations, my Elizabeth is much calmer. She cannot “speak” because she is separated from humanity. Rather than looking inside and seeing the similarities between her and others (such as her aunt), she seeks to “climb” to, perhaps, an elevated position of a person/poet. My Elizabeth is active while Bishop’s Elizabeth is passive which describes a dichotomous definition of science.