The poetry of Charles Simic has many varying subjects, yet reveals his personal flare and style of writing. Summarised below are a number of his poems:
Private Eye
The speaker, evidently a private investigator, as the title suggests, describes the purpose of his job, to investigate claims. He finds the environment outside his office hard to decipher and time seems to stop for them. They try to place themselves by lighting a match. During this time, the building has been emptying, with little movement. The speaker has time to investigate stealthily and discreetly before the cleaner moves down the corridor, testing each door to see if it will open. The speaker suggests he will lie and tell her it is themself uncomfortably sitting in the chair, yet he then reveals he will not stop and leave until the person reveals what he wants to find out.
On this Very Street in Belgrade
A scene is described, where a building has been destroyed and the subject of the poem, possibly a child, is rescued and set on the pavement, looking like a toy doll in ruined clothes. After some time, the child, now older, returns to this street and speaks to a dog that has no home. It is timid, hiding partially behind a stationary car, yet his eyes show he is hopeful. The dogs creeps forward warily, but is prepared for something bad to happen.
My Shoes
Some footwear is described as a symbol of the speaker's personal life. Two similes are used to describe the shoes as 'mouths,' and as 'animal skins,' which may be a portrayal of the material they are made from. Their smell is also described.
In the next stanza, the speaker reveals that their siblings have died, and that they live on through these shows as a guide to this person, leading them towards 'incomprehensible innocence,' as characterised his late brother and sister.
The speaker questions the worth of reading books, when they see these shoes as a text revealing 'the Gospel,' in other words the good news of the speaker's earthly life and of the future after it.
The speaker creates a religion surrounding the shoes, which they want to declare and show to the world. This religion is established to presnt the shoes as humble, and includes the building of a church and an 'altar,' presumably for worship.
The shoes are described as honourable in sacrificing pleasures for religious reasons, and as having a mothering touch and influence towards the speaker. They are relatable to animals, 'Saints,' and sinners 'condemned,' and their characteristics of quiet 'patience,' mirror the speaker's true self.
Pigeons at Dawn
The act of deliberately trying to keep things from the speaker and his companion are protrayed through the speaker's voice to their 'friend.' Examples are given of this, such as people looking in depth at themselves late into the night and morning, and other people taking each other's clothes off in the darkness.
A lift takes the speaker and his friend to the basement, they see cleaning supplies, and the lift exhaustedly takes them back up. They survey the sky in the morning, commenting on the quiet nature of the city as everything is paused, buildings are described and the smokiness of the sky.
The tell themselves to have patience in waiting to see if the pigeons make noise to attract a hand to feed them 'angel cake.' The speaker does not see anything of the person feeding them, except 'her slender arm,' so she remains unidentifiable.
Crazy About Her Shrimp
Two lovers are described. They eat their food quickly, barely taking breaths in between. Their mouths are kept occupied by chewing and kissing between mouthfuls. They have sex and then return to the kitchen; he prepares peppers, she minds the shrimp. Red wine is dripping from a mouth tht laughs, and it tastes nice. It dribbles on the woman's breasts. The woman declares she is becoming, 'fat,' whilst watching herself from different ngles in front of the mirror. The man declares he enjoys her shrimp to the gods he believes are 'above.'
The White Room
It is noted that it is hard to prove something that is able to be seen clearly, and that a lot of people would like the 'hidden,' instead. The speaker did this and hears the voices of the trees. Apparently they keep a secret that they are going to tell the speaker, but then decide to refrain from doing so.
In summer all the trees tell stories and the speaker engages in this interesting time. In the stories, they go into darkened houses, that are silent and empty. A person is seen on the top storeys of the house, their eyes were closed, adn the speaker is scared. They wonder who or what it is and this keeps them awake. The woman says that 'the truth is always bald and cold,' and she wears clothes of the colour white all the time, never quitting her room.
The sun reveals what has been maintained during the night. These things are simple and silent, 'difficult,' because they were obvious to te speaker. This particular day is seen as '"perfect."' It is suggested that heavenly beings are disguised as everyday objects of vanity. Then this theory is rejected.
It is concluded that everything is what it is and as it is, quiet, unspeaking and unmoving in the light of day. The trees are depicted as looking forward to the night-time.
The Bather
Night is descending, so there is little light, but the speaker sees a cloud of dusty air, as if someone has hastily passed in bare feet just at the track leading to the water bends so it no longer can be seen. Creating shade, a branch laden with leaves moves for a moment as a 'bather,' strips for a swim. The speaker wonders whether they are seeing things as they are alone, but sees the bather's hair being unpinned to float in the water as the bather does, being taken along by the current. It takes her past the trees to the horizon which is dark in becoming night. It is getting quieter, the trees are like burned paper and the insets stay within themselves quietly, which is strange. The speaker tries to listen for a small 'splash,' or to see the bather return speedily to her clothing by the tree, but they do not. They sit just in that place. It is concluded these illusions were the wind, and the cold bite of it makes the speaker, 'go in,' whether that be into the lake or their house.
The School of Metaphysics
The speaker describes a man that follows along, demonstrating how a watch operates. They call him 'Executioner,' becaue he is dreary and is clothed in black. The churche's clock had stopped working, bang on 'five to eleven,' and the daily newpapers have no date written on them. The building near the speaker could easily be mistake for a 'state pen,' as it is indistiguishable. The man named 'Executioner,' appears with his watch that has numbers but no hands to tell the time with. He wants the speaker 'to understand / right then and there,' something which is not mentioned but implied.
Paradise Motel
In a motel room, the speaker watches the news of an attack, in which many people have died and no one is apparently to blame. The President is speaking about war and its abilities and advantages in improving relations. The speaker is astonished, and their face appears 'like a twice-canceled postage stamp,' when they see it in the mirror.
The speaker reveals that they have lived a good life, but that life itself is not good. They describe multitudes of soldiers and refugees, but they disappear with a movement of the hand, as history enjoys the repetition and blood-shed, taking another event as its meal.
The speaker describes a pornographic scene that is on a channel one must pay for. The volume is turned down, and there is no light in their room, apart from the colour of the screen that is red and pink, but is really showing too much of both.
Eyes Fastened With Pins
The life of death is ironically described. Death toils all day, and his wife prepares his clothes. His daughters set the tble for the meal at suppertime, and his neighbours play games or sit drinking beer outside. Death is out in another part of the town, seeking someone who is ill with a cough. He finds the address is not the right one and can't figure it out for the life of him, as all the doors have been locked. It rains and the night will become wreaked with the wind. Death ahs nothing to protect himself and no money to call home to the lonely person stripping down and getting ready for bed to sleep in his place.
