The Ocean Floor - “The Coma”
Pinsky writes, “The cold of the coma, lightless. The Ocean Floor”. The figurative ‘Ocean Floor’ represents the profundity of unconsciousness that is integral in a coma. The world of coma is inundated in immense darkness such that an individual would not be conscious of himself or herself. The emblematic cold signifies the impassiveness of the comatose individuals’ corporeal senses.
Coloured Prisoners versus Black Prisoners - “Poem of Disconnected Parts”
Pinsky observes, “Coloured prisoners got different meals and could wear/Long pants and underwear, Blacks got only shorts.” The divergent treatment of the prisoners epitomizes the racism ingrained within the judicial system whereby prisoners are distinguished by their races rather that the grave crimes that certified their incarceration.
Fragments - “An Explanation of America”
In “A Poem to my Daughter”, Pinsky writes, “ As though explaining the idea of dancing/Or the idea of some other thing/Which everyone has known a little about/Since they were children, which children learn themselves.” These lines personify the exertion of elucidating the connotation of being American. America is inimitable because it is principally comprises fragments of identities. The fragments confound the fashioning of a distinguishable, coalesced American identity.
Neurotic - “From Essay of Psychiatrists”
Pinsky writes, “The Lore of psychiatrists-‘Paranoid’, Anal and so on.” The universality of the term ‘neurotic’ among the psychiatrists infers that they prioritize the unconscious when diagnosing psychological infirmities. The focus on neurosis is analogous to poetry and wise sayings that inculcate wisdom.
Fire versus Rain - “Antique”
The speaker laments, “I drowned in the fire of having you, I burned/In the river of not having you, we lived.” Clearly, the speaker interchanges the ramifications of fire and rain because drowning would have transpired in the river whereas burning would have befallen in fire. The interchanging depicts the speaker’s weighty disorientation which is attributed to parting with the lover.
