“Early Cascade”
Lucia Perillo Read the poem right here. Lucia Perillo strikes again, this time with her poem “Early Cascade.” She writes of an emotional encounter with a tomato which seems to be a moment of growth for herself after what may have been the end of a relationship or friendship. Perillo writes that she “couldn't have waited” for somebody's return. This return, if it were ever to come, would be far after the prime time to pick a ripe tomato. Therefore, the narrator cannot wait in good conscious for the person to return because the tomato will go to waste. This is just a conjecture, but it seems that in the past the narrator shared a sort of ritual with someone that included eating a ripe tomato. Although the person is absent, the narrator continues in the rite, almost as a form of healing for herself. She would rather continue on and eat the tomato instead of forcing herself to wait even longer for someone who might never come. The narrator describes the tomato flesh as “not mealy (like last year’s) or bitter.” This reinforces the idea that she is trying to move on from a difficult loss. Because it is not mealy or bitter, the tomato does not leave a bad taste in the narrator’s mouth. In a sense, the tomato represents the loss. The narrator is able to move past the bitterness and difficulty of her loss and take the first steps of moving on. Then there is the second stanza and a shift in the poem. She “could have gagged on the sweetness” when she first bites into a slice of the tomato. The sweetness comes as an unexpected and almost unwanted surprise. “The dirt itself” would have been better in her eyes, mainly because she is so used to turn awful taste. Perhaps the speaker is scared of what the sweetness and the future will hold for her. Of course, the future is full of possibilities, and that is precisely what makes it so terrifying. To wrap up the poem, the speaker says it is the first night in a while where she is finally taking time for herself, and this is ultimately her first difficult step to healing. Keep reading, Steven from SHS
1 Comment
Haleigh
2/3/2017 05:06:22 am
I really like the imagery she uses in this poem. I find it interesting that she uses a tomato rather than an apple that can be sweet or sour. Your anaylsis of the poem was great and made the poem much more interesting. Why do you think she used the tomato to describe The bitterness of loss? Do you think the tomato has a deeper meaning?
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