Intention Statement
I’m writing a poem based on the painting “Palmen” by Sigmar Polke. I am exploring the feeling of forgetfulness and change through the experience of being in a oceanside town. The narrator of this piece is a person who is nostalgic for the time when this particular beach was less urbanized. When there were more palm trees and less streets and buildings. They are also bitter at the modern age, with our overuse of technology which has made us dependent on it and more forgetful. The narrator is basically ranting about how this once beautiful beach has become sort of a tourist trap, and their attitude is one of dissatisfaction due to the road that this city is going down. While they do wish for the old days, they also admit that this beach was never really untainted by man. It’s always been a spot that tens of thousands of people would visit. This entire poem has two meanings, one is about technology and the modern age making us forgetful and the other is about the urbanization of natural wonders. The latter being the more on the surface message of the two, with the poem being about a person reminiscing about a time before a certain beach was urbanized. In order to capture these two messages though I used a many poetic devices and techniques. A couple of those techniques were metaphors and symbolism. In the second stanza I used symbolism in the line “In this jungle?” this quote has 2 meanings, 1. The jungle is supposed to represent the city that the narrator is talking about, “Concrete Jungle” is a phrase occasionally used to describe a highly urbanized city. 2. The “Jungle” is supposed to be a reference to the narrator’s mind and memory, his mind being a jumbled unorganized mess of lost memories and random thoughts, much like how a jungle is a jumbled collection of wildlife. In the 3rd stanza i used both a metaphor and a gustatory sense when comparing the fading of memories to the taste of a bittersweet lemon. This line shows that the narrator has remorse for the beach that has been destroyed but they also welcome the modern age knowing that it will bring many benefits.