Repetition: A Thing Repeated “Trying to walk the same way to the same store takes high-wire balance: each step not exactly as before risks chasms of flatness. One stumble alone and nothing happens. Few are the willing and fewer the champions.” In just thirty-seven words, Kay Ryan is able to capture a universal truth: beauty will always remain for those who choose a life of depth, for those who choose to live life on the wire, repetitiously retracing their steps on the footpath of life. Like many of Kay Ryan’s poems, it begins with a broad and philosophical statement: “Trying to walk / the same way / to the same store / takes high-wire/ balance” (1-5). With this proposition comes the detailed imagery of tightrope walkers of old who—with great
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But who are these champions? Or more importantly, who can they be? This is clearly a thought provoking sentiment which leaves the reader asking themselves whether or not they fall within the group of few and fewer, or if they belong to the group that falls into the chasm. This is a fine example of the author speaking to the reader and asking: who will you be? And it allows for introspection. It allows the reader to step outside of themselves and establish whether they will live deeply or do nothing more than scratch the surface of life. It also presents the question: why are so few willing? In Kay Ryan style, the answer turns back to the “stumble” (11). It is fear of falling from the wire. It is fear of being unable to balance. But, if we can willingly expel that fear and try, then our names will be noted in the hall of champions. And if we stumble, we must keep “trying” (1). After all, it is the first word of the poem. The first thing she wanted the reader to see was the idea of trying.
Superficially, the poem seems to create the conclusion that if we traverse the same path again, it will have a monotonous hue. That in order to live life fully, we must traverse new paths, face new cross roads, new faces, and new stroll. But as it has been shown, through careful consideration and exploration of the text, one finds a different story. This story defies the logic of the superficial. It is a story diverged, which shows that through repetition—through mastery—one will live a deeper life, avoiding the chasms of flatness therein
But who are these champions? Or more importantly, who can they be? This is clearly a thought provoking sentiment which leaves the reader asking themselves whether or not they fall within the group of few and fewer, or if they belong to the group that falls into the chasm. This is a fine example of the author speaking to the reader and asking: who will you be? And it allows for introspection. It allows the reader to step outside of themselves and establish whether they will live deeply or do nothing more than scratch the surface of life. It also presents the question: why are so few willing? In Kay Ryan style, the answer turns back to the “stumble” (11). It is fear of falling from the wire. It is fear of being unable to balance. But, if we can willingly expel that fear and try, then our names will be noted in the hall of champions. And if we stumble, we must keep “trying” (1). After all, it is the first word of the poem. The first thing she wanted the reader to see was the idea of trying.
Superficially, the poem seems to create the conclusion that if we traverse the same path again, it will have a monotonous hue. That in order to live life fully, we must traverse new paths, face new cross roads, new faces, and new stroll. But as it has been shown, through careful consideration and exploration of the text, one finds a different story. This story defies the logic of the superficial. It is a story diverged, which shows that through repetition—through mastery—one will live a deeper life, avoiding the chasms of flatness therein