Lighthead: Race and Time Collide
Poetry is often used as a source for people to express themselves, whether it is through abstract thoughts or actual experiences. By doing so, one is able to create vivid visuals of the themes that may partake in his/her mind. Lighthead is no exception in the fact that Terrance Hayes articulates his past and life understandings through descriptive language in order to bring out empathy from the reader. In Hayes’ Lighthead, there are many common themes throughout this book of poems. By using themes such as time and race, Hayes is able to present an anthology of poems that relate by the usage of form and tone.
In the beginning of Hayes’ book, he begins with the poem, “Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Time is a prevalent theme in this introductory poem. For instance, in the initial line of this poem he states that he is writing “because I could never get the hang of Time. / This hour, for example, would be like all the others / were it not for the rain falling through the roof” (lines …show more content…
In “Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy”, it is difficult to not feel the seriousness felt by Hayes’ use of dark and somber words. He even states that it is “not what you see, but what you perceive: / that’s poetry”, which can be explained as to how important the tone one gets after reading the poem is to the poem itself. With this particular poem, the tone is curious yet serious, because of the constant comparisons between life and how life relates to poetry and the expression of life’s everyday occurrences. Due to the words and tone of the poem, one can assume that Hayes is writing these poems because he is going through tough times in his life, and he is using poetry as a medium to express these tougher times. Hayes is a perfect example of how a poet expresses tone through his own personal
Poetry is often used as a source for people to express themselves, whether it is through abstract thoughts or actual experiences. By doing so, one is able to create vivid visuals of the themes that may partake in his/her mind. Lighthead is no exception in the fact that Terrance Hayes articulates his past and life understandings through descriptive language in order to bring out empathy from the reader. In Hayes’ Lighthead, there are many common themes throughout this book of poems. By using themes such as time and race, Hayes is able to present an anthology of poems that relate by the usage of form and tone.
In the beginning of Hayes’ book, he begins with the poem, “Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Time is a prevalent theme in this introductory poem. For instance, in the initial line of this poem he states that he is writing “because I could never get the hang of Time. / This hour, for example, would be like all the others / were it not for the rain falling through the roof” (lines …show more content…
In “Lighthead’s Guide to the Galaxy”, it is difficult to not feel the seriousness felt by Hayes’ use of dark and somber words. He even states that it is “not what you see, but what you perceive: / that’s poetry”, which can be explained as to how important the tone one gets after reading the poem is to the poem itself. With this particular poem, the tone is curious yet serious, because of the constant comparisons between life and how life relates to poetry and the expression of life’s everyday occurrences. Due to the words and tone of the poem, one can assume that Hayes is writing these poems because he is going through tough times in his life, and he is using poetry as a medium to express these tougher times. Hayes is a perfect example of how a poet expresses tone through his own personal