Anne Stewart Nighthawks Poem Comparison

Anne Carson’s “Nighthawks” and Rupi Kaur’s “you were so distant…” deal with hurt, heartbreak, and the ending of a relationship. Both poems provide contrasting views of rejection; however, they do so through vastly different deliveries. “you were so distant…”, due to both its specific ambiguous approach to visual poetry and interpretation of rejection, does a better job of inciting self-reflection in the reader than “Nighthawks”. Both poems describe a narrator lamenting the change or end of a relationship. The narrators seem to be struggling with grief, hurt, and desperation. One could argue that both narrators imply a lack of communication and clarity of a partner. The line drawing that accompanies “you were so distant…” depicts an open door

Firstly, the formatting of the two poems is very different. “you were so distant…” uses a line break to break the poem into two separate statements, reinforcing the reference to distance. “Nighthawks” uses a series of line breaks and indentation to create a shape of a wings (a nighthawk). This clever duality represents the narrator’s aspirations of flying away and the future relationship that flew away. Also, the peculiar formatting allows for multiple interpretations of the poem. One could read the poem linearly (as written), reverse, pair up the indented lines, or in any random order. I believe that this choice is intentional and represents the emotional narrator stuck in circular, non-linear thinking and lost in thought of what could have been. “you were so distant” also makes use of a non-objective emotional narration, stating “you were so distant, i didn’t realize you where there at all”. This is paradoxical and carries a passive aggressive undertone; literal interpretation would imply that the narrator did not care about the outcome, which is contrary to the subtle hurt expressed. This reflects the frustration and anguish that they are suffering. These choices encourage the reader to empathize with the narrator. It is also important to note the narrative or lack thereof for each poem. In contrast to, “you were so distant…”, “Nighthawks” hints at a potential backstory throughout the text. and has a story quality to the delivery. Kaur’s enigmatic drawing is important to connect with the reader. The messy, unclear nature of the illustration can lead itself to multiple interpretations, therefore, allowing the reader to create a personal attachment to their own meaning to it. Conversely, “Nighthawks” painting is quite clean and phlegmatic. It does a reasonable attempt of conveying loneliness and emptiness; however, it lacks a deeper interpretation in terms of the theme of Carson’s poem.