Consumption In Mark Strand's Fluid Poetry

Fluid Poetry

When one thinks about the concept of consumption, there are two different aspects to be thought up. In a literal sense, consumption of food is the process of eating something and then digesting it. On the contrary, consumption of media such as art and poetry is a completely different idea. This is a much more abstract version of consumption. One uses their senses, generally the eyes, to “consume” a work of art in any way, shape or form. Mark Strand in his poem “Eating Poetry” makes good use of this double meaning, as it is the core idea throughout his poem. A man goes through the process of literal consumption as well as the non concrete version. His experience is so moving that he even shape shifts by morphing into a dog. This

When the main character in “Eating Poetry” is completely overcome by the words he is reading (and eating), he has no other way to express his emotions than to turn into a dog! To Strands readers this makes no sense, but to him, indeed, it must make all the sense in the world. We make meaning out of his poem, trying to uncover what Strand’s true intentions were. I think this is what Strand wanted. He wanted the poem to remain somewhat mysterious to its readers. People can have contrasting reactions to the same stimuli; certain things can have a larger effect on some people than others. Strand conveys this message through his unique and somewhat strange poem. He expands even more by adding the idea of a confused and somewhat upset librarian. This librarian does not know what to make of the man’s actions, and, at a certain point, she could not take it anymore; she screams out of utter realization. This was not her suddenly understanding the man 's actions, but rather an awareness of her own emotions. Strand portrays to his readers, through the idea of consumption, that everyone reacts and feels differently even when experiencing the same thing, and the outcome of any experience is unique no matter