Not that this has anything to do with literature exactly but the recent multi-day power outage really made me think about technology. Although it's brought people closer together mentally (I can talk to people like my brother who live hours away through the magical interwebs as quickly as if he were here), it's also made people extremely isolated physically-- since we know we can just email one another, it's easy to never actually get together in person. I believe it was Skeletor who once asserted that one day we'll all just stay in our houses for days on end because everything we need will be there (sorry if that wasn't you, Skeletor). Not saying technology is a bad thing, I do love it, but it was an interesting thought that we can be so connected and so alone at the same time.
Too tired to think of a smooth transition so I'll jump right in... "Funeral Blues" was one of the few poems we've read for the poetry projects that's spoken to me in a meaningful way. Poem Ruiner for once was instead the Poem Preserver today in telling us to ignore the fact that this poem is meant ironically, which I'm choosing to do. Death of the author and all that. Having lost several important people recently, it was comforting to know that someone not related to me in any way has had the same thoughts on loss. The first line, "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone" I found to be a very accurate representation of how it feels to lose someone. Loss sometimes makes it feel like the clocks have stopped and everything in life aside from grief has been put on hold. Other times the thought of having to go about ordinary life, doing things such as talking to people, is unbearable. Losing someone whose influence was felt in many areas of ones life is devastating and "Funeral Blues" expresses this better than I ever could, so I'll stop trying and leave it to Auden.
--Little Red
