The poems of Ezra Tompkins and Matthew Acahti are stylistically crafted with a focus on imagery. This analysis will explore some of the similarities and differences in TompkinsÆ ôStory of My Lifeö and ôSkatersö with AcahtiÆs ôSuggestions for Stabilizingö and ôWhat is it that Compels?ö
Perhaps the biggest similarity in the works of Tompkins and Acahti are the way that each poet uses vague imagery to help define mental process of existence. We can see that this is particularly true in the stylized nature of AcahtiÆs ôSuggestions for Stabilizingö with TompkinsÆ ôStory of My Life.ö In each of these works the authors produces images of nature to recreate the mental processes of human thought. In both poems the poets use nature to help create the mental processes or thoughts of the speakers. In ôSuggestions for Stabilizing,ö Acahti uses natural images to help convey the internal thought processes of his speakerÆs mind. The speaker uses images associated with weather (ôspaces,ö ôbreath,ö ôdensity,ö and ôdriftö) to mirror the internal processes of his thoughts (Acahti, p. 27). The speaker maintains that ôtimeö often ôcollapse[s] into memoriesö and begs for ôanswersö that, in actuality, cannot be answered (Acahti, p. 27). These would be the main questions of human existence, such as the meaning of life and existence. Instead of searching outside for the answers to such questions, the speaker maintains that we must ôsearch for those inaudible & exquisite inner sounds which help the rational mind rise out of its wicker basket,ö (Acahti, p. 27). In other words, such answers are found inside the individual and exist, much like a cobra in a wicker basket, which must be subtly and patiently wooed to the surface to reveal answers.
In TompkinsÆ ôStory of My Life,ö we see a similar use of nature as a means of exploring lifeÆs meaning. The speaker tells us he is ôcoming out of a swamp,...