LUNE - Substance
Overall, the poem is a series of images. It is a puzzle as to what the images are from the beginning to end, until the end when I can see that the magnolias are at the bottom of a bowl that has milk in it (from after eating cereal). The poem does not explicitly offer why this scene is being described. But in line eleven the reference to time, “the middle of the night” shows that the speaker is up in the middle of the night. The poem paints that image of the person up late at night eating cereal but does so dramatically, so that it is clear this is not an insignificant event. The words are sparse and concrete. The rhythm and sound ebb and flow and the overall effect is a quiet buzz or humming. We peak into a moment and know that it is a disturbed one. While there is mystery in the poem, there is also clarity and the balance has a good overall effect on the reader.