levelheaded: Way Too Far

The word Dread in the first line of Thomas Snarsky’s “Way Too Far” functions as a noun and a verb. As a noun, Dread is a concept performing the act of “biting your shoulder,” a.k.a. fear making its presence known. Taken as a verb, Dread is a command. We’re told to fear biting ourselves or to fear being bitten by someone else on the shoulder.

When we look close enough, the ambiguity in this opening line is echoed throughout the poem. Take the line “Are never in time to hear[.]” Present plural form of the verb to be, the word are is a confirmation of existence. Paired with the word never as it is in the poem, that existence is negated. Going further, the word never suggests something outside the constructs of time. Yet, in line three, never is paired with the phrase in time.

Confused? Maybe we’ve gone “Way Too Far.” Maybe that’s partly the point.

When we really consider things, what once seemed clear can become unclear. A line later, “The harpist’s tune,” is followed by the word which. So, the definite article identifies a particular, and then we’re left to question which particular has been identified. Keep going: Do shattered bells ring? Can the cosmos be fleshy? How can we be “Becoming without having”?  Nuptials can be a prison. An arrival might spur one to run.

Doing this kind of hard looking is important, but it’s not without consequences. Once we get caught in an orbit of questions, it’s difficult “To land unscathed, or ever.” We’re left to lick our wounds. We mourn. We learn to be more cautious in our searching.

– The Editors