Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Snakes" by Eileen Myles captures the fluidity of identity, the eerie aspects of memory, and the juxtaposition of innocence with an unsettling reality. Written in a fragmented style characteristic of Myles' work, the poem moves through different moments in life, all connected by the refrain "I am 6."

The poem opens with a loss, setting the tone for the psychological and existential journey that follows: "I was 6 and / I lost my snake." It's an age of innocence, yet the loss suggests something darker. As the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that the speaker is revisiting the world of their 6-year-old self from an adult perspective. This journey back in time is filled with moments that veer between the mundane and the surreal, often blurring the lines between them.

The middle stanzas work as a channel between two worlds-the world of a child and that of an adult. Imagery of feathers, scales, and slime evokes a world that is both fantastical and frightening. The poem's speaker undergoes transformations-into "lightning," into "feathers," into "scales"-each signifying different aspects of human experience, be it raw energy, vulnerability, or the potential for deceit and danger.

"I am face / to face with a frog / a woman alone / in bed," reads one line. The juxtaposition of the frog and the woman alone in bed is disorienting and places the reader in an almost dream-like space, one where animals, humans, and inanimate objects are all part of the same emotional fabric.

In the latter half of the poem, Myles employs domestic and urban imagery-"bottle caps and stars / adults and low / moans, busses"-to capture the dichotomy of innocence and knowledge. Here, the image of "the cake is lit" contrasts sharply with the adult's responsibilities: "My husband turns / his fevered / face. I put / the medicine / down. Click. / I am 6." Myles seems to question whether there is ever a clean break from childhood, or whether it remains a part of us, submerged but enduring.

In "Snakes" Eileen Myles paints an enigmatic, almost spectral portrait of childhood, revealing it as a time of both simplicity and profound strangeness. Myles does this through a fragmentation of scenes and settings, allowing different versions of the self to coexist and comment on each other. The poem emphasizes the presence of the past within the present and invites readers to think about their own layers of past selves still existing within them.

In a broader sense, the poem challenges conventional conceptions of time, identity, and the boundaries between the child and adult worlds. By maintaining the refrain "I am 6" throughout the poem, Myles captures the eternal resonance of childhood-an age of discovery, vulnerability, and, paradoxically, an age when we may feel most alive. Yet this refrain is not solely a celebration of youth; it's a haunting reminder of the uncanny, indefinable aspects of our earliest years that linger within us, shaping and unsettling our adult lives.

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