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THE WITNESS, by             Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography

Ted Kooser’s poem "The Witness" offers a vivid and introspective look at the emotional landscape of a courtroom during a divorce proceeding. Through meticulous imagery and metaphor, Kooser captures the silent, heavy atmosphere and the personal turmoil of the witness, creating a poignant exploration of loss, detachment, and the passage of time.

The poem opens by placing the witness in a position of stillness and waiting: "The divorce judge has asked for a witness, / and you wait at the back of the courtroom / as still as a flag on its stand." This simile of the witness being as still as a flag suggests a sense of rigidity, formality, and perhaps emotional suppression, reflecting the tension and solemnity of the situation.

The witness's attire is described with careful attention: "your best dress falling in smooth, even folds / that begin now to gather the dust of white bouquets." The dress, chosen perhaps for its significance or formality, contrasts with the dust, symbolizing neglect or the passage of time. The "white bouquets" hint at wedding imagery, now dust-covered, suggesting the faded or lost purity and joy once associated with marriage.

Kooser continues with a delicate image: "which like a veil of lace is lifting away / from the kiss of the sunlit windows." The comparison of the dust to a veil of lace being lifted by sunlight evokes a sense of ephemeral beauty and the gentle passage of time, highlighting the contrast between the present sorrow and past happiness. The sunlit windows suggest an outside world full of life and light, distant from the courtroom's somber interior.

In a striking metaphor, the poem describes the witness's hands: "In your lap, where you left them, your hands / lie fallen apart like the rinds of a fruit. / Whatever they cupped has been eaten away." The image of hands lying like fruit rinds conveys a sense of emptiness and depletion. The hands, once full and purposeful, now empty and purposeless, reflect the emotional and perhaps physical loss experienced by the witness.

Kooser paints a vivid picture of the courtroom environment: "Beyond you, across a lake of light / where years have sunk and settled to the floor, / the voices drone on with the hollow sound / of boats rubbing a dock that they're tied to." The "lake of light" metaphorically represents the distance between the witness and the ongoing proceedings, suggesting a separation or disconnect. The comparison of voices to boats rubbing a dock evokes a sense of monotony and entrapment, underscoring the weariness and repetitiveness of the legal process.

The final lines reveal the witness's readiness: "You know what to say when they call you." This simple statement conveys a sense of resolve or duty, despite the emotional undercurrents that the poem has laid bare. The witness's knowledge of what to say implies a rehearsed or resigned acceptance of their role in the proceedings, a stark contrast to the emotional depth and complexity suggested by the preceding imagery.

In "The Witness," Ted Kooser masterfully uses rich, evocative imagery to explore the inner world of a person caught in the midst of a divorce proceeding. The poem's metaphors and descriptions convey a deep sense of loss, detachment, and the inexorable passage of time. Through the witness's stillness and the courtroom's hollow sounds, Kooser captures the emotional weight and quiet sorrow that accompany such moments of personal and legal dissolution. The poem stands as a powerful meditation on the nature of witnessing, both in the literal and metaphorical sense, and the silent burdens carried by those who observe and endure life's most trying events.


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