Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Eileen Myles' "Milk" stands as a testament to the tumultuous relationship between external environments and internal landscapes. The poem acts like a mental snapshot, capturing the disjointed, often fragmented experience of navigating through changing surroundings and varying emotional states. Written in free verse, the poem defies traditional poetic structures, mirroring the chaos and unpredictability of the urban setting it describes.

The poem begins with the speaker flying into New York, signaling a transition not just in physical location but also in emotional state. The city, described as a "giant burr," presents a harsh contrast to the "white and stormy" plane ride. This movement from one environment to another serves as a metaphor for the speaker's emotional flux, emphasized by the phrase "something hot was moving through the City that I knew so well." This "hot" thing is undefined but palpable, indicating a tension or a stirring emotion that the speaker cannot entirely grasp or articulate.

Myles invokes the Icarian myth with the warning that the speaker's "wax would melt" if they flew too high. This reference introduces a cautionary tone, linking the urge to transcend physical and emotional boundaries with the risk of tragic failure. Yet the speaker challenges this caution, asking the Sun, "where's the fear?" Here, we sense a craving for risk-taking, an almost defiant stance against the conventional wisdom that advocates playing it safe. The speaker recognizes the inherent limitations imposed by fear but is willing to push the envelope.

The poem's setting, New York, adds another layer to this exploration. Described as a place where people are "like a tiny chain gang," the city offers both camaraderie and confinement. New Yorkers are "connected in their knowing and their saving one another," suggesting a community bound by shared experience and mutual support. Yet the description of morning trucks that "growl" hints at an underlying aggressiveness, an unspoken challenge that accompanies the city's inherent sense of community.

In the concluding lines, "save me from knowing myself if inside I only melt," the speaker seems to confront the vulnerability that comes with self-awareness. The fear is not of physical melting-like Icarus-but of an emotional or existential dissolution. The external world, with all its challenges and unpredictability, may be easier to navigate than the internal maze of self-doubt and emotional fragility.

"Milk" explores the dichotomy of risk and safety, of knowing and unknowing, through its depictions of changing landscapes and emotional states. Eileen Myles beautifully captures the essence of what it means to be lost yet found, to be confined yet free, and to be fearful yet defiant. The poem stands as an evocative portrait of a mind in flux, as unsettled and unpredictable as the city it traverses.

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