Letters -- revised on May 27, 2008

By Kimee E. Santiago

**I revised the poem, "letters"; i meant it to be communicated this way, not only as a nostalgic poem about snail mail. i realized the first draft needed a few more hints, so here it goes. =)

Hey.

I got your e-mail.

They’re more like notices

Getting shorter as they come

Like I am a transaction.

I’m sorry it took me a day

To respond.

Had to go through the letters

You used to send me. I keep them in a

Bundle, Dear, by my pillow.

Tied loosely with the rosepoint sash

Of my lingerie unwashed

Since you left.

How much do stamps cost now?

I knew you better when

Your illegible cursives would

Stroke me gently and lift my skirt

Then I would feel how you went

Through your day as your

Loops and tittles sigh with

The release of your pen.

And I would lean back, weakened

with the pages consumed by your presence.

Before resealing your letters

I’d taste you in the flap.

I Shut Myself to Oblivion

by: Shanna

I shut myself to oblivion,
slammed the door
and blew the tiny spark
of the dying candle away.
The light out there
has been radiant,
But its flares,
its prickly kisses
hurt.
Then I heard
some faint moonlight spilled
around the doorframe
Then the pitch-black silence
was shattered
into a wild syncopation
when I heard the thud
of my newly-awakened heart.

Letters

By Kimee E. Santiago
May 14, 2008
Hey.

I got your e-mail.

They’re more like notices

Getting shorter as they come

Like I am a transaction.

I’m sorry it took me a day

To respond.

Had to go through the letters

You used to send me. I keep them in a

Bundle, Dear, by my pillow.

Tied loosely with the rosepoint sash

Of my night gown unwashed

Since you left.

How much do stamps cost now?

I knew you better when

Your illegible cursives would

Stroke me gently and

Then I would feel how you went

Through your day as your

Loops and tittles sigh with

The release of your pen.

And I would lean back, relieved

With pages consumed by your presence.

Before resealing your letters

I’d taste you in the flap.

Hair in my Skirt

By Kimee E. Santiago
May 14, 2008

I tug at a stray thread

Dangling from my skirt hem.

It stretches, as the cloth

Ripples with resistance.

It breaks to coil into a frizzed

Ringlet and announce

It is hair, not thread.

For a year of wears-and-washes

My skirt kept a secret:

It has life stitched in it

Peeking into me, into a spot

Most honest and pure.

Saturday

By Kimee E. Santiago

So it’s another Saturday when hanging on to your bag

As your most accessible companion you

Pore over bestsellers only to put titles down

Denouncing bookstores for selling rubbish

Bound, reviewed and shamelessly called books that

Shuffling through racks of clothing

is a better mind-feed of tasteless effects magnified

by snobbish brands branding you nameless

no more, hiding subordination under skirt

tucking fucking bills and bosses into belt loops with

your fingers like one hooks index and thumb

on a cup of coffee and company, where you wish these

bills bosses boredom would all go swirling and

dying in dilution but hell no---

your coffee has more water than coffee

your table for two is table for you

alone after another Saturday of fruitlessly shopping

for good conversation.

On "Gollum's Song"

From Robert Vladimir Odeneza:

Hi blogfellows! Sorry to have been away for quite a while, but now I’m back with another song interpretation, and this time, “Gollum’s Song” sung by Emiliana Torrini, written by Fran Walsh, and music composed by Howard Shore. You can hear this on the credits part of your “Lord of the Rings the Two Towers” DVD. Here’s a copy for you:

Where once was light
Now darkness falls
Where once was love
Love is no more
Don't say goodbye
Don't say I didn't try

These tears we cry
Are falling rain
For all the lies you told us
The hurt, the blame!
And we will weep to be so alone
We are lost
We can never go home

So in the end
I'll be what I will be
No loyal friend
Was ever there for me

Now we say goodbye
We say you didn't try

These tears you cry
Have come too late
Take back the lies
The hurt, the blame!

And you will weep
When you face the end alone
You are lost
You can never go home
You are lost
You can never go home

The song has no word too deep to comprehend. The language is even colloquial. What makes it difficult to process though is its confusing point of view or narrative; it makes use of the pronouns I (first person singular), We (first person plural) and You (second person.) Now, just whom is this persona talking to? Or, do we just have one speaker here?

Perhaps a little review of who Gollum is would help. Those of us who have (at least) watched the LOTR trilogy would know that Gollum is the meaner side of Sméagol. They live together in one body, and what’s amazing is that they talk to each other secretly as if unaware that they are just one. They normally get to do this when Sam and Frodo are asleep.

I believe that the inconsistent point of view in this poem (or song) is rightfully reflective of Gollum and Sméagol’s dual personality. It is also an expression of the misery that Sméagol has gotten himself into after possessing that “precious” ring; thus, Gollum says “Where once was light, Now darkness falls. Where once was love, Love is no more.” And Gollum seemingly blames Sméagol to be solely responsible for their wretchedness – “These tears we cry Are falling rain For all the lies you told us…”

The last part of Gollum’s song would suggest that he is already bereft of hope for Sméagol to get his old life back – “These tears you cry Have come too late…You are lost, you can never go home.”

The entire song, to me, is an expression of Gollum’s disappointment of Sméagol or (actually) of himself, but since he never wants to admit that, he used “You” instead of “I” or “We” in the lines, “The lies you told us...” and “You are lost, you can never go home” among others.

I would humbly accept any corrections or suggestions from Tolkien readers regarding this interpretation. Thank you for reading!