SUBJECT>Re: Hannah - Thanks for the read on roofers POSTER>Hannah EMAIL>hrcraig@gmail.com DATE>1109291609 EMAILNOTICES>no IP_ADDRESS>dsl-198-144-43-33.city-net.com PASSWORD>aamfaEF9hh1V6 PREVIOUS>83840 NEXT> 83848 IMAGE> LINKNAME> LINKURL>

David-

Simply.

If they are "sardonic," by implication, that would seem to dismantle a pertinent part of the conceit from the upper half of the poem (the roofers and their suitedness to roofing). The intent of my comment on those two lines was not to say "these are serious remarks rather than tongue-in-cheek remarks" (in fact, I assumed my calling them "fronting" might imply that I saw them as less than serious, yes?) but to ask what happens to the poem if the reader answers "no" to the rhetorical question posed. To my eye, that is one point at which the poem begins to dismantle itself.

The top half of the poem raises a number of instances in which the issue of being "suited" to a location or a task are raised. The bottom half, then, would imply that regardless of whether one is fit to do a thing, one does a thing. I have no idea how these fit together in the framework provided by the poem.

I tried reading the whole thing as ironic, as I noted, and it didn't work.

Further still, the inconsistencies in tone and diction throughout the poem complicate this a great deal...having no idea HOW to read the lines is, in itself, an obstacle to fulfillment. From my perspective.

-H