All the Sharp Things
First the obvious, the paring knives, the set of steak knives in their burnished box, the long serrated knife for slicing bread, the stubby one not good for anything but butter. And after that, he finds her sun-nosed pliers, her Phillips-head. Even the sewing scissors left open hear a spool of thread. Even the porcupine of a pincushion. And other things that never seemed as shrill before--he lays them out, each one a gift she cannot couch, so close the colored pencils, keys, tweezers from the lighted vanity. Wait long enough and anything takes on a sheen of sharpness. Mustn't leave her hands untied. She could stare the whorl from fingertips. Cut him with her eyes.
Jehanne Dubrow
The Arranged Marriage
All the Sharp Things
Jehanne Dubrow
what it means
All the sharp objects have to be taken away because this woman might attack her husband.
Actually, the meaning of this poem depends a lot on context. In the poems leading up to this one, the woman has been attacked, though it's not clear whether it's by a husband or not. I feel like this is a moment in a longer story where we are seeing the woman's power emerging and the man overreacting. But, if the poem were standing alone, you could easily think this woman was crazy and a danger to the world.
why I like it
Dubrow is my new favorite poet. I love what she does with story telling. I like that this poem is part of longer narrative. This poem's dual sense of menace, that we don't know whom to believe, gives the poem a terrifying energy.
craft
That long list of sharp objects at the beginning before you have any idea why they matter and then the slow turn when "he" finds the next set of objects. I am fascinated by how this story slowly is revealed. Of course, the small concrete objects. There are no metaphors in this poem, no line breaks; its power comes from what is not said.