When I first viewed “Stop & Look, Alicante” by Layla Benitez-James, I thought that I could easily discern the true meaning of the poem because the words of the poem all were similar. I saw words that were familiar and felt confident since most of the poems we read in class were complex. Then as I thoroughly started to read the poem, I realized how much I didn’t understand. I honestly even questioned why this was a poem. I was distracted by the use of parentheses, the italicized words, choppy thoughts, and especially the last stanza which seemed to completely stand on its own. I didn’t even know what Alicante meant or if it was an object. However, as I started the second read into the poem, I decided to focus on one stanza’s meaning instead of thinking about how the entire poem went together.
The title of the poem was what confused me first. I saw the word alicante, but completely ignored the meaning of it on the first read. Then when I searched for it, I found that it was a city in Spain. That helped me narrow down the options of what the poem could mean as it had to refer to this city. The first stanza included the one and only set of parentheses in the poem. “Why is there (under this sea) always an other sea?” I remembered from reading poems by E.E. Cumming that parentheses could be used to designate language that can be taken out of the poem or language that conveys a deeper meaning than the words surrounding it. So I tried to analyze this first sentence using this strategy. When this didn’t work, I continued on with the rest of the first stanza to figure out this second sea that was beneath an other sea. Then as I was reading the rest of the poem to try and figure this out, I realized that this second sea could simply be referring to a second bikini or a second page on a shopping website. The rest of the stanza went pretty smoothly when I was deciphering the text. I saw that she used a homophone with “peak” and “peek” which piqued my curiosity, but then I saw that her other poems also include homophones as well. I was still confused, nevertheless, with why this stanza felt so rushed and choppy.
After I moved on from the first stanza, I thought that I would have a general idea about the poem until I looked at the italics in the poem. Why in the world would this poet include how a hungry snail eats? I was completely lost as to how this information pertained to the rest of the poem. I tried searching up what a moon snail was to gain a better understanding of it, but all I found was that these snails have the shells that tourists usually find on a beach. I started to connect that the reason that she started researching moon snails
was that she could be planning a potential vacation to Alicante. In fact, it made perfect sense. Benitez-James wrote this poem from a tourist’s view. Before a tourist starts to go on their vacation, they generally buy new clothes for the vacation and also research the positives and negatives of the area. This person in the poem is buying bikinis for the beaches in Alicante and was afraid of seeing moon snails by referring to how she wondered,” What if I lost these breasts altogether?” I still had some questions as to why it felt so rushed with the italics, but I thought those would be answered later in the poem. Then I saw the last paragraph and felt my entire thought process go to pieces.
“The leopard walks on water. The claws just prick the surface without going under.” In what world does a leopard walk on water and not sink? I attempted to read the rest of the poem again to figure out this last stanza and I did not have a single clue as to what this leopard refers to. Then I realized that I unknowingly
skipped over the “leopard-print bikinis” mentioned in the first stanza and once I went back to it, I knew that these two had to be connected. However, even with this thought, I still had no clue as to how this last stanza refers to the poem’s main message or main meaning.
In all honesty, I can’t seem to connect the last stanza to the rest of the poem. I do know that this poem has to refer to some sort of beach vacation in Alicante. I also know that this entire poem is a thought process that occurred in a matter of minutes in a person’s head. It makes sense that it is choppy and rushed if it was just thoughts in someone’s head. It could be about appreciating beauty, but that wouldn’t apply to the entire poem meaning that it would be a false interpretation. I thought that there would be a clear deep meaning behind everything in this poem, but as I read it over and over again, I can’t seem to think it is anything but a person doing some simple vacation planning.
Hi Vishal! You definitely chose an interesting poem, and its modern context is very different than other pieces we have read in class. So far, we have gone through a lot of poems that are historically famed and renowned, so your poem and its references to things like “the web” are very different. Similar to you, I thought my poem was going to be simple to analyze and easy to understand because it is not written in its own, out-of-the-box literary prose like E.E. Cummings, and there is no mysterious object that needs to be deciphered from the stanzas. However, upon a second read, I also got more confused as I questioned why the author used certain literary devices. As observed in your poem, the usage of techniques such as parentheses, italicized words, choppy thoughts and a major shift in the last paragraphs add depth to the seemingly most simple poems, truly making them difficult. It looks so easy on the surface, but trying to look inside the mind of the author and figure out why they wrote their poem in the way that they did can be difficult. I think you did a great job analyzing these literary devices and considering their meaning! Sometimes the seemingly most simple poems become the most difficult, and I think you did a really good job!
Hi Vishal! For starters, I love the poem you picked out for your difficulty essay. On my first read through of it, I think the vibe I get from it the most is like clear lake water. It feels like the cold quiet stillness of the lake, and dragging your fingers in it sends ripples and blur whatever is under the surface. I have no idea if that makes snes, but that is the general ‘vibe’ I get from your poem (even if it does talk about the ocean). I appreciate the way you break down your poem. I think it is really helpful and insightful when you explain how you went through your process. It feels like I’m truly reading this poem with you, which I really appreciate! It (at the very least) makes me feel like I’m not completely alone when I’m confused with your poem. I think the thing that had me the most caught up on this poem was the use of the leopards and the leopard print swim suits. It feels so much like imagery for something, but I can’t tell if the fact the swim suits being leopard print means anything other than that they could be leopard print, you know? Thank you so much for sharing your poem, Vishal!
Hey Vishal, My first reaction to your poem was that I liked it. It seems more modern compared to the other poem we read because for some reason we only read poems written in the Jurassic era. Also, as you said, the poem was easy to understand and less complex than others. I like you started with the title of the poem to narrow down the meaning of the poem. Unlike other poems we’ve read, this one actually has an interesting title so it was a wise choice to start with the title. I found it very funny that a small thing like a moon snail lead you to the conclusion that the speaker was planning a vacation to Alicante, I guess that is the nature of poetry. I was also confused by the leopard that could walk on water. Overall, your thought process was great and you did a good job explaining it.