the golden door!
"The golden door is a beacon of promise beckoning immigrants to embrace a new land and all it offers. Another meaning of the golden door is that anything worthwhile is worth fighting and working hard for, and gold is emblematic of something of worth"
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
This giant lights the path to a better life. Send those with no homes and suffering to me, so they can start a new life. Is the author writing about its appreciation and respect for the statue and the country? What is the message for the reader?
Mother of Exiles
This is the statue of liberty. She is a symbol of immigration and opportunity.
mighty woman with a torch
It is a woman.
the brazen giant of Greek fame
"the Colossus of Rhodes, once one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A monument to military might"
The kilt, devised for workers To wear among the dusty clattering looms.
I think it would be uncomfortable and dangerous to wear a kilt or any flowy outfit in a sweatshop or place with a lot of looms. Maybe this is just making fun of them.
The shirt.
Does the author miss the factory? Why is this the focus when a fire was mentioned. Maybe the author has been so conditioned to focus on making quality clothes that they can't focus on anything else. I'm not sure what the detail of the shirts represent.
Irma And she inspected my shirt. Its color and fit
Is she a customer? Is she the boss?
your descendant is a Black Lady in South Carolina
My descendant?
savage Scottish workers
Why are they described as savage?
Ossian
Ossian is the narrator and author of poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson.
Like Hart Crane’s Bedlamite, “shrill shirt ballooning.”
A bedlamite is insane person speeding to the edge of a bridge. I guess to the author this works in this situation. People are jumping out of a building which normally would look crazy, but his perspective seems off. Maybe in a sweatshop, when emergencies such as a big fire happens, the workers are told to keep working. So it's possible he has been trained to ignore immediate danger.
Wonderful how the pattern matches perfectly Across the placket and over the twin bar-tacked
In the middle of this emergency, the author noticed how well put together this man's suit its. The man who is jumping out of a burning building. It's weird how his mind goes to this place during this time. Maybe the harsh conditions of a sweatshop had changed his mind to focus on little details like this and not big emergencies.
Away from the masonry wall and let her drop. And then another.
The shock of seeing people jump out of a building quickly wore off as so many people had to jump for a chance of survival.
a young man helped a girl to step Up to the windowsill, then held her out
A girl had to jump out to live. I'm guessing the man didn't survive.
The witness in a building across the street
Is the author the witness
Triangle Factory in nineteen-eleven
The Triangle Factory was a 10 story factory that went down in flames in 1911. It was one of the biggest deadliest industrial disasters in Manhattan, New York.
The infamous blaze
The infamous blaze of a sewing machine? Is this blaze painful and destructive like fire?
Gossiping over tea and noodles on their break Or talking money or politics
The atmosphere of the sweatshop. Maybe the speaker or author knows someone who has worked in a sweatshop. What is the point of sharing this story?
Lapped seams, The nearly invisible stitches along the collar Turned in a sweatshop
Clothing sweatshop. Manual labor, low wages, long hours, poor conditions.
Shirt
A way to cover yourself. Clothing is a status marker and a form of self-expression. The way you see yourself and how others see you.
belongs to a girl still burninginside my head.
Could be a flashback. PTSD
driven by a godawful wind.
The open wind spreads deadly fire
she burns like a piece of paper.
She is delicate. When you burn paper it becomes ash You could say it disappears.
We stand with our handshanging at our sides,while she burns
They can't do anything but watch the girl burn.
The cry I bring down from the hills
Cry: chant, sorrow, grief
She burns like foxfirein a thigh-shaped valley.A skirt of flamesdances around herat dusk.
Personifying the fire. The girl is not the fire, but she burns like one. Is she destructive? Is she passionate? Does she represent a person or a feeling?
You and I Are Disappearing
Could be the grief of a loss. -losing oneself -losing a loved one -losing a dream/failing Are they forcibly being removed from something? Or are they becoming distant?
Or does it explode?
an explosion could be a revolution. After fighting for the dreaming and constantly being shut down and denied, they begin to get angry. In this case, the equal rights African Americans in America, after not being treated fairly, a revolution starts, and they are no longer peaceful.
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Is it a burden for the common people? Everyday people think that they do not have the power to make big changes. So thinking about the work that needs to be done could be overwhelming.
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Leaves a bad taste, smell, and feeling. Like a nightmare?
Or fester like a sore—
does it become painful? too hard to think about?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Does it get old? Are people tired of this dream? Are people tired of working/fighting and seeing little change.
What happens to a dream deferred?
to defer something is to put it aside for later. What dream is being postponed? Why does it have to wait?
steelo
Steelo: style/someone's aura/desirable Also an early 2000s r&b song
Laughing at baseheads trying to sell some broken amps
basehead = coke addict/one who regularly uses coke Someone desperately trying to make money, even selling broken things, so they can afford their next high. These are the type of people in his environment.
Whenever frustrated, I'm a hijack Delta
hijack Delta was an aircraft hijacking incident in 1972 What does it mean to be this?
It's like the game ain't the sameGot younger negroes pulling the triggers, bringing fame to their name
Today, younger black men are getting involved with illegal activity. Fame could be rappers acting tough, or being on the news for a crime.
New York state of mind
What is the meaning of this mentality? Is it empowering? A survival mindset?
dungeons of rap
Dungeon could mean secret, trap, or undercover. So maybe making a comeback.
Nor any know I know the Art
No one knows that she known how to dance. She could possibly be shamed or punished for dancing (or just having a hobby).
No Ringlet, to my Hair,Nor hopped for Audiences ‑ like Birds
No ringlets for her hair, she was poor. No audience, she was alone/unknown
no Gown of Gauze
She is dancing without any shame of her appearance. his could represent acting on your dreams or your heart without worrying what anyone else thinks. Gown of Gauze = cotton dress
inexplicably falling, hitting the floor
He dropped the ball but was still able to make a goal in the end. This might be a description of a set back.
gathering the orange leather from the air like a cherished possession
Catching the ball and holding it close. Could the ball represent a dream/goal or a person?
commits to the wrong man
Is the wrong man someone the speaker thought they could trust? Is it another obstacle? This feels like describing the obstacles and setbacks faced when "shooting your shot" or chasing your dream.
moving together as brothers passing the ball
Teamwork. Letting others help you? Is the speaker referencing people dear to him?
an underhand pass toward the other guard scissoring past a flat-footed defender
Getting past your opponent and closer to the net. This could mean getting past an obstacle and closer to one's goal.
and swiveling back to see an orange blur floating perfectly through the net.
The speaker is describing something through the game of basketball.
in the vertigo cold.in the hot paralysis.
This is like a desert or a rough place to live (like a prison maybe). Hot paralysis, cry, vertigo cold (when it's dark).
Under the wolves and coyotes of particular silences.
hiding from them predators?
cultivation of strength to heal and enhance
The being she calls to has the power to heal and to possibly to kill. Could this be related to religion?
Over
Over is capitalized twice. Is over a person/figure/symbol? Is over the powerful being above the writer is talking to.
cultivation of victory Overlong blows that you want to give and blows you are going to get.
Winning a fight. The blows are taking and receiving damage.
Where it is dry.Where it is dry.
Does this reference the setting? A dry place in the dark? It could be a desert or a reference to an unknown location.
in the dark
There is privacy in the dark
in the chalk and choke.
There are many references to sickness and death. "choke" "sicken" "vertigo". "Choke" at the end of the poem could mean death after fighting (a sickness or some battle) or the end of something. Chalk could be the explanation. To chalk something up is to make up an explanation.