Poem Response-"Women's Locker Room" 11/2/19

I will try to focus on the aesthetics of this poem such as the visual appearance and also focus on the actual content. On paper, the poem has such a beauty to it. The stanzas are all the approximate length with the exception of one seemingly shorter than the rest. The way it is formatted sparks the allusion of storytelling. While reading the actual poem, it feels like the readers are being told a story, one of which is uncomfortable and obtrusive. As someone who hated locker rooms in high school, I can contend with this uneasy situation. I remember specifically trying to find a bathroom in which I could change rather than changing in the dreaded locker room. Besides the point, there are phrases that call back these uncomfortable memories. Phrases like "childhood taunts, branded ears" remind me of the annoying teens who shuffled in the locker room after health class. Not only does it depict the emotion so accurately, but it also paints pictures in my mind which I would never have imagined. The phrase "divide like an amoeba into twin rages that stomp around" is quite simply remarkable. The way it flows off the tongue is beautiful, the lyrical sound rings in my ears, but it is also the imagery which is wowing. I can just imagine an amoeba dancing trying to find its twin. The poem does a great job of making a connection between completely unrelated things, and I loved the format of telling the story.