Response to “Photograph from September 11”

What make this “good” poetry?

"Photograph from September 11" by Szymborska

   Szymborska uses line-drawing technique to describe the photograph from September 11 or, as her words, “this flight.” Though the description is so concise and simple without any rhetoric, such as the line “They jumped from the burning floors—“ and “above the earth toward the earth,” it let audience to imagine the scene at that moment and get chills in the shortest time. All lines in the first two stanzas describes the photograph, but starting from the third stanza, the poet gradually exposes the images that are not in the photo rather than only what we can see. All those invisible images like “hidden blood” “loose hair” “falling keys and coins” inspire more offscreen imaginations. People are easily to connect the offscreen imaginations with the photograph, and there is a dynamic picture, which guides audience to think about the horrible end of the person in the photo and make them feel a surge of grief and pain. In a word, Szymborska’s simple words that lead audience to imagine from the photograph to the offscreen situations and to the tragic end makes the poem good. 

   Furthermore, Szymborska said she can only two things for those poor people. One is “describing the flight,” which records the last moment of their lives; and the other is “not adding a last line,” which means to hide the terrible outcomes and leave a space to imagination and thinking. Such space may trigger the meditation for life and let ourselves learn to revere life; such space may reignite the sense of anger and outrage over the terrorist attacks; or both; or more. In any case, the remaining space for imagination and thinking also makes this “good” poetry.