“Mowing” is a prose poem, which is more and more prominent in modern verse. Instead of using line breaks, prose poetry lays out on the page the way prose does, with each line ending at the margin. A prose poem lacks deliberate line breaks and sometimes stanza breaks, so the poem looks like a simple block of text. By mimicking typical speech, it invites the reader to read the poem without stopping for pauses imposed by the writer. The reader feels they are spoken to more casually, and ergo it creates a sense of intimacy between speaker and reader. The form eschews formality.
One poetic device Limón employs is the use of repetition. The word “mowing” repeats several times in short sentences. It’s a staccato rhythm rather than long, compound sentences or the choral quality of anaphora. It gives the impression the speaker is addressing the reader in a casual way, as though they are standing there while she watches the man across the street. It’s as though the speaker were a friend, bringing them into a space that is paradoxically meant to be private. The speaker notes the man mowing one circle after another, using the hypnotic effect that watching the man has on the speaker. She does verbally what the scene does to her visually, repeating the phrase to get the mind into a meditative state.
Limón uses compact language to create profound effects. When she says she wants to be “less crow” (Line 13) and more “cool white pine” (Line 13) it is a succinct way of saying what she likes and does not like, what she wants and does not want. A crow, especially in comparison to a pine, is noisy. Unlike smaller birds, a crow may not so easily disappear. However, a pine, especially in this context, is cool. The word conjures several connotations. Cool is slang for someone who is socially desirable. Cool also can mean reserved, the way a pine is reserved, quiet, and unobtrusive. The literal definition of cool means endothermic, reserving heat, taking it and keeping it. A person who is cool retains energy, whereas someone making noise, like a crow, is burning through their energy, often to get attention. A crow is “clumsy and loud” (Line 13). A tree is quiet and keeps its own council.
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By Ada Limón