Buddy
Wakefield’s poem; “Giant Saint Everything”
was written in his journal on August 6th, 2005. Wakefield is a
well-traveled American poet best known for his work in slam poetry; he has won a
number of awards throughout the slam circuit. Slam poetry has, and always will
be a form of expression dear to my heart. That being said, hearing this poem
performed by its author adds to the poem’s delectability. “Giant Saint Everything” is a free verse poem. It is a story about a
love from the past and its implications.
Wakefield’s
diction and word choice is always unexpected. With his words he paints pictures
I doubt I could ever imagine on my own. In my opinion Wakefield is the speaker
of this poem and that really speaks to my interpretation. In the first stanza
the speaker depicts a love that he at times has wanted to leave, but yet he
gets pulled back in. The person that the speaker is involved with is depicted
with, “a sunset /
that hung like a sacred recipe painted /
all the way
around Your holy head.” This makes them desirable again. I feel that it is as
if the object of affection has again become worthy of loving and implying that
they are holy. The speaker then reveals that is was them that drove the other
off. “I should have told You / before talking in terms of Forever.”
The
first two lines of the eighth stanza read, “There is a point when tears don’t
work /
to wash things away anymore.” This statement implies the idea that
initially tears are cleansing. Up until this point the speaker has been
lamenting the lost love. In the volta of the poem the speaker shouts of the
name of their love.
The
name that Wakefield shouts is the name of a man. Buddy Wakefield has left the
gender of his love up to the imagination until this point. This is essentially
the speaker outing himself, which is a very powerful event. This action also
shows why he alludes to “the holy” throughout the poem. By emphasizing faith in
the first two lines of stanza eleven with, “And sure, we all deserve
absolution, /
but especially You. You and Faith,”
He emphasizes that homosexuality doesn’t necessarily sit well
within religion. By using absolution he tells us that his love needs to release
his guilt.
In
the end of the poem Wakefield is essentially confessing his undying love. Love
that he has felt from the beginning, but just now getting the courage to
disclose. He again makes reference to religion and refers to the object of his
affection as his “Giant Saint Everything.” He ends the poem with the lines:
Today
all my visions converted to blurs
like
the night We saw the Light
and
I could not shut up
but
I swear I was feelin’ silence.
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