Blog Post 12

IT & CO page 17

“We are a part of It. Not guests.

Is It us, or what contains us?

How can It be anything but an idea, Something teetering on the spine

Of the number i? It is elegant

But coy. It avoids the blunt ends

Of our fingers as we point. We

Have gone looking for It everywhere:

In Bibles and bandwidth, blooming

Like a wound from the ocean floor.

Still, It resists the matter of false vs. real.

Unconvinced by our zeal, It is un-

Appeasable. It is like some novels:

Vast and unreadable.”

In this poem Tracy uses varying techniques to elicit something imaginary that I thought was very interesting. At first, Tracy begins using a capital “I” when saying “It”, which elicits the question of what “It” is, she writes about the “number i” which is the imaginary number/unit, and she mentions the various searches that have taken place, “In Bibles and bandwidth.” At first I thought she was talking about the universe/solar system because I know this book was written about her father who worked on the Hubble Telescope. As the poem evolved I thought that it was more so about finding our meaning and our place within the universe, that I think could parallel Tracy’s attempt to find meaning without her father being alive.

The universe on it’s own is “vast and unreadable” as Tracy writes in similarity to books that we may read. Tracy shifts perspective between the real/conceivable and the imaginary/unbelievable. The poem, and the collection as a whole, dances around this idea of finding something solid and real to ground oneself in, yet realizing that a lot of the time that experience is unattainable.

The title “IT & CO” made me think of “It” and company, being purposefully ambiguous on Tracy’s behalf. It is the ambiguity that allows readers to alter the meaning of the poem. In poetry I enjoy when the poet is not decisive about their intentions or what they want the reader to walk away thinking/knowing. It is an ambiguous poem that allows each reader to shape their own meaning and connection. Ultimately, a piece that may have been written by Tracy about her father or the way he made her think, becomes a piece about being grounded and establishing connections that anyone can relate to in their own way.