The Town

            One of the poems that really stood out to me was The Absent Tenant’s Electricity written by Joshua Harmon. The title of the poem and the first line make it seem as if the entire poem is going to be about a single household but instead it is about everything around it. From the first description of the tenant’s thawing turkey to the bird’s nest above the mall imagery helps paint the picture of the small town. The imagery of the poem allows the reader to really visualize what the town and its people are like. The reader is able to infer from the details given that the town is quite old and a place of the religious working poor. The line that gives away the age of the town is when the poem describes its mayor turning down his hearing aid in order to stop the loudness of chainsaws. From the sound of the lumberjacks’ chainsaws you can tell that the town is quite secluded since the forest is very close to the neighborhood. Another line that shows the economic status of the town is not only the first, but also when the author states that there are “so many garages for rent.” All of those details alone may paint many different pictures but when put together they represent the town itself. Although the poem may not directly tell the story, the real story is all in the details.