Life Without Limits

Poet Laureate Ada Limón (Photo by Lucas Marquardt)

In this installment of “Read Like a Writer”, we are going to take a look at the work of current United States Poet Laureate, Ada Limón. The first Mexican woman to be named the U.S. Poet Laureate, she has published six books of poetry, her most recent titled, The Hurting Kind. Today, we are going to examine her techniques in her poem, “The Last Thing”.

“The Last Thing” is a poem that emphasizes the importance of taking the time to recognize the beauty in the mundane moments around you. Limón hones in on everyday details and imagery and uses them to hold us in a moment. The wing of a blue jay, a pistachio shell, these become an avenue through which we can learn to better appreciate the world around us. But how does she do this?

One of Limón’s greatest skills in this poem is how she controls its rhythm through her language and the length of her lines. She utilizes a term called enjambment in which a thought or idea continues over to the next line without punctuation. For example the line, “Then the bluish- / black moth drunkenly tripping / from blade to blade.” That one sentence featured two line breaks and took up three lines of the poem. There are many reasons that a poet may use enjambment, but in this case it helps to increase the pace of the poem. 

Consider the opposite. In the tenth line of the poem, Limón says, “Not in the universe, / but in the basin of my mind, / where I’m always making a list for you,” While the idea continues onto the next line, it doesn’t qualify as an enjambment because of the use of commas. This small detail causes us to naturally pause at the end of each line, making the image or the idea sit with us longer. This could be used to signify the importance of a line, or just to keep us in a specific moment longer. By alternating between these two devices, she can play with the rhythm and the speed at which we read the poem.

Another skill in this poem is Ada Limón’s use of descriptive detail and how it allows us to feel present in this world that she’s created. In one section of the poem, Limón uses a string of noun phrases to create concrete, vivid imagery. She states, “recording the day’s minor / urchins: silvery dust mote, pistachio / shell, the dog eating a sugar / snap pea.” These small and seemingly insignificant details are the heart of what her poem is about. Another line, “The noise like fingers drumming / the skin”, utilizes the word music of the word ‘drumming’. The gentle hum of the two M’s allows us to visualize, and almost feel the sensation that she’s describing.

If you happen to enjoy this poem, I recommend that you seek out more of Ada Limón’s work. Even if you’re new to poetry, her conversational tone makes her poems welcoming to new readers.