Dim Lady Blog Response

So I’m deciding to write a response to Dim Lady by Harryette Mullen from the poetry packet. The reason I am choosing to respond to this poem out so many others, is because for one, I comprehend it, two, I don’t mind it, and three, why not? There are plenty of confusing poems (essentially anything by Shakespeare) and many that are just hard to read.  And plus I’m waiting until the last minute to get Fluorescence (don’t worry I’ll read it, I just feel like doing this first).

First thing I have to say about the poem is it is clearly a modern revamp of the “My Mistress” poem by Shakespeare (as discussed in class).  “Today’s special at Red Lobster is redder than her kisser” from Dim Lady and “Coral is far more red than her lips red” from “My Mistress” are pretty similar lines.  I like the Dim Lady poem better, mostly because it doesn’t feel like it is in a foreign language like Shakespeare tends to.  Plus this poem caters to me, as I live in a world of Red Lobster and not in a world comparing lips to coral.

The whole beauty is in the eye of the beholder stuff is always cute, however questionable. The lyrics in this poem remind me of lines in a Bruce Springstein song, Thunder Road in which he says the same things” Ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright. Oh yeah, and that's alright with me”. I think Bruce Springstein had the same thoughts as this poet, however I also think he was talking about a groupie that he wasn’t’ interested in getting to know. While I would like to analyze Bruce Springstein, a true poet, I think I should go back onto what I thought of “Dim Lady”.

I haven’t quite been able to tell if this poem is mean or not. I could argue it is sweet but I don’t really think it is, to be honest I don’t think I would find much sex appeal in the girl described in this poem. My girlfriend doesn’t wheeze a garlic breeze (often) and if liquid paper is white, than she is liquid paper. I’ll admit I’m a shallow fellow, but then again I think that’s what really liking someone is, not seeing the flaws but still caring about said person. No, I think liking someone is more about being perfectly blind to the flaws, because I could see all the gross things my girlfriend did, but then if I saw them she probably wouldn’t be my girlfriend.

            My overall thoughts of the poem is that it is clever, even thought it has already been done.  It is cute, bringing in pizza parlors and Red Lobster in the mix to modern it up a bit. However, I find the content in this (and in Shakepere’s poem) a little hilarious, and a little degrading. If I had these thoughts about a girl I was dating, I think I would need a mistress (although in Shakepere’s case his mistress wasn’t a looker so I’m suspecting his wife was really unattractive, I don’t know anything about Shakespeare; I’m just making a funny).  This poem is funny, and kept me entertained, so I think in the simplest terms, I liked it.