X
 

X

Illiteracy's scrawl, or learning's rune.
Marauders' crossbones, or St. Andrew's cross.
A promised cache of treasure, or the loss
of life-light from the eyes of a cartoon.

An unknown quantity. The standard scale
for clothing one more level large or small.
A player on the team that's lost the ball.
A rating given films beyond the pale.

The horizontal axis. V plus V.
The chromosome we all possess. A ray
our flesh is far too weak to turn away.
The crucial fragment of infinity.

A kiss goodbye. A rectified mistake.
And you. And I. Each other's, since our break.

In this virtuosic poem, the speaker simultaneously lists meanings of the super-significant letter “X” and hints at the reasons for a breakup (made explicit in the closing couplet). One of the challenges of a “list” poem is avoiding monotony, and this poem not only does so but achieves a rich variety of phrase and enjambment. The climactic shortening of phrases in the closing couplet is particularly powerful. Linked to the letter “X” with all its meanings, the breakup takes on cosmic significance.

Typo in line 11? Missing "to." I've seen this before, here presumably, but I can't remember the author. I like it.

Thank you, Mr. Hunt. I printed the poem as it was passed along to me. I have taken the liberty, however, of correcting what must certainly have been a typo.

Well, then, I hope I was right...

Wow! I don't usually embarrass myself by guessing, but this sounds like Elise Hempel to me. The piling up of images is ferocious, and the resolution turn at the end took my breath away. The lines with the least impact for me were 7 and 12, just because I don't fully understand them. I'm guessing L7 is the way they record something in baseball, but I thought it was strikes, which doesn't seem to tally with the team losing the ball. But I'm relatively happy to let sports metaphors wash over me misunderstood, whereas I feel like I ought to understand something about infinity. Can anyone help me?

Wow!

Actually, line 12 is the most inspired list item of all, and, if I understand correctly (limits approaching infinity = 2x), a brilliant segue into the final couplet.

This is on the level of Stallings. Bravo o Brava to whoever wrote it.

Editing back to say my initial enthusiasm is waning somewhat . . . still, it's one of the better ones posted so far.

I remember this poem and who wrote it. It is superb. It is memorable.

I xoxo this though I'd prefer if fewer lines were end stopped. Still...

Yes, this poem immediately reminds me of Stallings' Sine Qua Non; in that way, it is well-done and a joy to read. However, I don't see the variety of enjambment that the DG suggests (I agree with Orwn's comment), and I'd like to see more of a turn. But this one's in my top two so far.