Mid-Term Break

While I was reading this poem at first I wasn't really sure who it was that had died and then maybe about halfway through I thought maybe it was his brother. I misread the last line four or five times and didn't get it. I thought it was A four foot box, a foot for every foot and I was thinking okay no duh a foot for every foot and then I read it again slower and realized what it was really saying. That was the worst realization I had. The poor little thing was only four years old. The seventh stanza was surprising. It's when you finally realize that the little boy was hit by a car. I thought it was a little strange though that it said :No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear." Like it was lucky or something. Well you know he did die, but at least he doesn't look bad because the bumper saved his face. I understand that there is always optimism in every situation, but I really don't think that is what I would be thinking if I had seen my little brother for the first time in six weeks and he was lying in a casket. I thought it was a little shocking that the author calls it a corpse in the last line of the fifth stanza. I mean this is his little brother and maybe that is just a way for him to deal with the thought of losing him is to make him into an object instead of his four year old brother. I think this is one of the most powerful poems I have read. I really liked it a lot. I think it is fascinating and very interestingly written. The first stanza is apprehensive, the second is sorrowful, the third is happy, the fourth sympathetic, the fifth is angry, the sixth is calm almost or realizational, and the seventh is thankful. I think all the stanza are kind of going through all the stages of grief. I really like the way this author sets up the poem.