Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Susan Wheeler’s "Short Shrift" is a densely woven poem that juxtaposes fragments of cultural critique, personal observation, and abstract narrative. Its layered, kaleidoscopic structure resists linear interpretation, instead offering a sensory and intellectual collage that invites readers to parse meaning through connections and contrasts.

The title, "Short Shrift," suggests brevity, dismissal, or insufficient attention, setting the tone for a poem that teeters between fleeting impressions and moments of acute focus. Wheeler plays with the fragmentation of contemporary life, merging the banal and profound, the personal and the global, into a single, disjointed narrative.

The opening lines ground the poem in motion: "I was at and about everything, nodding through the mall lot, / cutting through the yard with quick, light steps." The speaker’s restless traversal of spaces—a mall parking lot, a yard—evokes the rhythms of modern life, where physical and metaphorical pathways intersect. These scenes quickly shift to "the rains" and "a quilt scrap sustained them in late, dark readings from Isaiah." The biblical reference adds a layer of existential weight, suggesting survival amidst turmoil, while the quilt scrap becomes a fragile symbol of comfort or continuity.

The inclusion of William Pfaff’s 1981 critique—“they regard the objectivity of the market as a disguise for an abdication of values and of intellectual dependence”—anchors the poem in a broader cultural commentary. This line critiques capitalism and its moral disengagement, a theme Wheeler weaves throughout the poem with images of consumerism and commodification. The "mall lot" and "Pathmark lot" become not just physical spaces but emblems of a transactional, value-void existence.

Wheeler’s imagery is often startling, oscillating between the domestic and the surreal: “In this house, objects operate optimally. / The log on the fire is seasoned to flame, the chips in the basket Olestra cramp not.” These lines convey a sense of precision and control, but the mention of Olestra—a fat substitute infamous for its side effects—undercuts this perfection with a hint of discomfort and artificiality. The mundane is rendered uncanny, a reflection of the tension between appearances and underlying truths.

The poem’s disjointed narrative expands into societal and personal critiques: "Bodies doubled over slush underfoot / of the tape, loss-evidence, white shit." These visceral images of decay and struggle contrast sharply with the intellectual detachment of earlier lines, emphasizing the messy realities that underlie sanitized ideals. Similarly, the refrain "He got the newsprint spread about" captures the chaotic dissemination of information and its impact on public and private consciousness.

Interspersed throughout are cultural references—Sembene’s Guelwaar, consumer brands, literary theorists, and pop culture icons like Bruce Willis. These allusions underscore the overwhelming noise of modernity, where high and low culture coexist and collide. The list-like structure of “Tyvek Bruce Willis Buffalo Bertelsman Turtle Wax Tiger Balm” mimics the inundation of brand identities and cultural signifiers in daily life, blurring distinctions between meaning and materiality.

In its closing lines, the poem veers toward the lyrical and philosophical: “The night and the stars and the window / The sigh and the gown and the fiddle / The calling to hymn and from sorrow jumping.” This imagery suggests moments of transcendence or emotional release, counterbalancing the weight of critique with a sense of human resilience or spirituality. Yet, Wheeler undercuts any resolution with the jarring return to consumerism and corporate references, reflecting the persistent tension between the sublime and the commercial.

“Short Shrift” ultimately captures the fractured nature of contemporary existence, where identity, culture, and consumerism intersect in complex, often contradictory ways. Wheeler’s blending of the mundane, the surreal, and the intellectual challenges readers to navigate the poem’s fragmented terrain, piecing together its disparate elements to form their own interpretations. It’s a work that resists easy answers, embodying the chaos and richness of the world it depicts.

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