Half of Life meets META

Half-Life is the point in which a substances has decayed half way.

Meghan O'Rourke's book of poetry Halflife is a tribute to this definition. She explores the concept of decay as much as she plays on the idea of living.

Her first poem in this collection begins with "My poor eye. It has done/so much looking." The line break portrays the significance of sight. The emphasis on poor and excess is contrasted with the conclusion of the poem "Look again, and up you may rise/to something quite surprising in the distance."

To rise from poverty, to rise from struggle, and to find something not beautiful in the distance, but surprising is both inspirational and insightful (pun intended). There is hope, but the need to be hopeful insinuates loss.

This convoluted layering is in every poem of the book. Because though contradictions may be difficult to reconcile, they are fundamental. This is both a modern and post-modern thought. Though the modernist rejected contradictions, there underlining need to emphasis on wholes represented there need to make sense of these contradictions. The post-modernists in their extreme reaction took contradictions to a level of absoluteness, almost as if they too were creating meta narratives that simply contrasted with the modernist view.

I believe time always dictates change. It is on this note that I would argue that Meghan O'Rourke's layering is both a prime example of Meta modernism and yet another indication of the changes in today's evolving social fabric.

More on O'Rourke and poetry in coming posts!