Poetry Analysis

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apogee

Original Poetry

Translation

apogee

above the serrated ridges,

high above the jagged mountain tops,

where snow gathers in deep, gloomy hollows

where snow collects in dark, deep hollows

and clouds drag their bruised bellies over the treeline,

and clouds drag their heavy bodies over the trees,

there is a creature with wings carved from calcified lightning and salt

there is a being with wings made from hardened lightning and salt

her body is the hue of a starved winter sun,

her body is the color of a hungry winter sun,

the brittle, brassy glare

the fragile, shiny glare

that spills where morning first splits the peaks–

that spills where morning first breaks the peaks–

teach my bones how to leave

teach my bones how to depart

how to open my hands to what they cannot keep

how to open my hands to what they cannot hold

her mane moves like a river upended by wind,

her mane flows like a river turned upside down by wind,

frayed silver at the edges,

tattered silver at the edges,

thick as frost-rime,

thick like frost,

soft as the thin veil of mist

soft like the thin layer of mist

that gathers over blind valleys before dawn

that gathers over unseen valleys before dawn

when she runs, the mountains seem to unspool beneath her

when she runs, the mountains seem to unravel beneath her

her hooves touch stone only long enough

her hooves touch the ground only briefly

to strike a spark of frost,

to create a spark of frost,

then she is airborne,

then she is flying,

rising through the cold where swallows turn

and the highest eagles disappear into the pale grit of sky

and the highest eagles vanish into the pale sky

her wings stretch wide enough to swallow the gorge,

her wings stretch wide enough to engulf the gorge,

feather upon feather,

layered in sheets of sheared ice,

layered in sheets of cut ice,

each one catching a violet sheen of pearl

each one catching a purple sheen of pearl

when the fading sun strikes them

when the setting sun strikes them

i keep looking up from the valley floor,

I keep looking up from the valley floor,

where the damp roots hold me fast,

where the damp roots hold me tightly,

watching the girl who knows how to break free–

watching the girl who knows how to escape–

some things are only ever lent to the sky

some things are only ever borrowed from the sky

sometimes she passes through the rain

sometimes she moves through the rain

and emerges glistening,

and comes out shining,

droplets trembling along her neck

droplets trembling on her neck

like shattered quartz tangled in her hair,

like broken quartz tangled in her hair,

heavy with the cold ruin of storms

heavy with the cold destruction of storms

sometimes she dissolves entirely into the clouds

sometimes she completely vanishes into the clouds

until nothing remains but a phantom,

until nothing is left but a ghost,

a silent, dark fracture dragging across the snowfields

a silent, dark tear dragging across the snowfields

and when she emerges again,

and when she appears again,

the sky swallows the sound–

the sky absorbs the sound–

leaving only the brittle chill,

leaving only the cold chill,

and the heavy thrum of her wings,

and the heavy beat of her wings,

and the long sweep of her spine

and the long curve of her back

i watch until my eyes burn–

I watch until my eyes burn–

asking the wind to sever my tether too,

asking the wind to cut my ties too,

learning what it means to love something

just as she unlearns the ground.

just as she forgets the ground.

from down here, where frost hardens the earth,

my bare hands still holding the memory of her warmth,

i watch her cut through the bleeding amber,

I watch her slice through the bleeding amber,

her wings drenched in the last raw glare

her wings soaked in the last raw light

of the world she is leaving for good.

of the world she is leaving forever.

Explanation

In the poem 'apogee', the speaker captures a moment of transcendence and longing through vivid imagery and metaphor. The title itself, 'apogee', refers to the highest point in an orbit, symbolizing the peak of freedom and elevation. The poem begins with a description of a creature soaring above 'serrated ridges', where nature's harshness is juxtaposed with the beauty of flight. The phrase 'wings carved from calcified lightning and salt' evokes a sense of power and ethereality, suggesting that this creature embodies both the fierce and the fragile aspects of existence.

As the poem unfolds, the speaker expresses a yearning to learn how to 'leave' and 'open my hands to what they cannot keep', indicating a desire to break free from earthly ties. This emotional arc is further emphasized by the imagery of the creature's mane, which 'moves like a river upended by wind', suggesting fluidity and freedom. The speaker's longing intensifies as they observe the creature's grace, feeling tethered to the ground while yearning for the sky.

The poem employs rich literary devices, such as simile and metaphor, to enhance its emotional depth. The comparison of the creature's mane to a river and the description of her wings as 'layered in sheets of sheared ice' create a tactile, visual experience for the reader. The use of sound imagery, particularly in the lines about the 'heavy thrum of her wings', adds to the poem's sensory richness, immersing the reader in the experience of flight and freedom.

Ultimately, 'apogee' speaks to the universal themes of longing, freedom, and the desire to transcend limitations. The speaker's observations reflect a deep connection to nature and a recognition of the beauty and pain inherent in both love and loss. The poem resonates with contemporary themes of identity and the search for liberation, making it a poignant exploration of the human experience.

Word Dictionary96

Word	In English	Plain (English)	Pron.
apogee	highest point in orbit	the farthest point in the orbit of a celestial body from the Earth	apogee
serrated	jagged	having a saw-like edge	serrated
gloomy	dark and sad	filled with darkness or sadness	gloomy
bruised	hurt or damaged	showing signs of injury or damage	bruised
calcified	hardened like stone	turned into a hard substance like calcium	calcified
brassy	shiny and yellowish	having a bright, metallic appearance	brassy
glare	bright light	a strong, harsh light	glare
splits	divides	to separate into parts	splits
brittle	fragile	easily broken or damaged	brittle
hue	color	a shade or tint of color	hue
starved	very hungry	suffering from lack of food	starved
teach	show how to do something	to instruct or educate someone	teach
bones	the hard parts of the body	the rigid structure that forms the skeleton	bones
leave	go away	to depart from a place	leave
open	to make accessible	to allow entry or access	open
hands	parts of the body used for holding	the end part of a person's arm	hands
keep	to hold onto	to retain possession of something	keep
mane	long hair on an animal's neck	the hair growing from the neck of a horse or similar animal	mane
upended	turned upside down	to be turned over or reversed	upended
frayed	worn out at the edges	torn or unraveling at the edges	frayed
frost-rime	frost	a coating of ice crystals on a surface	frost-rime
veil	thin covering	a delicate covering that hides or protects	veil
gathers	collects	to come together or accumulate	gathers
blind	unable to see	lacking sight	blind
valleys	low areas of land	depressions between hills or mountains	valleys
unspool	to unravel	to unwind or come apart	unspool
hooves	the feet of certain animals	the hard foot of an animal like a horse	hooves
strike	to hit	to come into contact forcefully	strike
spark	a small flash of light	a tiny particle of burning material	spark
airborne	in the air	being in the sky or flying	airborne
rising	going up	to move upward	rising
swallows	birds that catch insects in flight	a type of bird known for its agile flying	swallows
eagles	large birds of prey	powerful birds known for their keen eyesight	eagles
disappear	to vanish	to cease to be visible	disappear
pale	light in color	having little color or brightness	pale
gorge	a narrow valley	a deep, narrow passage between mountains	gorge
feather	light covering of birds	the soft, flat structure that covers birds' bodies	feather
sheets	layers	flat pieces or layers of material	sheets
sheared	cut off	to cut away or remove	sheared
ice	frozen water	the solid form of water	ice
catching	grabbing	to capture or seize	catching
violet	purple	a color between blue and purple	violet
sheen	shine	a soft glow or luster	sheen
fading	diminishing	becoming less bright or clear	fading
damp	wet	slightly wet or moist	damp
roots	parts of plants that anchor them	the underground part of a plant	roots
fast	firmly	securely or tightly	fast
girl	young female	a young woman or female child	girl
break	to separate	to cause to no longer be whole	break
lent	given temporarily	to allow someone to use something for a limited time	lent
passes	moves through	to go across or through something	passes
emerges	comes out	to appear or become visible	emerges
glistening	shining	reflecting light in a bright way	glistening
droplets	small drops	tiny amounts of liquid	droplets
trembling	shaking	moving with slight, rapid motion	trembling
shattered	broken into pieces	broken into many pieces	—
tangled	twisted together	intertwined or knotted	tangled
heavy	weighing a lot	having great weight	heavy
cold	low temperature	having a low temperature	cold
ruin	destruction	the state of being destroyed	ruin
storms	severe weather	violent weather conditions	storms
dissolves	melts away	to become part of a liquid or disappear	dissolves
phantom	ghost	an apparition or spirit	phantom
fracture	break	a crack or break in something	fracture
dragging	pulling along	to pull something along the ground	dragging
snowfields	areas covered in snow	large expanses of snow	snowfields
sky	the atmosphere above us	the expanse of air over the Earth	sky
sound	noise	vibrations that can be heard	sound
chill	coldness	a feeling of cold	chill
thrum	deep sound	a low, steady sound	thrum
sweep	long movement	a broad, sweeping motion	sweep
spine	backbone	the series of bones forming the back	spine
watch	to look at	to observe or pay attention to	watch
eyes	organs for seeing	the organs that allow us to see	eyes
burn	to feel a strong sensation	to experience a painful sensation	burn
asking	requesting	to make a request	asking
wind	moving air	the natural movement of air	wind
sever	to cut off	to break or cut apart	sever
tether	a connection	a bond or tie to something	tether
learn	to gain knowledge	to acquire knowledge or skill	learn
means	method	the way to do something	means
love	deep affection	a strong feeling of affection	love
unlearns	forgets	to lose knowledge or skill	unlearns
ground	earth or soil	the solid surface of the Earth	ground
frost	ice crystals	a thin layer of ice formed on surfaces	frost
hardens	becomes solid	to become firm or solid	hardens
memory	recollection	the ability to remember	memory
warmth	heat	the sensation of being warm	warmth
cut	to slice through	to separate with a sharp edge	cut
bleeding	losing blood	the act of losing blood or color	bleeding
amber	golden color	a yellowish-brown color	amber
drenched	soaked	completely wet	drenched
raw	unprocessed	in its natural state, not refined	raw
world	the Earth and its inhabitants	the planet we live on	world
leaving	departing	going away from a place	leaving
good	positive	favorable or beneficial	good

Poet & Context

Poet—

EraContemporary

The poet of 'apogee' remains unnamed, but the work reflects contemporary themes of nature, freedom, and longing, common in modern poetry.

WhenRecent years, likely within the 21st century

WhyThe poem explores themes of freedom, nature, and the longing for transcendence, reflecting a deep connection to the natural world and a desire to escape limitations.

FormFree verse

Themes & More

Themes

freedomlongingnaturetranscendence

Literary devices

metaphor: the creature's wings symbolize freedom and transcendenceimagery: vivid descriptions create a strong sense of place and emotionsimile: comparisons enhance the visual impact of the poem