this is a photograph of me

this is a photograph of me

Margaret Atwood

It was taken some time ago

At first it seems to be

a smeared

print: blurred lines and grey flecks

blended with the paper;

then, as you scan

it, you see in the left-hand corner

a thing that is like a branch: part of a tree

(basalm or spruce) emerging

and to the right, halfway up

what ought to be a gentle

slope, a small frame house.

In the background there is a lake,

and beyond that, some low hills.

(The photograph was taken

the day after I drowned.

I am in the lake, in the center

of the picture, just under the surface.

It is difficult to say where

precisely, or to say

how large or small I am:

the effect of water

on light is a distortion

but if you look long enough,

eventually

you will be able to see me.)

Wow, there is so much to think about in this poem. Lyndsey and I are presenting this poem to the class. As I read through the poem I started drawing the picture in my mind, then as I read it the second time I drew the picture on paper. It terrifies me thinking about the picture as it sums up as a whole. The beginning is simply a picture that is slightly blurred and possibly in black and white. On the surface of the picture is a lake and hills behind a house. The branch in the left corner (as described) gives the idea that the picture was taken not in the open but almost as a secret. After the picture is described Margaret Atwood ends the last four stanzas in parenthesis which is kind of odd but has deep meaning. The first three stanzas are like you are looking at a picture but the words in the parenthesis make you feel like you are part of the picture and the use of parenthesis are what make words (or those words) fit into the poem or sentence. As depressing as it sounds I can relate to that feeling of being in the picture but not "really" being there. Everyone has those times when you are there but you can't see yourself there or even feel it. The feeling that the water (although it is clear) is covering you up, and it takes time to eventually see you.

Altogether the poem is seven stanzas long, the title is not capitalized and colons and semi-colons are commonly used. The poem doesn't seem like just a poem but a picture, a thought, but mostly a feeling.