Faith
The main theme of the poem “Psalm” is the theme of faith. It tries to relay a message that everything happens for a reason and that there exists meaning in all aspects of life. The poem contains the line “our prayers are answered”, indicating that no matter how small and meaningless the wishes may appear, someone is listening. The poem is a poem of hope, encouragement, and belief in meaning of all things. It ends in accordance with its message, with the image of a man who drank himself to sleep, but the light of his kitchen is there for someone to see.
Conspiracy theories
The poem “This Is True” is a poem that contains ridiculous statements alluding to real people and events, which are making fun of the conspiracy theorists and ridiculous beliefs of individuals in general. From the title itself, this text mocks the idea that anyone can state something and try to convince others of it being true. The poem names famous figures and states that all of them are secret agents, which slowly culminates towards the last line in brackets that makes the most ridiculous claim of all.
Jealousy and contempt
“Sestina: Bob” could be seen as a rhythmic poem with each line ending with the word “Bob”. The main theme of the poem is that of jealousy and contempt. The speaker of the poem has an obsessive anger towards an individual called Bob. Bob is a middle-aged professor who stole his former girlfriend. The speaker is jealous of Bob’s success, while showing insecurity in his own unsuccessful life. He humorously expresses this anger and contempt, ending the poem with the word bob.
