Western's Dream

Abstract

The majority of these poems were written in the last two years, yet they represent a range of experimentation which was implied in earlier writing. I have arranged them in three sections, each consistent in a variation of theme and form and while they vary within a section, patterns may be found throughout the thesis as a whole. Ekphrastic poems create one thread, yet within each of these are other underlying themes about relationships, not just between people, but between people and objects and objects themselves. This concept often unfolds as a psychological landscape that induces a pastoral, as well as the narrative itself. The common shifts to surreal images imply a psyche in which the surreal may be disorienting but never insincere. Often the truth within these poems lies in these absurd shifts, revealing the poems' true subjectstheir speakers, who attempt to narrate the landscapes I've created for their voices.