I Don't Know...Maybe I Just Don't Like the Pictures...?

The most intriguing aspect of Ondaatje's ...Billy the Kid is his understanding of poetry. There is gong to be much debate whether or not his foray into poetry was worthwhile; however, his UNDERSTANDING of the beast is what fascinates me.

While for the most part his poetic pattern is lower-cased, three stanza, almost no articles, it fascinates me that he tries to take a turn for the nuanced in poems such as that on page 29--a mirror poem, though I'm having a hard time understanding precisely what it is that made him decide on that tactic. My problem is that there seems to be a desire for him to be a poet rather than his actually being a poet. What I mean to say is, he suffers from many poets’ plight of trying to seem poetic—through such tactics as the mirror poem on page 29.

Though I'd be lying to myself if I said his poetry superseded his prose, I would also be doing his poetry a disservice if I didn't mention his ability to create natural image. That is, he uses language that very intricately gives a tangible depiction of the sensual body, death, and fear. Poems such as that on page 11 show Ondaatje’s ability to work within image strongly and creatively: “moving across the world on horses / body split at the edge of their necks / neck sweat at eating at my jeans”. His imagery is very visceral and it leaves nothing to the imagination (thank Jah). However, that’s not to say that at times his word choice takes a turn for the campy and incredibly trite, as in the poem on page 16 when describing his ejaculation as “love juice” (which, for all those interested, is also the title of a cheesy J-Pop song). But, I have to wonder if his word choice is a product of the need to explore the indiscretion of the “Wild West” and one of its biggest heroes, Billy the Kid?

By far and away the most uninteresting aspect of the book is the use of physical images--that is, the photography. Though they are historical in terms of their attachment to the literal reading of the "Wild West", they underscore the ability of the words to do the work for themselves. There is something to say for the scrapbooking nature of the book, but I wonder if, perhaps, the use of images is nothing more than an immature poet’s way to collide literal image with lyrical image?

However, something that I'd like to explore is the use of blank picture frames at what seems to be the beginning of a new era in the character of Billy the Kid. Those moments, indicated with a square of empty space and italicized words, not only do the work of preparation. They seem to forcibly open the readers mind to something new. This image is the most important in terms of a literal picture on the page.

Whether or not the prose outshines the poetry, one thing that I almost refused to do was force meaning on the words through the images. If anything, what I can glean from this book is its attention to capturing what can only be described as the inner monologue/diary of one Mr. Billy the Kid. Though journal-esque collections come a dime a dozen, what interests me is the books refusal to answer the question of its historical relevance. The focus should be, not on the accuracy of the times, but rather the accuracy of one character's experiences and interactions.

I also see a common thread among this collection, the Lichtenberg Figures, and The Sonnets: there's most definitely a move to create collages through ideas, styles, images, etc. A poet's collection turns into his obsession, turns into his book of poetry. If that's all that we can get from Ondaatje's poetry, at least that's something fascinating, right?