Gwendolyn Brooks Reflection #2

"Truth" by Gwendolyn Brooks (pp. 62-63 in book)

    And if sun comes

    How shall we greet him?

    Shall we not dread him,

    Shall we not fear him

    After so lengthy a 

    Session with shade?

   Though we have wept for him,

   Though we have prayed 

   All through the night-years-

   What if we wake one shimmering morning to 

   Hear the fierce hammering 

   Of his firm knuckles

   Hard on the door?

    Shall we not shudder? - 

    Shall we not flee

    Into the shelter, the dear thick shelter

    Of the familiar

    Propitious haze?

   Sweet is it, sweet is it

   To sleep in the coolness

   Of snug unawareness.

  The dark hangs heavily 

  Over the eyes. ("Truth" 1-23)

This is the other Gwendolyn Brooks poem that really caught my attention. My interpretation of this poem was that it was talking about how truth is something that we all desire but we don't always embrace it when it comes to us.  In other words, we all want to be honest in everything that we do. However, there are moments when we are afraid to face the truth or tell the truth.  We don't want to face the truth because it hurts us too much.  Also, it might be that the truth is something that we are not familiar with and that scares us.  In the end, I think she wants readers to understand that as long as we continue to run away or avoid the truth, we will continue to only do what is comfortable to us which leads to a dark place. One aspect of the poem that I really enjoyed was how she uses symbolism with the sun to represent truth and the shade/haze to symbolize lies and deception. In general, a sun is depicted as being bright and positive which fits with the idea of truth. On the other hand, shade/haze is described as being dark and hard to find a way to escape which fits with the idea of lies. Another aspect of the poem I really liked was the personification that Brooks uses. By giving these objects human qualities, it made me connect to the poem more. For instance, when Brooks writes,

              What if we wake up one shimmering morning
               to hear the fierce hammering
               of his firm knuckles
               hard on the door? ("Truth" 10-13)

I love the personification that she uses here as well as the fact that this personification also portrays the theme of the poem. In all of our lives, we face situations where if truth comes knocking on our door, do we answer it or not? Overall, Brooks's tone in the poem seems to be a questioning tone.