The World Around Us

Sometimes we forget that life doesn't revolve around ourselves. That's the feeling I get after reading Elizabeth Bishops poem "Filling Station". "Somebody embroidered the doily" (Bishop 2707) this line specifically gave me the feeling of the moment you notice another family in a restaurant, people whose lives have nothing to do with yours. People that most likely will never have an impact on you and yet you notice them, you see them. Who are they, what do they do? At first the poet only sees the filling station for what it is, she doesn't truly notice the people,  they have no bearing on her life but then she looks closer. She sees their personalities, she sees that to them this isn't just a filling station. It might not necessarily be relevant to her life but it is to theirs and she sees that, she questions it. She wonders who these people are, what their world consists of and in truly seeing them she appreciates them, she has a love for them and their truth. I think this is beautiful, to stop thinking about your own life for a moment to really see someone else's. To see their reality and to value that. I think when she questions the filling stations decorations on the porch she's relating it all to herself and that's why to her it doesn't all seem to make sense. But it's important to remove yourself from the surroundings and just observe without personal judgment. Once she does that she sees the reason behind the decorations that she thought seemed odd. She understood that this filling station is loved, these people are loved and it has nothing to do with her. And that's beautiful. I wish more people could see the world and things around them like Bishop does in this poem, to take a moment to remove yourself and appreciate someone else's life despite it having nothing to do with them. But is this possible? Should people see the world through such innocent eyes? Was the poet wrong to not question the living conditions of this family, these children that the comics belonged to? Is living somewhere that could catch fire and explode an adequate living situation for kids? Was Bishop's original assessment still valid, or should her realization that this isn't just another gas station negate her previous feelings and observations all together?

Read More »

Filling Station

Elizabeth Bishop was a little more hidden or discrete in these poems than the other authors we have read so far.  The poem I liked the best was Filling Station.  I interpreted it a little differently than the presentation hinted at, but there were still similarities.  I like how different the poem ended, compared to its beginning.  "Oh, but it is dirty!" changes to "Somebody loves us all".  I like how it basically went from "this is a crappy station with disgusting workers" to "it's kind of nice here".  The first glance made this station seem not properly maintained, and the workers themselves were gross.  But by the end when the viewer had seen it all and realized "this is how it is", they realized it wasn't as bad as first thought.  Is the filling station a way that people look at other people? Instead of judging someone within 5 seconds of meeting them, take the time to get to know them and you might have a different opinion.

Read More »