Resignation

J.D. McClatchy's "Resignation" is about trees and their way of life. McClatchy opens his poem with a line from a Willa Cather poem, stating that trees are resigned to the way they live life. Then McClatchy goes into his poem, talking about trees and how although they seem comfortable with their lives, it is actually a disguise. Trees conceal their unhappiness. They are "ensnared, each with the others' hold On what gives life to which is brutal enough." They hide their dejection and try to accept their lifestyles. They live without ever getting what they deserve. Trees generate shelter, air, wood for fires, and homes for animals. They provide us with many essentials, so they deserve the best. My personal favorite part of the poem is the line "to anyone's sudden infatuation gouged into their sides." People, or couples, engrave their initials in a heart on the side of a tree as a display of affection, or a cute action. McClatchy opens up the perspective of the tree in the situation. Very few people would think of the trees feelings while getting engravings in it.