Yoko
Thomas Gunn delivers a poem that delves deep into a dog's mind capturing the unsophisticated boredom, anticipation, anxiety, and curiosity that all dogs must feel while locked up and restricted to a domestic life. "Yoko" begins with a visual and concrete image of a dog named Yoko awaiting the arrival of his master while lounging in a wardrobe. Without being able to release his stored energy, he occasionally "lumbers" across the room and drinks from the toilet bowl. His thirst to leave his dwelling is first introduced in the first stanza of the poem. Yoko hears that New York is "jaggedy" with firecrackers. Hearing these noises outside, he quickly retreats back to his wardrobe and tries to forget about what he can't have. Yoko responds to his master's arrival even before the master enters the apartment (it seems like an apartment because of the stairwell). Yoko is crazy about his master, to say the least, as he is probably the dog's only company. Yoko's immature curiosity is explained to us in the next couple of stanzas. Smells and tar and rotten sandwiches fascinate him. He seems disappointed after learning that he recognized the smell of his piss-most probably indicating that he likes to explore and travel novel ro
utes. Furthermore, Yoko is so unwilling to return back to the apartment that even though he is only pissing drops, he continues to do so probably to convince his master that he still has some unfinished business. Yoko loses the feeling of confusion he experiences at the beginning of the poem. Perhaps this is because being outside puts a source to all the New York firecrackers that he hears but can't see at the beginning. The changing of the weather symbolizes the rocky life this dog lives. In this case, Yoko's day outside begins with warmth. Not only warmth of the sun but also the warmth he feels by being liberated outside with his master. We then moved to a scene where the wind is blowing. The blowing of the wind often refers to the changing trends in society or in a person's life. Here, the "wind" in Yoko's life refers to the differences between his life inside and outside of his apartment. Wind is often unsettling. At the point that the wind begins to blow, it seems clear that Yoko is sensing the end of his daily journey outside. Therefore, he is regaining the unsettled feeling that he had at the beginning of the poem. His unsettling feeling grows with time. And as time passes, the weather gets worse and he notes the ominous rain. His leader's watchful eye comforts him. In General: This narrative poem reads well. Relating to it was
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Approximate Word count = 926
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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