The art of losing

The art of losing isn't hard to master;

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

Lose something every day.  Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel.  None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch.  And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones.  And, vaster,

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

---Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied.  It's evident

the art of losing's not too hard to master

though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

-E. Bishop-

I can relate to this poem. It is one of my favorite. Everyone at one point or another loses something. The poem starts with mastering the art of losing a thing that as small as a key and how it is not a disaster. Then it got bigger and bigger. Still it wasn’t a disaster to her. And finally on the last paragraph she talks about losing someone, a person, a friend, a lover, a family member…..

She seems indifferent and unconcerned about losing things and wants it to look like she has mastered the art of losing. It’s evident in the flippant tone of this poem. But I think that she was just trying to casually masquerade the pain. On the last paragraph she seems to be struggling with her lack of concern. She’s in denial and trying to convince herself (and everyone) that losing someone can be regarded as carelessly as losing a key. The truth is, she is struggling to cope with the pain by being glib and offhanded.

In the end, “(Write it!)” ß I think this means that she had to force herself to write the last words, had to finally admit to herself that losing someone really is a disaster. And it is, especially when you lose that person carelessly.