How to Build a Fire: The Power of Poetry in This Big Fake World M A RY C OL L I NS
Ada Limón’s poem “Epilogue: This Big Fake World” (see Appendix) is a call to readers to live lives that break through the mundane nature of daily tasks in order to make sense of the world. Through a series of sharp and sometimes unexpected images, Limón builds a case for the reader to join her in constructing the best possible lifestyle out of whatever situation they find themselves in, without worrying about what others are doing around them. As the title implies, the piece is grounded in the ‘fake’ and monotonous nature of the world, but it creates an incredibly hopeful message within this bleak context. In just sixteen lines of free verse, the poem captures and enacts a rich perspective on the purpose of life. It ultimately suggests that each person contains within themselves the power to break free from a stifling culture by tearing down the confining aspects of life and transforming them into something positive. Exercising the power to both destroy and create conventions is portrayed as an essential obligation for every individual. The poem’s message of empowerment is revealed through a compelling mixture of imagery and rhetoric. Limón balances specific, vivid details with generalized calls to her readers in order to create a comfortable yet persuasive tone. She opens with an inviting statement: “The object is to not simply exist in this world / of radio clocks and moon pies” (lines 1-2). This first phrase seems effortless, but it is really doing a lot of work. Within the initial two lines the poem shifts its focus from a very wide discussion of the nature of existence to a small, specific image (“radio clocks and moon pies”) without losing the reader along the way. By establishing this train of thought, the poem begins to attribute enormous significance to everyday objects that would otherwise be considered mundane or unimportant. The opening also functions to establish the credibility of the poem’s speaker. The speaker clearly has a message that they are confident about sharing, as conveyed through the poem’s invitational stance. They have a unique perception of
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