A Surprise in the Alley
You never know what’s lurking in the dark.
Poetry is similar to painting.
A piece of paper or a blank word document becomes a blank canvas. The words become vivid colors that the artist uses to paint with. The colors are Venus Fly Traps, catching the audience’s attention. However, it is the techniques and what is hidden under the surface that keeps the reader’s attention. Walt McDonald’s poem “Coming Across It” takes a narrative approach to lead the reader through a rare otter sighting in the city.
McDonald wastes no time injecting images into the poem. It is as if the reader is at the beginning of a movie and the camera is slowly zooming in from a wide shot to a close up. He starts off with sound; he immediately follows up with another image catering to sight. “Cans rattle in the alley” is the image that introduces the sound, inviting the reader’s ears to participate (1). Less than two lines later, McDonald adds “Neon on buildings / above us blinks like those eyes” (3–4). On the surface, these two lines simply help to paint the setting. However, they also merge to form a simile. They compare the blinking of the neon to eyes blinking.
Details about the speaker of the poem are not embedded in the poem’s lines.
The poem uses words like ‘we’ and ‘our’ which allows the reader to follow the poem through the speaker’s point of view. While the readers do not know the gender or physical appearance of the speaker, they do have access to the speaker’s experience. The poem begins in a curious tone through the first three stanzas of the poem. The speaker and the others are wondering what is making the rattling noise in the alley. After the otter is identified, the tone of the poem shifts to intrigued. The speaker and the crowd are awe-struck and baffled; otters do not belong in alleys.
“Coming Across It” does not follow any rhythms of meter nor does it follow a rhyme scheme. It is a free verse poem, and its primary focus is to narrate the otter sighting. The poem is also a series of enjambments.
As the poem continues to unfold, more images are shared with the reader. One lines ten and eleven the speaker details about the physical appearance of the otter. The poem says “a sharp nose / wedges into focus, pelt shining” (10–11). The next line holds a figure of speech that also uncovers more about the otter’s appearance in the alley. Line thirteen uses personification, giving the otter’s feet an unusual action. The speaker illustrates how the otter’s feet were poking out, “webbed mammal feet begging for room” (13); this line is also another image catering to sight.
While Walt McDonald’s “Coming Across It” is heavily laced in techniques to help the reader visualize what is occurring; the poem is not limited to rich images and figures of speech.
It holds other techniques like alliteration or assonance. These tricks are not as present as descriptive images, but their presence is still felt. “Than a man” on line six is an example of assonance. “Someone shouts” on line nine is alliteration. “huddle here” is another example of alliteration. Further down the poem on line twenty-one holds another instance of assonance with “strangers like brothers”.
The word ‘alley’ is used to state the setting. When people think of an alley, they think of a dark and unsafe space; this is its connotation. However, the definition of an alley is simply a narrow passage or backstreet. The word ‘alley’ gives the setting a dark tint. The speaker goes on to list couple of things that might be in an alley like a stray cat or a homeless man. To add further tension to the story in the poem, the speaker uses the word ‘fang’ in line six. Fangs are long, sharp teeth. The word holds a dangerous connotation. When people think of fangs they immediately think of danger and harm. An otter is what is in the alley, but at the beginning of the poem the speaker has no clue what it is.
After the otter is identified, the speaker converses with the other people there:
We talk to strangers like brothers
Puzzling what should be done
With dark alleys, with garbage,
With vermin that run free at night
A theme in this poem is civility. Before people were civilized, there was no question on what to do if someone saw an animal. They either kill it for food or run for their lives. Now that people live in houses along paved roads and have developed garbage systems and zoo exhibits, both wild and domesticated animals are protected under law. The very last statement in the poem admits, “But if we had / clubs, we’d kill it” (26–27). With civilization comes cleanliness and the urge to want to keep things presentable. However, alleys are perceived to be filthy.
Some alleys hold dumpsters and litter. Sometimes homeless people take shelter in alleys. The speaker and the others present discuss what should be done about these dark alleys and the things that are perceived to be unclean. There was a time where people were only concerned with survival. Horse poop and garbage used to pile up in the roads. In Walt McDonald’s “Coming Across It”, people are wondering what to do about an otter that found its way into an alley.
This piece is an essay I wrote for my English class during the fall semester. I left it in MLA format for the most part, which is why you see the in-text citations. The Poem is “Coming Across It” by Walt McDonald if you want to find the full poem. Feel free to leave feedback and any thoughts you might have. I hope you enjoyed this essay, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
