Chester

My favorite poem this year was John Koethe’s “Chester.”  It emphasizes simplicity and displays how the smaller aspects of life matter. I like this poem because it conveys a different perspective then modern society generally prioritizes.  It praises calmness and idleness rather than movement and competition.  This theme has been prevalent in many of the literature we read this year, such as Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr.  He has the main character, Junior, assess “Does anything I do matter?” (9). Junior comes to the conclusion at the end of the novel that everything does matters, especially the simple aspects of life.  At one moment Junior looks at his child and realizes “She is…happy, still quick to laugh, and that, more than anything is what matters” (287).  The effortless action of laughing serves much more of purpose and lends to a happier life than frantically attempting to get ahead in society.  The speaker teaches him “Everything is all you’ve got-your wife’s lips, your daughter’s eyes, your brother’s heart” (292).  The speaker conveys that these small, sometimes overlooked aspects of life matter the most.  Junior realizes this, too, in his last moments of life.  He does not think of how far he got in his career, how much money he made or of the superficial materials that surround him, but the people and relationships he formed.  This parallels Koethe’s emphasis on the cat in his poem.  He stresses the importance of living happily and appreciating the life that surrounds people, such as the cat does.  Although I do not think it is realistic to live completely as Koethe preached, living completely like a cat with little movement and motivation, I do think that people should take in a small amount of this lifestyle for it will help them keep things in perspective.

  i do not like cats though.