I Remember the Carrots and The Orange : Two Poems – One Alive One Dead

“I Remember the Carrots” by Ada Limon in the book “Bright Dead Things” is a poem about love, and how the small moments can calm down the anxiety we have about life. The narrator is overwhelmed by the fear of losing this loved one, and is in a downhill spiral of anxiety about it. The carrots come into play because it is a simple and basic thing that brings the narrator back to the present. It kinda says that life is not just the grand things but the small details that keep us down to earth.The realization of the carrots is almost kind of ironic when it’s compared to the fears that the narrator has about life, making the poem feel very relatable and down to earth. In most of the poems in this book, Limon makes really basic and ordinary things feel special and makes it a statement to be grateful for the little things. “The Orange” by Wendy Cope is a perfect poem that follows a similar theme. It makes the small, every day things a beautiful thing. In Cope’s poem, the narrator has this deep happiness from such a small moment, eating an orange with others. The narrator points out that love isn’t just saying dramatic lines but it’s about the quiet moments that are simple. The realization is more of like soft one rather than a grand, abrupt realization. It is similar to the wat Limon is brought back to reality with something as small as the carrots. Cope’s poem has less about anxiety but more about the general world issues. The tone of both poems is initiate, but they differ in their emotional storylines. Limon begins with fear but shifts towards a comfort, showing that a small realization can shut down overwhelming emotions. Cope’s poem, begins and ends with a joyful tone, saying how simple things can create happiness. Both poems arrive at the same place, that ordinary can be something special. 

Both poems create the imagery and use the sensation of taste with the carrots and the orange. The use of foods make the readers more engaged because they are able to picture what both Cope and Limon are trying to say. 

In conclusion, Limon’s use of carrots in “I Remember the Carrots” is a metaphor for even in the midst of overwhelming fear, there can still be peace that makes you come back to the present.

The connection with the small things kinda goes along with the themes of vulnerability and accepts, and this creates a balance of grand emotions like love with smaller aspects of life. In “The Orange”, Cope expierences joy from a simple shared expierence, eating the orange. This shows that warmth of human connection through this intimate moment. Both share a opinion on love’s subtlety and the power love has to make everyday actions into this really meaningful moment. These poems remind us that life’s meaning is not found in large, dramatic gestures, but tender moments that connect all of us to each other. 

Bright Dead Things : February Poetry Blog

The poem The Noisiness of Sleep by Ada Limon in the book Bright Dead Things is about the dread that comes with sleeping, as trying to sleep can be overwhelming because of the thoughts that can crowd your mind. That combined with the worries and the anxiety of past experiences that keep you awake, makes this is really good poem that I think encapsulates the difficulties of trying to sleep. This poem also touches on how when you are trying to sleep next to someone you love, it can be hard to go to sleep because of the intensity that comes with having this weight of love on you when you’re trying to calm yourself to sleep. She points out that there is a really good contrast between the way your body is physically still but your mind is heavily racing, which helps the reader a visualize the conflicted feeling. This poem comes from the perspective of someone who is the one directly dealing with these internal thoughts.

The song While You Sleep by Maisy Stella and Lennon Stella is a perfect connection to this poem as the song is centered around how when you love someone, you want to live their life for them when they’re feeling down, you want to be able to sleep for them, eat for them, you would do anything for them. It feels like a response to the poem because it’s like the poem is about someone who struggles to sleep because of their internal thoughts and the song is a response from the other person in the relationship who wants to be able to calm those thoughts and comfort them. The chorus of the song goes “I’ll sleep while you sleep, I’ll cover your feet, so they’re out of reach, I’ll breathe when you breathe, whatever you need”. Maisy Stella is expressing that she has so much love for this person that she wants them to feel at peace and that she is willing to do things that she thinks will help that person. 

The last line in the poem by Ada Limon is a direct connection to the song as the line says “I want to be the rough clothes you can’t sleep in.” This is such a perfect call and response to the song as they are both about a person wanting to be the solution and the fix to someone else’s hurting. The song by Stella has the lyric “The truth is you’re stronger than you’ve ever been, but there’s nothing wrong with needing a hand.” Even though she is aware that the person is not this weak person who can’t do things by themselves, she also points out that it’s not a bad thing to need that help or that comfort. These two art pieces work together to convey two perspectives on how love can comfort and how love can keep you up at night, and they both speak to how moments of rest can create feelings of uncertainty, making sleep a place where connection is deeply felt but also very distant.