Reading time: About 1 minute
I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of metaphors from Shane Koyczen.
I first heard spoken-word poet Shane Koyczen when he performed at the 2010 winter Olympics, hosted by Vancouver. He was a marvel: Articulate. Powerful. Challenging. I vowed to take a closer look at his writing, but, sadly, in the busy-ness of my life, forgot.
Then, in 2014 his book Stickboy — the story of his childhood experience of bullying — was turned into an opera. My husband and I went to see it and we were blown away. Heartfelt, sad, funny and deeply moving, the show was a huge success and is currently being workshopped as a touring production for schools.
I quickly acquired a copy of Stickboy and read it in two hours. Koyczen’s language is exquisite and his use of metaphor deeply powerful. Here are two separate stanzas from different points in the story that I found especially interesting and evocative. Notice how seamlessly he employs personification:
My grandmother opened the door.
The warmth inside the house sprung out into the cold
as if it had been locked up unjustly
and was waiting for the right moment to slip past
the guards
and escape.
I wanted to reach across his desk,
Grab his three hole punch,
And smack him across the face with it.
I wanted to watch his teeth fly out of his mouth
Like confetti in some slow-motion parade
For which I was the only spectator.
They [trees] were thin at first.
Thin but dense.
Tundra trees,
all crowded together
Like the poor at a breadline.
Slowly they became thicker,
As if they had all found work.
Their bellies were full,
And their bodies hard
From long days of holding up the sky.
I think I like the metaphor of the trees the best. I’ve travelled in the Canadian north and the transition from tundra trees to Interior ones to the Coastal variety is always shocking. I particularly love his phrase, “…their bodies hard from long days of holding up the sky.”
