Topography

After we flew across the country we got in bed, laid our bodies
delicately together, like maps laid
face to face, East to West, my
San Francisco against your New York, your
Fire Island against my Sonoma, my
New Orleans deep in your Texas, your Idaho  bright on my Great Lakes, my Kansas
burning against your Kansas your Kansas
burning against my Kansas, your Eastern
Standard Time pressing into my
Pacific Time, my Mountain Time
beating against your Central Time, your
sun rising swiftly from the right my
sun rising swiftly from the left your
moon rising slowly form the left my     moon rising slowly form the right until
all four bodies of the sky
burn above us, sealing us together,
all our cities twin cities,
all our states united, one
nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

-Sharon Olds

Commentary
I feel that Olds often uses poems to express powerful emotions. In this poem, Olds speaks of someone she loves dearly. The two of them seem to be having or had an intimate moment and Olds is using the many comparisons to describe them. She speaks of the two of them coming together, like two parts of a map. She represents one half of the United States and her love represents the other have. She then moves on to describe those important places on the map. I like this metaphor for the fact that they are two places that wouldn't normally have anything to do with each other and then she slowly moves towards the middle. She starts out with far places like San Francisco and New York, then comes closer until both of them each represent a part of Kansas. Like they aren't supposed to be together because they are so different, yet at the same time they are perfect for each other. Everyone is always looking for that perfect other half, someone that is just for them. Olds describes this feeling perfectly in her poem. For the moment in the poem, she truly has that perfect person.