Begining Again by Franz Wright

"If I could stop talking, completely
cease talking for a year, I might begin
to get well," he muttered.
Off alone again performing
brain surgery on himself
in a small badly lit
room with no mirror. A room
whose floor ceiling and walls
are all mirrors, what a mess
oh my God--

And still
it stands,
the question
not how begin again, but rather

Why?

So we sit there
together
the mountain
and me, Li PO
said, until only the mountain
remains.

--Franz Wright

When i first read this poem, i was extremely confused. It seemed like the author was just rambling. However, after reading the poem a second time, I began to figure out its meaning. Then after "beating it with a hammer" I realized what the poem was truly saying.
First, I divided the poem into structural parts. In the first stanza, the narrator reflects on the flaws in his character. "Off alone again performing brain surgery on himself...," shows that the narrator is trying to change himself. The second and third stanza then moves to discuss the importance of changing. It shows that the real question is not how to begin to change but why he or she needs to change. Finally, the fourth stanza addresses what is left after the change.
I found the last stanza to be the most confusing, yet the most beautiful part of the poem. "[U]ntil only the mountain remains," was my favorite line in the poem. I loved it because it could be interpret ted in so many different ways. When I first read the poem, I thought it meant that the mountain was the obstacles he had to over come. Then, after reading it several more times, I came to the conclusion that it symbolized the narrator after the transformation. Powerful, beautiful, strong.

(word count-not including poem: 216)