18 pages • 36 minutes read
What the Living Do
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Themes
Life and Death
The poem’s title, “What the Living Do,” forces the reader to consider its inverse. If driving to the grocery store is what the living do, what do the dead do instead? Howe implicitly explores this existential question throughout the poem, juxtaposing John’s death and absence with her own life and presence. There is no indication as to whether Howe or the poem’s speaker believes in an afterlife, though the form of the poem as a letter implies the possibility of communication amongst the realms. This poetic device asserts that figuratively, the living and the dead are in constant dialogue. The speaker takes solace in sharing her reflections with Johnny, despite his absence. The poem’s conclusion, “I remember you” (Line 16), suggests that what the dead do is get remembered. They certainly don’t deal with the trivial inconveniences of the living. Rather, they inform the actions, beliefs, and emotions of the living.
As a sibling and close friend, John had a profound impact on Howe, which continues after his death. Johnny lives on not only in the speaker’s memory, but in her daily routines and attitudes. Johnny’s death also provides the speaker with a greater sense of awareness and gratitude for her own life. Howe thereby presents a spiritual philosophy of mortality in which life and death are entwined opposites—unimaginable without each other. Without Johnny’s death, the speaker wouldn’t have learned to so deeply cherish her own existence. Johnny’s death would also be meaningless without his preceding life, experiences, and the love he shared with the speaker.
Grief and Memory
Through the first half of the poem, the speaker presents evidence of a neglected home, marred by disarray that comes when everyday tasks are abandoned. The sink is broken, the heat is too high, and dishes pile up. Without explicitly mentioning grief, sadness, or depression, the speaker demonstrates the power of grief to overwhelm everything else. Lines like “some utensil probably fell down there” (Line 1) and “the heat is on too high in here and I can’t turn it off” (Line 5) suggest a mental fog. In a poem of otherwise clear, concise imagery, the speaker fails to explain specifically why the thermostat is set so high and cannot remember how the drain got clogged. Phrases like “I thought it again, and again later” (Line 9) imply a speaker lost in thought, numb to the beauty of everyday experience until the poem’s end. The speaker has trouble keeping track of ordinary events and the passage of time—perhaps due to her emotional pain, or her preoccupation with Johnny’s passing.
As the poem progresses, however, grief is supplanted by remembrance and gratitude. The speaker thinks of their conversations, (“the everyday we spoke of” (Line 3)) and Johnny’s philosophy (“what you called that yearning” (Line 10)). The poem’s conception of grief and memory, however, is more subtle than straightforward recollection. Through memory, the speaker is able to consider her life from Johnny’s perspective and even imagine his advice.
Finally, the speaker’s life and the poem itself honor Johnny’s memory. The poem is a list of mundane occurrences and chores, ending with the simple proclamation, “I am living. I remember you” (Line 16). The speaker thereby presents every one of the poem’s ordinary details as tributes to Johnny’s life, even if they don’t spark specific concrete memories. The poem thus traces the evolution of the speaker’s grief from a numbing, overwhelming distraction to a source of love and appreciation.
Everyday Life
Like many 20th and 21st century poets, Howe zeroes in on mundane details of everyday life, revealing sacredness and profundity in otherwise trivial subject matter, and turning specific, personal experiences outward into a meditation on the substance of human life. Most of “What the Living Do” is plain-spoken description of these details, delivered without pretense or drama. Howe’s framing, and few words of reflection, allow the everyday chores to speak for themselves as essential, spiritual actions.
While the poem is not particularly repetitive, it hints at the repetitive nature of “what the living do” (Line 7). The word "again" is used three times: “It’s winter again” (Line 4) and “I thought it again, and again later” (Line 9). The speaker cherishes her life’s particularities, but also recognizes the repetition and ritual of everyday life. Just as seasons repeat themselves, dishes have to be rewashed and reflective thoughts repeat in the speaker’s mind.
In the sixth stanza, the speaker nods to more classically poetic emotions—desire and longing. “We want spring to come and winter to pass” (Line 11) is the closest Howe comes to overt metaphor, since the reader might take winter to symbolize depression, difficulty, and stagnation, replaced by spring’s connotations of happiness and renewal. Howe’s reflections on yearning, however, are not the focus of the poem. They briefly divert the reader’s attention, only to provide contrast for the intense intimacy of the poem’s everyday narrative.
In contrast with the poem’s reflective attitude and long lines, several of the actions taken by the speaker are characterized by hurrying. She is literally “hurrying along those / wobbly bricks” (Line 8), she slams the car door, and spills coffee—a relatable accident when one is in a rush. Humans typically don’t savor this type of living; they just try to get it done. The speaker argues people often hurry through life, focusing on the future, and fail to pay appropriate attention to the current moment.
Notably, none of the everyday moments listed in “What the Living Do” sound like much fun. The first two stanzas are marked by the clogged sink and faulty thermostat, which are annoying, though not particularly dire problems that have been procrastinated. The speaker drops her grocery bag, spills her coffee, and hurries around outside in the winter cold. These are all minor inconveniences and complaints, but by addressing the letter to Johnny and ending the poem with a moment of cherishing, Howe turns otherwise banal tasks into gracious recognitions of a life while living.
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