Images are a strong way for an author to convey feeling or ideas to a reader. The author uses the most concise words to produce a strong, emotional image. This image is representative of something, either a feeling, idea, or concept.
Like commercials, the images in poetry are to make you think. You have seen commercials that show people smiling and laughing. Because of these images, the company is trying to make you feel like their product is fun, relaxing, or makes you happy.
Poetry works the same way only you have the liberty to develop the imagine to meet what touches you most. For example, a cosmetic commercial that shows a beautiful woman smiling and using a certain cosmetic is meant to make you think that you can be as beautiful as that woman. However, if you do not think the woman on the commercial is very beautiful, then you may not be impressed by either the commercial or the product.
Writing, poetry in particular, eliminates this problem. If you read a poem that is trying to develop sympathy for a man by describing the beautiful woman who broke his heart, you have the liberty of designing in your mind the woman who is most beautiful to you. If you like redheads, she can be a redhead. If you like brunettes, she can be a brunette. If your ex-girlfriend broke your heart, you can visualize her to really create a connection between the woman and the heartbroken man. Unlike your imagination, visuals such as pictures and film are limited; what you see is what you get.
With this in mind, let’s look at the first two images of W.D. Ehrhart’s poem "Not Your Problem."
In the second stanza, the narrator conveys the image of a clock whose hands make "tiny circles" (2). Probably the first thing an attentive reader will imagine is a clock. This image should create a feeling in the reader; perhaps the reader feels confined because of the "tiny circles" (20). Maybe he feels pressured because of the emphasis on time. Maybe he feels anxious, nervous, or depressed. Whatever the feeling, the reader most likely will have a negative feeling because of this image.
A negative feeling is good here and is what the image is trying to achieve. The word "circles" (2) should be a clue to the reader that this is not a good situation. The people of this time are traveling in "circles," getting nowhere.
