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Astonishment

Paige Lewis’s poem “I’m Not Faking My Astonishment, Honest,” begins, “Looking out over the cliff, we’re overwhelmed/by a sky that seems to heap danger upon us,” and you can read the rest of it at poets.org. I listened to the accompanying Poem-a-Day audio and laughed at her explanation. The poem does feature an overheard line, like we were talking about last week, but that aspect does not figure in the origin story Lewis tells, though clearly the verse is important. You’ll see.

I hope you’ll talk about the poem’s ending with me in the comments. What do you make of the last question?

The Poetry Friday roundup is at Irene Latham’s place on December 5th.

Photo by Susan Thomsen. San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain, 2025.

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13 responses to “Astonishment”

  1. maryleehahn Avatar
    maryleehahn

    Oh, that ever-illusive Future, out there taunting us with sunrises, sunsets and full moons.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Ever-illusive is right! From the get-go, “looking out over a cliff,” we’re in precarious territory. Perhaps this couple is, too, and cannot know the future. I like how open the ending is; I aspired to open endings when writing but tend to sum up everything. I’m happy to focus on the clouds sometimes, too!

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  2. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
    Susan.Thomsen

    SPOILER ALERT

    I’m guessing the $9 item was a tee-shirt. Ha. What do y’all think?

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  3. Irene Latham Avatar
    Irene Latham

    Goodness, I think looking to the (uncertain) future is not the best idea…maybe turn inward? Or to routine… there’s comfort in that. Thanks for the musings!

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Uncertain, yes! One could give this poem an environmental reading, too, with the the cliff, the ominous sky, the future’s refusal. Thanks for stopping by, Irene.

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  4. heidimordhorst Avatar
    heidimordhorst

    Susan, I find myself delighted to visit and be greeted with an ASSIGNMENT! I think that last question might be boomeranging us back to the title: it’s astonishing how the future refuses to happen any faster than it will; we can only turn to the immediate now of the white fluff floating, the $9 mystery:

    The relief of having something
    to focus our attention

    Thank you very much for alerting me to this poet. I’m fascinated!

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Ooh, I did not think of that line in relation to the title. I like that idea, Heidi. Like others before us, we are living in a time of everything-at-once emotions: astonishment, fear, sadness, and some joy in the small things.

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  5. lindabaie Avatar
    lindabaie

    I’m glad to read everyone’s comments, Susan, and I read the poem several times, wonder if something has happened to her, and she’s finding ways to avert the future, though “inside”, knows it must come, eventually. Love your sharing and your query! What are you thinking?

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Linda, thanks so much for commenting. I really get more out of a poem when I talk about it with others! I find the poem simultaneously unsettling and funny, but respect the speaker’s “we don’t care/to definite it” and “I don’t want to give/particulars.” So often we leave home, with its ratty patio furniture and all, in search of a little awe and find it, yet can’t escape that the future is unknown. I laugh because the overheard $9 expenditure is exactly the kind of thing I’d want to know!

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  6. Tabatha Avatar
    Tabatha

    I assumed she was turning to the past! Perhaps things are going a bit sour with the person she is traveling with, and that’s why her sadness is present in both locations.

    Maybe when she talks about “astonishment,” she is talking about Mary Oliver’s advice “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

    Last guess: the $9 item was shoes? Sometimes people buy shoes unwisely, and that price would be hard to pass up.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Turning to the past. That could be. Your take on the Mary Oliver advice sounds spot on, too; whether the poet was aware of it or not, she was certainly following it. Someone sad standing near a cliff worries me, and I’m glad the speaker also focuses on clouds and other people’s purchases. Plus, the crummy lawn furniture is funny.

      As an unwise buyer of shoes (cowboy boots? really?), I can absolutely see the $9 as that!

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  7. patriciafranz Avatar
    patriciafranz

    Love that last line! In the small town of Truckee, near where I live, there is a pub with a sign outside that reads: Free Beer Tomorrow. I feel like Lewis was dying to look back, dying to look ahead, and then remembering to be here, be now — like the clouds they refuse to define.

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    1. Susan.Thomsen Avatar
      Susan.Thomsen

      Free beer tomorrow–ha. “Be here now” is so often a challenge! Thanks for chiming in. I’ve enjoyed everyone’s comments, which have helped me understand the poem better.

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