Poetry - Love is Not an Emergency

Of all the poems in this unit, Erin Belieu’s “Love is Not an Emergency” stood out in the crowd. In this poem, Burroway’s ideas about the power of creating full sentences and the importance of line are demonstrated. Though the enjambment breaks play with the physical appearance of the poem, it also emphasizes certain metaphors and images that Belieu wants readers to pay close attention to. For example, lines 16 and 17 are enjambed to bring depth to the image being created in the sentence: “who smeared on love’s blackface, rattling/ his damage like a tambourine.” This enjambment breaks the lines apart from each other, but more importantly gives emphasis to the final image of the sentence. Though “Love is Not an Emergency” is comprised of full sentences, the way in which the lines are divided brings more depth and interest to the work than there would be if the poem was presented in a more standard format. 

Another aspect of this poem that I enjoyed was Belieu’s ability to create a dark, melancholy tone without cliche images and metaphors blocking the way. The images speak for themselves without too many adjectives interfering with my interpretation, yet remain clear enough where my mind doesn’t have to do much work in forming these pictures. In reading this poem aloud, I found that this tone was also aided by the snapshot-esque nature of the lines, forcing my mind to slow down my reading and really focus on the weight of the images being presented. I especially love the build-up that “Love is Not an Emergency” has; all of the images brought to mind throughout the poem come to a thematic peak in the final three lines: “because ‘we grant the name of love/ to something less than love’;/ because we all have to eat.” These lines have that ton-of-bricks effect because of the images that led up to them. Suddenly, the poem has meaning and we’re left questioning everything we know about picnics and tambourines.