Counting Descent

“Counting Descent” is a narrative poem driven by collective memory and commentary. The speaker tells the story from his own perspective, bringing in other voices to add commentary where he can’t. Much of the story happened before he was born, so he uses a combination of other people’s accounts of the past with his own observations. Take his grandparents’ marriage, for example. They were “four years younger than I am now / & were twice as sure about each other / as I’ve ever been about most things” (Lines 6-8). He emphasizes the fact that they were young when they got married by comparing their ages at the time to his present age. He also comments on their certainty by noting how rare it is that he’s so certain about anything in his own life. That level of certainty is rare and special to the speaker, and it conveys his respect for their relationship.

The speaker also quotes other people’s versions of the story, inviting them into the conversation and giving them co-authorship of the story. His grandmother only took one day off of work to give birth to his mother. According to her, this was enough: she “said” herself that “the Good // Lord only got one day off when He built / the world, so one day is all she needed too” (Lines 20-21).