Lawless Explication of E. Ethelbert Miller’s “Postcards”

Sometimes associative language—the connections made—in a poem speak to the poem’s internal logic, and sometimes these mechanisms speak to the poet. In Postcards, Miller’s transitions from the mailed correspondence to his mother to his mother’s death to lying to his mother to becoming a man is an associative sequence that follows both logical leaps and expectations of individual thought. The poem opens directed at the reader, “you”. From there, we hear mostly from the speaker of the poem “I”. Current findings (at the time of this writing) suggest that use of “I” in stances such as this are an unconscious indication of honesty. It is interesting to consider this as Miller is talking about lying in a way that is honest. As a reader, there’s no reason to believe we’re being lied to, this appears to be a reliable speaker. On the other hand, we’re being told about correspondence and the important life lesson of learning to tell small lies. The poem ends with the suggestion of distance.

I’m reminded of a recent poem I read by Maria Mazziotti Gillan, What I Can’t Tell My Son. In the poem, Gillan speaks of the growing distance between her and her child, and wonders if he feels similarly. “Is he sad, too, when he hangs up the phone?” I remember when I first read the poem and was under the impression the poet (and speaker) were male, a father, writing about a son, and was impressed by the emotional honesty. This feeling of being impressed is not lessened with the realization that the poem is a mother writing about her son; however, this seems less surprising. The tone of Gillan’s narrative poem differs from Miller’s spare delivery. Gillan pours her heart on out the page whereas Miller encourages us to read between the lines in search of greater meaning.