“William and Cynthia” by Charles Simic – Anthology & Interpretation

“Willian and Cynthia” by Charles Simic

Says she’ll take him to the Museum
Of Dead Ideas and Emotions.
Wonders that he hasn’t been there yet.
Says it looks like a Federal courthouse
With its many steps and massive columns.

Apparently not many people go their
On such drizzly gray afternoons.
Says even she gets afraid
In the large empty exhibition halls
With monstrous ideas in glass cases,
Naked emotions on stone pedestals
In classically provocative poses.

Says she doesn’t understand why he claims
All that reminds him of a country fair.
Admits there’s a lot of old dust
And the daylight is the color of sepia,
Just like on this picture postcard
With its two lovers chastely embracing against a
painted cardboard sunset.

My Interpretation

There is a showcase of our past
there is almost a glorification of what we
have done. Who have been beaten, who has
beaten us.

The promise of a time machine looks too
attractive for those who live in the now. A
new generation is rising, growing, forming, to
make their lives full of actions so as to prevent
remorse or regrets.

Our past creates fear of repetition and desires
to become something we are not. Living
comes with mistakes and mistakes are often
equated to regrets. The problem is not our
way of life and the choices we make, it is the
definitions of the words we live by.

Making mistakes produces fear of failure. But
each hiccup made, each bump in the road
allows rebirth and growth. Perhaps if
we look deeper at our past, we might find
that our potholes are what we are most proud
of. Like a kid who showcases their favorite art,
we should showcase our failures as opportunities
made to create something new.

What is the purpose of all of this? We live our
life, winning and failing. Which way are we
supposed to turn. Which way are we
supposed to look? Our past provides
opportunity to learn. Our present is constantly
giving us tools to go through life, and our
future is a hope for a better tomorrow. Our
goal is to make that better tomorrow and live
freely in it.

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