Metaphors Essays - Love, Emotions, Philosophy Of Love, Romance

Parallel Paths The poem ?Parallel Paths? by Kevin Clark is a metaphorical account of a marriage and the challenges it encounters. It is difficult to follow this story of love and how communication should bring a relationship closer. When considering the title of the poem ?Parallel Paths?, the lines never get closer; they stay separated. There are several metaphors to examine in the poem in order to understand the message. In the first few metaphors, the speaker sets the tone (lines 1-3). ?Today you?re lucky in love with your wife for the first time in weeks, both of you out for a walk in the overgrown garden?. This indicates the relationship has fallen onto hard times and there are difficulties in the marriage. It soon becomes clear that love is not the only thing needed for a long lasting relationship. It takes communication, reasoning and a bit of flexibility from both people in the relationship in order to get through the complexities of a marriage. Relationships and marriage bring something different for everyone, with their own set of issues and problems. Understanding the situation is critical and the one most important thing that brings people together is love so it is very important never to lose the remembrance of the feeling of being in love. The speaker speaks of a park that has not been taken care of which relates this to a marriage that has not been doing well (2-3), ?both of you out for a walk in the overgrown park?. If they do not constantly work to grow the relationship, it can potentially split apart. It is not always easy but if both parties in the relationship open the lines of communication, they will be able to make it through and make it work. When talking about relationships and marriage, if communication is absent then there is little hope that some issues can be resolved as neither person knows the other?s thoughts. The best way to remedy most issues is to spend time communicating and constructively sharing ones true feelings. As the speaker continues, he relays the woman in the relationship is stepping away from trying to work things out because there is no communication and both parties have given up on each other (19-22) ?Now the woman feigns confidence, stepping gracefully away, Two lives irrevocably?. This shows sometimes in a relationship people choose not to work issues out and give up on one another. In the last quarter of the poem the speaker then turns the poem around (31-40) ?Or right now: how all these thoughts have occurred to you in a flash. When you look up, your wife?s vanished, But really she?s there, of course, off the path, among the ancient waist-high grasses, holding out to you a single mutable wildflower burning in its own ochre light. From here to that flower exist no guarantees. Best to get on with it?. It showed that there was still time to save the marriage, when it seemed the relationship was all but over and would not be able to recover. The couple then decided to communicate and work on their relationship and their marriage. It can be said if there is a little bit of fire in the marriage left from both partners, then there is good chance they will be able rekindle their lost love for one another and try to work things out through communication. When the speaker uses the metaphor ?a single mutable wildflower? (37), he is inferring that it is unknown that this relationship will last, but they will at least give it all their effort in communication and remember the love they feel for one another. Being negative about fixing issues in a relationship, or being unwilling to work things out almost guarantees it will not be a lasting relationship. Approaching issues optimistically and showing genuine concern to fix them validates the commitment to the relationship. The speaker took this poem ?Parallel Paths? from one extreme to the other by starting out in a place of no hope, going to the possibility of saving the marriage if they can communicate with one another. It seems in conclusion that people can sometimes go their separate ways in a relationship, but