Keeping Things Whole

Keeping Things WholeBy Mark Strand

In a field

I am the absence

of field.

This is

always the case.

Wherever I am

I am what is missing.

When I walk

I part the air

and always

the air moves in   

to fill the spaces

where my body’s been.

We all have reasons

for moving.

I move

to keep things whole.

In "Keeping Things Whole" by Mark Strand the poem speaks to me. he is basically saying in the beginning   that he is there physically but not mentally. He says when he walks he parts the air, and i think this is him saying he is just living, not living happily but just going with the flow unhappily. At the end he states the only reason he is moving is to keep things whole. I think he says that because he believes he matters and without him someone will mourn him missing. My favorite line in this poem is "Wherever i am, i am what is missing". The line makes you think on what he means by this. i already said a small explanation on what i thought this meant but i will go into more detail. He is saying is is their physically but not mentally, as in maybe he has been hurt before and he doesn't value life anymore. Or he is thinking about killing himself to end the pain it seams like he is in.