"About Night" by Dennis Schmitz

I really like this poem. I think it's about mankind invading on nature, and how that effects us (not just the environment) in a negative way. Looking back on the poem, I notice that the first line is indented--which makes me wonder why. I mean, the first line already has emphasis--it's the first line! So, why? What's the point here, Mr Schmitz. Actually, now that I continue to look at this, it is kind of annoying me. It just seems unnecessary. Anyway--I liked the poem, I have to keep that in mind. One thing that I really enjoyed was the fact that it seems like this poem goes completely against the model we were talking about in class. Rather than starting out concrete and working its way toward abstraction, this poem begins with a metaphor, which is reiterated in the concluding line. For this reason, the poem seems circular rather than like a stream of words. I like this because it really makes sense. It is whole--one unit, one cohesive thought. We, like owls in the night, know our paths without even having to look, but this can be frusterating. We get bored--restless. So, we need something else. That something else can be nature. But how can we appreciate nature when we see it diluted all around us--"the short-pants hikers queue / for the last Point Reyes bus, / chatting Gortex & freeze-dried stews"? We smell it, corrupted: "the thrift-store smell of old eucalyptus." It's so sad. I knew this before, but this poem really seems to bring this issue into a new light. I'm sure that's what Schmitz was going for. I wonder if this is the kind of thing that some people would say isn't a poem becuase it almost has a political feel to it.