Tiara (by Mark Doty)
...said out of mere ignorance. These comments are ambiguous because they could also have been made by a friend of Peter’s as a light-hearted joke about his character. Whether out of mockery or humour, these comments create a tension even the reader can sense. It is in the sixth stanza that the poem takes a pivotal turn. As soon as someone says, “he asked for it”, the poem shifts in mood, tone, and setting. This person was basically implying that Peter acquired disease and death voluntarily, although it is not entirely clear whether he/she meant because he “chose” to be gay or because he was a prostitute. Whatever its intention, this comment was not only antagonistic but also rude and unnecessary – something a loved one of Peter’s would never say. Starting from the seventh stanza and continuing till the end, the poem consists of lots of imagery, symbolism and metaphor. Going down into the “salt tide” could be a metaphor for Peter’s “coming out of the closet” – commencing life as a gay man – or his descending into the world of prostitution. The words salt tide remind us of the ocean: rising and falling of waves, tide’s constant change, serene sea one day and the next full of rage. These are all aspects that could have characterized Peter’s life as he constantly encountered and overcame obstacles each day. We do not exactly know if this roller coaster ride was ever worth it for Peter. This doubt arises because he gave “himself over so drunk / or stoned”. The word drunk could mean intoxicated from too much alcohol; however, to have drunk is to have swallowed liquid. This liquid might refer to that of the salt tide – he drank (took in) so much of his life that he eventually drowned in it. The same concept applies to the word stoned. Although it could refer to being high on drugs, it might also mean the physical act of being stoned. This process of throwing rocks at people - namely criminals or those seen as abhorrent - until they die is still practiced today in some countries. Peter being stoned might not necessarily mean beaten with stones, but perhaps with words and actions of hate and discrimination. If drunk and stoned are simply forms of intoxication Peter turned to, perhaps this was the only way he could cope with his troubles. Ending with the eighth stanza and starting with the ninth begins the description of Peter’s feelings toward his life. The poem states that, “it almost didn’t matter who, / though they were beautiful, / stamped[ed] into him in…their hurry”. These lines refer to the many “clients” Peter encountered. As a hooker Peter presumably slept with many men. These men were diverse, good looking, probably wealthy; however, to Peter they were all the same. They would approach and pay him to release their sexual tension, then quickly desert him to escape the shameful thought of having slept with a whore. Sex trade workers are like rental cars: they are paid for, used once, and passed on to the next customer. The stanza ends with the author stating, “heaven is the perfect stasis / poised over the realms of desire”. The word stasis means balance, which is to say that if Peter made it to heaven, it would be where all his longing finally ended but also culminated. In the tenth stanza the word horses is symbolic. Horses represent strength, beauty and wildness; they can be dominant as well as submissive. They are also a symbol of sexual excitement and ecstasy. These horses could possibly represent the men Peter encountered in his life. However, black horses are also a symbol for death. These horses are roaming through the grass (a symbol of growth and life) on which “dreaming and waking men lie”, which represents the potential dangers of disease constantly threatening men, like Peter, who share this particular lifestyle. The horse symbol appears again in the fourteenth stanza; this time they are “rippling in orchards” causing fruit to fall. Since orchards are also a symbol of vitality the horses are once again destroying something healthy. This creates an image in the readers mind – aided by the onomatopoeia of the thundering and chiming of fruit – in which horses (death) are stampeding through orchards (life). This scene represents the AIDS penetrating Peter’s body, and as the fruit fall from the trees, Peter’s health and vitality are receding. The reader can feel the gravity and speed with which this is happening and it creates a sense of sympathy. Another example of Peter’s (and other men’s) feelings towards the life of prostitution (or perhaps of homose...