Beginning of Essay
Although it’s not a lengthy poem, the few words and their layout in “Keeping Things Whole” certainly possess great significance. This poem is centered on the idea that the narrator’s life is lacking purpose. In exploring the meaning of his existence, he ....

Middle of Essay
.... attention placed on his current idea. The narrator’s viewpoint towards life in this poem is quite different from how most people see it. Where he writes, “In a field / I am the absence / of field.” (ll. 1-3) instead of acknowledging his existence as something, he regards it as a lack of something. This negativity towards himself is what the entire poem is focused on. He uses the idea that when his body enters an area the parts of that area are momentarily interrupted and are forced around him, just waiting to return back to normal once he leaves: “When I walk / I part the air / and always / the air moves in / to fill the spaces / where my ....