David Whyte and Robert Francis

Working Together by David Whyte and Summons by Robert Francis

   Poetry: the universal expression of knowledge and self. No matter what language, type or form, all poems carry a message. Working Together and Summons evokes a sense of fellowship and camaraderie from the reader. One person can only do so much alone, only feel and experience insular emotions and moments by himself. And with the help of others, that one person can open his eyes to "a whole new world" and find a greater truth in it.
   In Summons, the narrator talks to an unknown person, asking him or her to keep the narrator awake so they can watch the Northern Lights together, so they can admire nature together and appreciate each other's presence. The narrator wants to be woken up so he and his friend can watch the wonders of nature that are bigger than the both of them. He wants to see something wonderful, and those sights will reshape his perspective and thinking. He will have been changed for the better. The narrator gets to share those few moments with someone he cares about. He needs the motivation that everyone else needs to get out of bed, and he shall be rewarded with irreplaceable and priceless memories and mementos.
   And in Working Together, Whyte talks about how the world and the people affect us, how there's something greater out there waiting to be discovered and invented. When people work together, great things can happen. They can experience new things, great moments. The intangible contains some phenomenal that, when molded by different hands, can create something momentous. This message is shared by Francis's Summons, that with the help of at least one person, the beautiful elements of life can be discovered and marveled at. The narrator wouldn't have seen that "the Northern Lights are on," or that "the clouds are doing something to the moon..." if his friend hadn't persuaded him to go outside. That camaraderie or sense friendship helped both of them experience something completely beyond their control. And like in Working Together, the coalition of people can achieve something that just one person couldn't do by himself.
   With the help of others, one person can transcend the boundaries that confine him to solitude to experience something more meaningful than if left alone. Working together, whether with one person or seven, can help make new memories and reshape perspectives. We are shaped by the world and the people around us. And individuals can unite to see, imagine, experience, produce something never seen and done before. They can "work together in common cause, to produce the miraculous."