Battery Alexander

For class I was assigned to deeply read the poem "Battery Alexander" in Disclamor by G. C. Waldrep.

After reading through the poem once, I had very little understanding of even it's basic meaning. So, initially, I began by asking some questions. The first thing I did was look up words that I was unsure of their meaning (or, in some cases, I knew the meaning but wanted to double-check my understanding).

These are the words:

• sanguinary - characterized by blood or bloodshed
• lupine - wolflike; ravenous, vicious, savage
• coulter - the blade on a plough that cuts the dirt vertically
• adze - a handtool with a blade at a right angle to the wooden handle, used for dressing lumber
• hasp - a clasp for a door with a padlock or pin

Adze

 

Then I looked up the different plants that Waldrep mentions.

• Monterey cypress - a California native that used to grow in a lot of places but now has gotten quite sparse (I believe)
• Scotch broom - an invasive plant species from Europe that has taken root in California
• Sea-fig - an invasive plant species from Africa that has taken root in California

I also looked up the quotation used in the poem, which is from the Bible, Matthew 15:11. This particular section of the Bible also mentioned the "blind leading the blind" - and earlier in the poem Waldrep talks about the  "blind shielding their eyes" - something that may be connected.

"Battery Alexander" is made up of five parts. Each part has a few stanzas, although some stanzas are made up of only one line.
In the first section, Waldrep describes Alexander as being like the Monterey cypress. He also says that while the capital is far from Alexander, it is still somehow close. He describes the capital as "sanguinary." And he says that "as we live within the bounds of the capital/the capital lives in us."
Alexander was one of not very many batteries built on that side of San Fransisco, which could be a parrellel with the now-lonely Monterey cypress. However, despite being out in the middle of nowhere, isolate and alone, the feeling of the "capital" still overwhelms the place. In other words, the place still has a sense of being American, and having a duty to America. This duty is described as "sanguinary" - an accurate description for a battery and also for America. Saying that we live in the capital and the capital lives in us is an example of a kind of word play Waldrep uses frequently, but it also describes patriotism and America very well - there is a sense of patriotism in places like Alexander, or the "capital" living in Alexander. the best way I can put it is to say that Alexander is American, but America is also Alexander. This first section is mostly a description of Alexander and the feelings of the persona while standing there.

The second section also describes Alexander, getting into more specifics about how this place is different from any other place. The first stanza talks about wandering through Alexander and finding different things - a garden, a maze of pipes, and nothing. Alexander had a rather complicated plumbing system, which explains the pipes. It's unclear whether the garden was planted after Alexander was turned into a park or when it was being used for defense - although Waldrep hints that it was there the whole time in the next stanza. Here, he makes a sort of riddle, asking what defense is without beauty. The answer is "geometry". I get the sense that Waldrep finds Alexander rather disturbing, and the fact that there is beauty there also upsets him. But geometry is also a reference to the use of angles and altitude in Alexander. The mortars at Alexander fired high into the air, using geometry so that they would hit enemy ships from above, striking their thin decks instead of their armored sides. This geometry is references throughout the rest of the poem. In the third stanza, Waldrep talks about "a meaning of intelligence" - perhaps acknowledging the intelligence of using geometry against the enemy, perhaps mocking the idea of using intelligence for killing. He then says that "the blind save their eyes/for the approaching flame" - perhaps referencing Matthew 15 again, although what I initially thought of here was the story that a blind woman saw the flash of the bomb hitting Hiroshima.

In the next section, Waldrep talks about some things he saw at Alexander. The first stanza talks about a hawk being annoyed by a small blackbird. It describes the hawk's prey as everything. The hawk is similar to the mortars of Alexander, as it attacks from above, going after the weak spot of its prey by coming down from above. This stanza also describes the only graffiti he found at Alexander, a violent message "PRO DEATH NOW" - there is no love here like in the other places, only more death. He also mentions for the first time an "object of desire" - something that comes up later and refers to Matthew 15.

The next section is in italics and talks about a dream Waldrep had while in Alexander. In the dream, he is a tour guide speaking another language that he doesn't understand, but everyone else seems to. This reminds me of the story in Acts where the disciples speak the story of Jesus in languages they don't know, a reversal of the story of the Tower of Babel. here, too, Waldrep talks about the different tools mentioned above - he is showing them to the people he is leading around, and they are amazed by them. Perhaps this is talking about advances in technology captivating the people, who then forget about more important things. Waldrep also says that the people and the persona then stand silently in a room with no windows (a prison?) for a long time - being trapped in a place where there is no light or hope. Perhaps this section is a comment on modern life as compared to a more rural life, a reference to the Amish?

The final section begins with a Bible verse, Matthew 15:11. Here, Jesus is saying that eating unclean things is not what makes a person unclean, but saying unclean things. In the next part he critics the Pharisees, saying that they are the "blind leading the blind" - another comment against modern life/war? In the next stanza, "dimension" is another geometry reference. Here, Waldrep is asking a question about war. If "we" are attacked and go to war, we are victims and blameless, but if we start the war, we are bullies who are blamed for the war? Yet America is still hungry for wars, despite not wanting to be blamed, and looks for any chance to get involved. Here also is when Waldrep talks about the invasive plant species. Perhaps he is talking about how wars invade a place, but I think maybe he is talking more baout the batteries. They are all along the coast, invading it, changing it, despite not really fitting into the natural setting. They are, he seems to think, ruining it, killing the natural things that are there, like an invasive plant.

Overall, this poem is slightly more depressing then the others. I get the sense that Waldrep was very disturbed by Alexander for some reason. I think this is reflected in his poem, which is very questioning and concerned.