Poetry Journal #5 - In the Desert

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter – bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

-Stephen Crane


This poem seems to be a musing to me, with no intended audience or clear speaker. Additionally, there does not appear to be a clear entry point, you are just dropped "In the desert" and left with speech from the beast.

What I find really interesting about this poem is the excess of punctuation. It is a fairly short poem at only 10 lines, and yet when read alound it seems longer when given the appropriate pauses at all the commas, periods, and dashes. I feel like this is the poet's attempt at creating a disjointed, and somewhat broken world in the poem. He is living this odd experience of a beast eating its own heart, whether literal or metaphorical and in either sense it must be somewhat surreal.