A ruthless catalog of sorrows:
years in front of the screen, diplomas before jobs,
and languages—all that torture—now ranged under Languages.
Where are all the wasted days? And the nights
of walking with hands stretched out
and the visions that crept over the walls?
Where are the feelings of guilt
and the sudden sadness faced with a little hill of fruit
atop a handcart in some forgotten street?
Years with no mention of the empty hours or the funerals,
expunged of black depressions and nibbled nails,
the house keys forgotten inside the house.
There isn’t a single open window
and no trace of the desire, deferred, to leap out.
A life overstuffed with accomplishments,
scrubbed free of dirt:
proof that the one who lived it
has cut all ties to the earth.
“CV” is a probing and melancholic poem that questions our society’s values.
- Robyn Creswell’s translation of Iman Mersal’s poem “CV” does not follow a regular rhyme scheme, though some rhyming is used throughout. When you read “CV” aloud, what rhymes do you notice? How does their placement affect your recitation of the poem?
- “CV” is a poem written in lines of varying lengths. Find the longest and shortest lines in the poem. What do you notice about them? How does the varying line length affect your reading?
- “CV” makes use of several rhetorical questions. Find these in the poem. How would you describe the speaker’s tone here? Which question most speaks to you? Consider why you are drawn to the phrasing of this question more than the others.
- The letters “CV” are an abbreviation of “curriculum vitae” (from the Latin, meaning “course of life”), a term designating a summary of a person’s education and professional qualifications, most often used as part of job applications. How does Iman Mersal’s poem “CV” characterize this kind of document? What role does the poem’s structure have in relaying its message?
- “CV” ends with the lines “A life overstuffed with accomplishments, / scrubbed free of dirt: / proof that the one who lived it / has cut all ties to the earth.” Note the metaphorical language in these lines. What do you think it means to say that a life has been “scrubbed free of dirt”? What does it mean to “cut all ties to the earth”? How do these lines relate to the ones that precede them?
Writing activity: Write your own poem about a kind of formal document—a CV, a résumé, a university application, a report card—that you have prepared or read before. How can you best convey your overall feelings about your experience with this kind of document? As a nod to Mersal, consider using two or more rhetorical questions in your poem.
Useful Links
Listen to Iman Mersal and her translator Robyn Creswell in conversation with poet Sarah Howe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=941zAhH1KUA
Mersal, Iman, "CV" from The Threshold, Saturnalia Books, 2022. Griffin Poetry Prize 2023 Finalist. English Translation Copyright © 2022 by Robyn Creswell. Used with permission from The Griffin Trust For Excellence In Poetry.