Poetry is used to capture and display human emotion. Charged like a lightning bolt the words of a poem explode onto our psyche, pushing us towards, or away from, certain feelings. This poem, Human Interest, highlights the roller coaster of emotion that goes through the man of someone he supposedly loved. “I stabbed. I felt this heat burn through my skull until reason had died.” (Duffy, 34).

I normally am not much of an avid poet reader. It doesn’t typically suit me as entertainment, but reading Standing Female Nude has helped me to more fully understand that poetry is not simple entertainment. Of course some of the poems in this novel are obviously created for the main purpose to entertain, but more of them, I would say, are an education on feelings. Human emotion is something that a lot of people have a hard time getting a solid grasp on. Empathy, sympathy, and compassion are all lost in some hearts and minds. Delving into the inner mind of people in situations we may never experience seems to be the direct purpose of this particular volume of poetry. What thoughts go through someone’s mind who is violent and murderous? What about a pedophile? What about someone who is just experiencing their mundane day to day? Knowing what emotions and thoughts might peek into these various brains might help us to better understand why people do what they do. Therefore, coming closer to the motives of those who harm or of those who don’t can help us to emulate or ameliorate the good and the bad in society’s inner psyche.

-Courtesy of YouTube