Formal Analysis of ”Ask me for the Moon”
The piece of work I have chosen is a poem that I believe to be an amazing concept that perfectly underlines the work and tourism in Hawaii, told in a new digital form. Ask me for the Moon is a modern day, interactive poem created by John David Zuern, an English professor at the University of Hawaii. This poem takes place in Waikiki, Hawaii in present day time. Ask me for the Moon is about what David Zuern has seen and learned about the tourism in Hawaii. The poem is not told in a traditional beginning to end style, you read through the first half of the poem that is then followed by short sentences that you pick the order you read them in. So, the poem is choppy to understand at first but, once you read through it a few times it all connects and flows. It takes only around 10 minutes to complete and is designed to have an interactive second half where you must click different parts of the screen to hear the second half of the poem. After, you click on a section and read a short part of the poem that page goes to an explanation of what is going on in Waikiki in reference to the section of the poem. This narrative is also told in the first-person point of view through David Zuern’s eyes.
Zuern’s digital poem is a modern-day wonder, in my opinion. Never have I seen a piece of poetry presented in the way he has presented Ask me for the Moon. Through the first section of your viewings expe3rience you see lines of the poem flash onto the page then disappear turning into new words and sections. While he gives you very vivid images too also look at as if you were really walking on the shore. I think this technique is an interesting one. I say this because it doesn’t necessary allow the viewer to take the time to read through everything slowly and grasps the information. That is why I previously stated that this poem takes a few tries to completely understand the meaning. But once you can truly understand the meaning it is quite interesting. The whole poem is simply about taking a walk on the shore of a beach and witnessing the life of people at a resort in Waikiki. He goes on to explain how everything that is done during the day can and will be also done at night. I think Zuern also does a good job conveying the massage of how overpopulated this island really is. He gives the ratio of how there is about 2 workers on the island for 1 tourist. Which means that there is also not enough work for all the people on the island. I think this is an important modern-day issue since Hawaii is part of the US no one really thinks about how they struggle just like any other coastal island does in the world.
The biggest take away from Ask me for the Moon is not the meaning of the poem itself it is all the little things that go into it that makes it so amazing. From start to finish you can see all the quality of work that is put into making a piece of such digital quality, in a simple form being made in 2005. Zuern manages to incorporate many different senses in just a short time from getting an almost eerie feel in the beginning to having a man’s voice that breaths out every time you pick a new section of the poem to read. Along with sound during the second portion as you read there are blue-green tropical pictures that flash and change you when you pick different parts. He also allows you to go back and start the poem over with little buttons on the bottoms of the page. This also included a reference button, leave button, revisit, and notes.
I would like to also talk about the imagery used in this digital poem. With black and white being the main colors I can help but to think he did this for three reasons. 1. To make the reader really feel like they are taking a nighttime stroll on the beach. 2. This coloring allows the readers to be more focused on the bold white words coming onto the page. 3. It completely matches the simplicity that I believe Zuern is trying to create. I believe that color is such a larger part in how viewers react to things and his color choice is spot on. The only color that is bright colored used is only on the section of photos. I think he does this so that the pictures stand out even more than the words so you can see the imagery needed to fully understand where you are supposed to be “taking a walk”
The takeaway from this poem is that not only is the poem an eye-opening visual and emotional experience but that all the components that Zuern uses really ties all the pieces together creating a wonderful piece of work.
I have included a hyperlink to the poem down below!!
