English Language and Literature ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 5-2017
Abstract
The following book of poems is broken into four sections themed on air travel to reflect the manuscript’s title and primary preoccupation: leaving, for better or worse, and the ensuing journeys. The sections are “Departure,” “Baggage,” “Layover,” and “Arrival.” Inherent in this structure is also something of a narrative arc—a classical story structure that suggests continuity (of plot or character) and change. It is a book of lyric poems, however, and so it resists conforming entirely to the narrative mode, even as it embodies the questions at the heart of its structure: what causes one to leave a person or place, when is it time to, and who or what is left behind? What changes in the process of leaving? Where does one end up, and can one return home?
Degree Name
MFA Creative Writing
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
English
First Committee Member (Chair)
Lisa Chavez
Second Committee Member
Greg Martin
Third Committee Member
Dan Mueller
Fourth Committee Member
Jerome Shea
Language
English
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Wormhoudt, Charles. "On Leaving." (2017). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/engl_etds/176
