Computer Blues
One of the most popular forms of American poetry, the blues poem stems from the African American oral tradition and the musical tradition of the blues. A blues poem typically takes on themes such as struggle, despair, and sex. It often (but not necessarily) follows a form, in which a statement is made in the first line, a variation is given in the second line, and an ironic alternative is declared in the third line.
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Computer Blues by Raymond R. Patterson is a blue poem. It was originally written in 1989. It mainly focuses on what seems to be an emotional struggle he is having with himself. Early into the poem Patterson states, “I put my troubles in the computer/ To find out what’s troubling me,” (Patterson 197). Here the author is showing that he clearly has something going on, however, it seems he has not yet identified what that something is. From here the computer seemingly “breaks down” and is unable to process the author’s feelings. Patterson finished the poem by saying, “Well, if I had just stopped and thought,/ I might have knowed,/ Ain’t no machine/ Can handle that load,” (Patterson 197). Here he is recognizing that perhaps his emotions are too much for not only himself to handle but for even a computer to handle. It seems that the author has been bottling up his feelings for so long that they are taking an extreme emotional toll out of him. Which seemingly in turn causes the computer to “break down.” You could even compare this machine to the author attempting to process how he is feeling, but being unsuccessful and “breaking down.”
Patterson, Raymond. “Computer Blues” An Exaltation of Forms: Contemporary Poets Celebrate the Diversity of Their Art, Edited by Anne Finch and Kathrine Varnes, U. of Michigan Press, 2002, pp. 188–197.
