Constantly Risking Absurdity

“Constantly Risking Absurdity” is a poem in which Lawrence Ferlinghetti uses metaphor to liken being a poet to being an acrobat, in that they hang on a string before an audience that entertains in their every move and watches them if they happen to slip and fall. And so being a poet is an occupation that is built on having an audience and people’s take on your work determines your success or lack thereof. He uses imagery to show how poets balances “on eyebeams above a sea of faces”, so that the reader can picture the poet being subject to the gazes of the audience, depending on their view, on their judgment, for his perfect balance or for his eventual fall from success. The structure of the poem is jagged and spaced out, in the like of ropes leading a zigzagged path through which the poet walks, which emphasizes the poet’s uncertainty, dependence, and need to take risks.