More Than Just "A Story about the Body"

I do not consider myself to be great, even good at interpreting poetry, but in attempt to grow as an intellectual, I do my best and put forth effort to think "outside of the box" when reading poetry.  In the Headnote about Robert Hass in the Pearson Anthology, it said that, "Hass's work is often understated and condensed, drawing images from ordinary life in an effort to have readers concentrate on hidden meanings."  I believe that nearly all poetry contains "hidden meanings."  And I believe that in Hass's poem, "A Story about the Body" contains a hidden meaning.

The young composer and the older Japanese painter in the story represent any love relationship.  He (the young composer) comes to think that he was in love with her.  He was intrigued by her body language and the way she looked at him when she painted.  To me, this represents the rose petals in the top of the blue bowl at the end of the story.  This is taking love at face value.  It does not go any deeper.  Following a concert, they walk together back to her house.  At the front door, she confesses to him that she has had a double mastectomy.  She also says that she would like for him to have her and that she believes that he would like it too, but after hearing of the surgery, he claims he does not think he could have her.  To me, this represents the dead bees at the bottom of the blue bowl underneath the rose petals.

The next morning, he walked out to the front porch to discover a blue bowl, believed to have been placed there by the older Japanese woman.  The bowl contained dead bees with rose petals on top of them.  The bowl looks quite pleasing seeing it full of rose petals.  It looks like love.  Dig deeper to the bottom of the bowl, however, and discover that the love is only dead and is not true at all.  I believe the woman used bees because of the insect’s stinger.  Love is not to be played around with, and when it is, it is like one has been stung in the heart.  I also believe that this meaning correlates with the title of the poem, “A Story about the Body.”  Many people refuse to love someone who does not physically appeal to them.  After hearing that the woman had no breasts, it is possible that the young man did not want to be with her for that very reason.

I could have hit the nail on the head with interpreting the meaning of the poem, but I could also be very wrong.  But I believe that with poetry, everyone can take a different meaning from the same poem and everyone still be right, thus the creativity and deepness of poetry.