Denizen — Summary

Dave BontaCheerful

no use for the infinite? come dwell in a hole

and dance with me my yes and my no

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Dave Bonta's "Denizen" is a tiny invitation, and it begins with a gentle challenge: if you have no use for the infinite, if vastness doesn't move you, then come somewhere smaller. The "hole" is the surprise. It could be a burrow, a den, a crack in the ground, and the title fits that idea, since a denizen is someone who lives in a particular place. The speaker seems to be one of these dwellers, calling out to a visitor.

The second stanza turns playful. Instead of asking the listener to think or believe, the speaker asks them to "dance," and what they dance with is "my yes and my no," the speaker's own agreements and refusals, certainties and doubts. The mood is warm, a little cheeky, and intimate. The poem seems to suggest that ordinary, uncertain, back-and-forth human life can be more welcoming than grand abstractions, and that a hole in the ground might be a better place to dance than the endless sky.

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