The title of the poem, Catch, helps produce an image. Although catch can mean various things from .
capturing, deceiving, or laying hold of. When combined with the first line we start to see a game of "catch", by using the word choices; two, boys, tossing, poem, together. Even though a ball is not present to be caught, that is the image that arises in my mind. Upon further examination I find that the first line is not at all a game, but more of a starting point. "Two boys uncoached." Two boys not instructed or trained are making, "a poem together," an arrangement of words, rhythmically in a style more imaginative than ordinary speech. The "game" proceeds with every line, each being a tip on well done poetry.
Line two reinforces the image of two boys playing catch using words involving hands. "Overhand,.
underhand, backhand, sleight of hand, every hand," This is a confusing line when considering this is a poem about poems. Yet, it is a wonderful example of alliteration. The word play in this line gives an image to the reader, but there are words in here that have valid meanings. Francis says "backhand," which can be a catch or toss or also handwriting that slants up to the left, and "sleight of hand," a deceiving skill with the hands that performs a trick, these words tell us that writing is a skill. Line three is another example line with some beautiful word choices. "Teasing." to annoy, "attitudes," one's disposition, opinion, " latitudes," is a distance measured in degrees, and also freedom from narrow restrictions, "interludes," anything that fills time between events. This line suddenly becomes much more than pretty, a message, that your opinion (however annoying) when written is powerful using a release from restrictions and attention to detail.
Lines four, five and six are all word choices from a theme to give examples of ways to write. "High, make him fly off the ground for it, low, make him stoop, Make him scoop it up, make him as-almost-as-possible miss it,Fast, let him sting from it, now, now fool him slowly," Each line uses images of catching or tossing a ball to say there are variations.
