Saeed Jones’ “Last Call” describes a narrator’s conflicting desire for a relationship with another man despite internal and societal barriers. Through imagery that emphasizes external darkness, Jones situates queerness with nighttime and smoke, evoking a sense of danger and scandal. In the beginning of the poem, he portrays the “night’s” mouth as a gun, implying a potential for physical harm within their relationship. Despite this perceived risk, the narrator cannot help but be drawn toward the danger when he physically pulls the man back into him, initiating their sexual relationship despite his conflicting feelings. In the middle of the poem, the lines “I’ve got more hunger than my body can hold. Bloated with want” (16) portray the narrator’s desire as intense and consuming, using hunger as a metaphor for sexual desire. The word “bloated” also implies that the narrator has consumed or is asking for too much in their relationship; his desire has reached the point of greed. This imagery positions the queer relationship at the center of the poem in a negative light, an element supported by continued imagery of darkness and drowning in the second half of the poem.
Throughout the poem, Jones hints at the forces preventing the narrator from fulfilling his desires to be with the other man. Societal pressure to conform is implied through the narrator’s need to “wait for the moon to drown” (16), implying that he must wait until all light is gone so that no one can see him before acting on his desire. The narrator’s final act of being pulled down into a lake to be with the other man is both muddy, which symbolizes the emotional sense of being “dirty” for being in a homosexual relationship, and serves as a metaphor for being pulled down to hell, a potential reaction to homosexuality being considered a sin. The poem ends by implying that, despite the portrayal of this relationship as negative from the beginning, there is a “city” beneath the surface of the lake – a sense of hope beneath the surface of the narrator’s hesitance and self-hatred – which he is on his way towards.
When I read this analysis, I immediately thought of “Thralldom”, another poem in Prelude to Bruise. Personally, I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but what did stick out to me in “Thralldom” was its mention of the narrators hunger alongside a lot of negative imagery. After reading this analysis, I think it’s not only identified core themes in “Last call”, but it’s also identified the core themes of “Thralldom”. After reading this, I think I actually better understand two poems.
Jones has a beautiful writing style and is not precluded from making controversial topics on sex and passion very upfront and bare, as you have described. This is not the only poem that has insinuated or flat out described desire and queer sex, the boy in the woods does the same. There is three sides to all of these: the father, the sex, and the disgusting feeling of guilt. I think you have described the this idea quite well and have pointed out his lack of ability to fully commit to a queer relationship with another man because of the guilt and the idea of “sinning.”
I think the analysis fully captures what personal experiences Jones has gone through which has been insinuated into his writing that many queer people can relate to or resonate with. Theres this interesting evolvement that I can see from this poem and “Pretending to Drown” almost this naivete of not thinking of consequences but still progressively having this idea installed in you that homosexuality is wrong and eventually as one grows up it gets to the point where they self-loathe their feelings and thoughts but struggle to have control over them and go off of impulse which can lead to dangerous situations.
I like how you explained the imagery of darkness, hunger, and drowning to show the struggle in the poem. Your point about “bloated” making desire seem greedy was really interesting. I also agree with your idea that the lake shows both shame and the chance for something new. The ending feels important because it shows that even with danger and fear, there is still some hope for the narrator.