Different Interpretations

To me, Niedecker's poems are insightful. The one's I've read so far in class have consumed me and I've found myself wondering why she chose to write the way that she did.

The majority of her poems that I've read have been around ten lines. Looking at her poem "Watching Dancers on Skates," she conveys a multitude of feelings and meanings behind her words.

The first stanza explains how the narrator is the only one wearing boots in all of the people present. For me, this can mean multiple things--that it's the narrator expressing their differences from the others, thus proclaiming that they're different in the real world, or that the narrator is afraid to skate, or to take risks. 

Then, looking at the second stanza, the narrator focuses in on two skaters, one male and one female, where the male is holding up the women's leg. This appeals to the fear of the narrator relating to skating because the women has faith and trust in the male to not let her fall on the ice and possibly get hurt. But, it also appeals to how the narrator is different from others around her because she picked this couple for a reason--they had to have stood out to her in some way--exploiting their differences as well. 

"Watching Dancers on Skates" can have several interpretations and I believe that is one of Niedecker's best qualities as a poet--she's able to appeal to all readers in the way that they're able to see her poems in their own way.