"The Universe as a Primal Scream" by Tracy K. Smith
Maybe you’re like me and regularly have existential crises, or maybe you don’t. But, it’s difficult
to not feel insignificant in the world at times and often, it seems like there may be more to life than we
can understand. In “The Universe as a Primal Scream” by Tracy K. Smith, what is seemingly a poem
about Smith’s neighbor having two children who scream often implies a far deeper outlook on the scope of the universe.
At “5pm on the nose” the kids “open their mouths and [scream],” is what Smith leads with. It may
seem like the speaker just has some obnoxious neighbors, and she even questions if the mother is proud
of the powerhouse children she produced. But, it quickly shifts in the third stanza and says “[she’s
ready [t]o meet what refuses to let us keep anything [f]or long” which contrasts these seemingly
inconsequential screams from the children nearby. The speaker is questioning why the universe only
gives us temporary indulgences and even refers to the universe as both a “wizard” and a “thief”, for it
gives us greatness, only to take it away.
Why are the childrens’ screams only seemingly inconsequential, though? I myself struggled to
realize initially why Smith even mentioned the children screaming at all, but the last stanza seems to
make it all make sense. “Our racket seems beside [the universe]” and it doesn’t seem to care much
about what we want. In fact, there’ll always be these “forces” of the universe that we just can’t
understand, and the kids upstairs “[s]crea[m] like the Dawn of Man, as if something [t]hey have no
name for has begun.” There’s a certain mystery to the universe and these kids will scream day after day
never understanding. The speaker will listen to her “stereo on shuffle” never understanding. The
universe will always contain this sense of mystery and unknowingness, a beautiful thing. Where did the
universe come from? Why are there unexplainable forces beyond our control? There’s so much we just
don’t know and will never know. These children screaming is a regular racket in the life of the speaker,
but the universe will never care about that, and the kids will continue to scream as they, too, don’t
understand.
As someone who adores fantastical thought and the mysteries of the universe (I mean, Gravity
Falls is literally my favorite TV show), this poem was just splendid. So many things to ponder about
post reading, and even after processing my own interpretation I’m curious if there’s more depth to this
than my puny teenager brain can understand.
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