Art

The central symbol of the poem is art, and it symbolizes how one faces, manages, and copes with loss. The speaker defines losing and loss as an art form and contends that, with practice, it can be mastered. The speaker’s command that we should “lose something every day” (2-4) is both ironic and desperate, calling upon the reader to practice the art of losing small things first in order to prepare ourselves for the inevitable larger losses in life.

The art of losing is not the only art form alluded to in the poem. The art of writing is also suggested as a coping mechanism to help one deal with and manage loss. The speaker calls upon herself to confront head-on the loss of her loved one by admitting to it in writing, when she confesses that “it may look like (Write it!) a disaster...