Attention to Detail
Goldbarth is first and foremost an observer. He devotes keen attention to the observance of the details of his daily life -- whether through experience, curiosity, or philosophy, -- chronicling these notes in his poems, often with the additional layer of personality for the world appears to be very personal in Goldbarth's estimation. When he looks at the paintings in the Kansas City museum ("After Seeing The Impressionist Group Exhibit In Kansas City, We Drive Back Through Flatness To Wichita"), he sees literature. He reads Degas and Monet like authors, interpreting their brushstrokes grammatically. This association is doubtless the result of Goldbarth's own preoccupation with the written word, as a poet, but it also reveals his ability to devote careful attention to a subject and draw conclusions based upon his observations. Thus is poetry approaches the scientific method. In order to form a theory about the paintings, Goldbarth studies their details, from lines to symmetry to color, etc. He considers the nuances of form and shape before seeking meaning from the pieces, a testament to his specific and seemingly deliberate or methodical attention to detail.
Relevance and Cultural Commentary
Goldbarth draws upon his experience for his poems. He appears to write about whatever strikes his fancy in recent moments, giving his writing a sense of relevance and engagement. When he visits Kansas City, Goldbarth writes about farmlands. When he reads about the latest news from NASA or a detail of scientific discovery, such as in "Alevoli," he writes about scientific discovery and its nature and its significance for him personally. Goldbarth also chooses topics from his personal life, such as his father's death in "Again" or his intimate relationship in "A Hum." Without compromising his participation in life, Goldbarth incorporates his everyday experiences into his poetry. These are glimpses of his own world, but the relevant details of Goldbarth's experiences also shed a more broad light upon his specific cultural moment. His culture if full of words, like the braille reading of "And The Rustling Bough As An Alphabet." Although, yet again, this literary fascination may be attributed to Goldbarth's personal interpretation, his perspective is only informed by his society, so he becomes another manifestation of culture himself.
Travel
A great deal of Goldbarth's poems allude to foreign countries or various destinations. He makes explicit reference to a variety of locations. For instance, in "Alveoli" he mentions India, China, Italy, Frances, Canada, Babylon, and even Neptune. Throughout the text there is a certain familiar sort of longing for the exotic, not for its own sake, but for its recognition. Goldbarth incorporates these far-off destinations in the poem because of their mythic value, to further locate the text within the material world. In a discussion of scientific fact, he grounds the conversation by referencing these iconic places, appealing to a global understanding of the human.
