Response to "Lucy"

I really enjoyed “Lucy.” The first thing I recognized when I read the poem was the second line “And he cannot stand it.” Immediately the reader senses the relationship between the two characters, if not already familiar with the Peanuts comic strip. Saying that, I think the strongest aspect of this poem is that one can completely understand everything going on, the relationship mentioned, and the thoughts of the characters without ever having seen or read the comic. The ending stanza is very powerful, and funny. “And boys don’t concern themselves with saucepans/Boys just fret about girls like Lucy.” The reader really does get the sense of how pushy and bossy the character Lucy is. I especially like the fact that the author repeats Lucy and her saucepans. The twelfth line, personally, was too long. Most of the lines stay around the same length; however, when I first looked at this poem, that’s the line my eyes first went to. I understand and enjoy the simile, but if there is any way to cut this line down a bit, I would do it. The line loses power by going on as long as it does. I didn’t quite understand the line “her mind seizing notes.” As the reader, I’m not quite sure what the poet was going for here. Perhaps a bit clearer? Does the first line of the last stanza need punctuation? I’m not sure, but the second line is a whole sentence.