While never mentioned outright, the various word choices the poet uses make it clear that this poem is focused on the impact of severe drug addiction. Over time, the drugs destroy someone’s mind and body in a way that’s impossible to come back from.
One of the primary images you need to understand in this poem is that of the monkey and the organ grinder. It’s alluded to throughout the piece and is trying to convey the idea that when someone is heavily dependent on drugs, they’re the monkey that’s controlled by the organ grinder.
Explore Junkie Monkey Reel
- 1 Summary
- 2 Structure and Form
- 3 Literary Devices
- 4 Detailed Analysis
- 5 Similar Poetry
Summary
‘Junkie Monkey Reel’ by Maya Angelou is a memorable poem about the impact of drug abuse.
Throughout this poem, the speaker uses hard-to-forget images to depict the way that drugs change someone’s life. The more you use them, the harder it is to stop, and the more you start to slouch, decay, and suffer. As time goes on, the poet indicates, you become more and more primate-like and end up resembling someone far older than you are.
The Poem Analysis Take
Expert Insights by Emma Baldwin
B.A. English (Minor: Creative Writing), B.F.A. Fine Art, B.A. Art Histories
Within the lines of this poem, Angelou does a fantastic job depicting the ways in which drug use degrades someone, physically and mentally. They begin to exhibit the signs of aging and even resemble a primate, in some ways, that’s entirely controlled by desire.
Structure and Form
‘Junkie Monkey Reel’ by Maya Angelou is a six-stanza poem that is written in free verse. This means that the poet chose not to use a specific rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. The lines end in very different sounds, for example, “sag,” “needling,” “bone,” and “sockets” in stanza one. The lines are also different lengths, ranging from a single word to five or more words.
Literary Devices
In this poem, the poet makes use of a few different literary devices. For example:
- Extended Metaphor: This is seen when the poet maintains a metaphor throughout the entire poem or a large section of it. In this case, there is a consistent comparison between the drug user and a primate.
- Enjambment: This is seen when the poet cuts off a line before its natural stopping point. For example, the transition between lines three and four of stanza one.
- Alliteration: This is seen when the poet repeats the same consonant sound at the beginning of multiple lines. For example, “familiar” and “forgot” in stanza two.
- Personification: This occurs when the poet imbues something non-human with human characteristics. For example, the monkey dancing.
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
Shoulders sag,
The pull of weighted needling.
Arms drag, smacking wet in soft bone
Sockets.
In the first lines of the poem, the speaker introduces readers to the effects of taking narcotics. The speaker describes the body’s reaction to these substances, with the shoulders sagging and the arms dragging. This also connects to the image of the monkey in the title. This is an extended metaphor that lasts throughout the stanzas of this free verse poem.
The poet uses the word “smacking” in these lines. This is likely meant to be an example of a double entendre, referring to both drugs as “smack” and the smacking of the vein before injecting drugs.
Stanza Two
Knees thaw,
(…)
Lock and bend forgot.
The second stanza is similar to the first in that it features the body’s reaction to drugs, especially drugs that are taken for a long period of time. The poet describes the knees thawing or becoming weak and deteriorating and the entire body bending and weakening.
These lines seem to equate prolonged drug use to the effects of aging. One’s body, the poet is saying, starts to degrade in the same way. The mental effects of aging are also represented in drug use with increased forgetfulness.
Stanza Three
Teeth rock in fetid gums.
(…)
Simian juice.
In the third stanza, the speaker uses more interesting examples of images. The teeth in a drug user’s mouth start to loosen and “rock” as the gums rot and the eyes dart around for a time, that is, before they die (or look dead).
The word “Simian” is used in the third line. It refers to primates or monkeys and connects the poem to the title once again. Drugs are “Simian juice,” or monkey juice, the speaker says. This refers to the way that the drugs control the user and turn them into something less than human.
The monkey image is also used in the poem to suggest the age-old image of the monkey and the organ grinder. This refers to a street organ that featured a monkey tethered to a string, which would do tricks to attract attention. In this case, the drug user is the monkey, and drugs are the organ grinder.
Stanza Four
Brains reel,
(…)
Years ago.
In the fourth stanza, the speaker uses images of charts and routes to describe how drugs impact the brain. All the old ideas and ways of thinking are erased by drug use, she’s suggesting. There is another double entendre in these lines when the poet uses the word “tracks” to refer to the tracks a “desert caravan” leaves as well as the “tracks” that heroin use leaves on the skin.
The poet also makes a comparison between the use of drugs and how they begin to control the user to being enslaved.
Stanza Five
Dreams fail,
(…)
Murder is its sweet romance.
In the final quatrain, the speaker indicates that with drug use in the equation, dreams are sure to fail, and instead, one is left with one’s deepest fears of living on the streets and embracing that as reality.
There is a final metaphor in these lines when the poet describes murder as a sweet romance. She’s indicating that everything good in life is replaced by its darkest counterpart. Instead of love, one gets murdered.
Stanza Six
How long will
(…)
The final and shortest stanza of the poem is only two lines long. It’s an unrhymed couplet that reads, “How long will / This monkey dance?” Here, the poet is alluding to the image of the monkey and the organ grinder. The monkey, the drug user, dances to the the desires of the drug, just as the monkey is controlled by the organ grinder.
She asks rhetorically how long this dance is going to go on. There is no answer to this question, but readers already know the answer — until the drug user gets clean or they pass away.
Similar Poetry
Readers who enjoyed this poem might also like these poems by Maya Angelou:
- ‘Alone’ – is a poem that explores solitude and loneliness.
- ‘Caged Bird’ – this poem was published in 1983 and speaks on resilience.
- ‘When Great Trees Fall’– speaks about loss as a tragic yet inevitable part of the human experience.
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