Out of the blue poetical device

In this short paragraph i would like to talk about a particular device and its effect within the poem. The poem i will be talking about is out of the blue by simon armitage. In this poem the man talking is an english worker in the north tower of the world trade centre when it was under attack in 2001. The device i have selected to talk about is the use of talking in the first person. Many poems contain this device because a lot of poets express personal emotions, opinions, story and subjects however in this poem this is not the case because the poet didn’t experience this ordeal. Talking in the first person can also make the reader more engaged and can picture exactly what is going on because they can make a relation as if it’s them. In this particular poem the poet switches between first and second person. For example ‘I am still breathing’ and ‘are your eyes believing’. The example shown is a very clever device being as the poet would say something and ask you the question after to ensure your thinking and understanding what is going on. To conclude talking in the first person within poetry can help understanding, keep the reader engaged, tell if its a personal subject, emotion or story etc and shows who the speaker is.