The Universe wants you to read these poems. That's the message I was given one afternoon recently, when I came across
this essay by the poet Tony Hoagland, who thinks that English teachers are generally unsuccessful at teaching poetry in schools. Hoagland thinks that we're going at poetry the wrong way 'round. He feels that contemporary poetry is much more vital and accessible, and that if we teachers got students turned on to contemporary poetry, you would then be more open to the "old masters". Hoagland suggested twenty poems that we could be teaching to achieve that end.
Now while I feel there's something to be said for his way of thinking, I didn't agree with his choice of poems. And, as I happen to be familiar with a lot of contemporary poets, I came up with a list of twenty of my own selections. There are twenty different poets with all sorts of different backgrounds.
As you read these poems, I don't want you to analyze. Just react. Respond. If you find a line that you like, blog about that. If you have a question, blog it. If you have something to say pertinent to the theme of the poem, blog it. (Read the introductory poem "Introduction to Poetry" for more advice.)
By the way, I encourage all of you to drop by the
Sunken Garden Poetry Festival this summer. (
Although I must warn you, they are now charging a $15.00 dollar admission fee.* Well, considering I'll pay $50 dollars for a seat at Fenway, plus another $20 to park, plus gas and tolls -- it's still a great deal. But poetry is for everybody -- not just the elites.) Pictured above is the former Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky, reading there in 2008. Other Poet Laureates who have read there include
Billy Collins,
Philip Levine, and
Natasha Trethewey. Many of the poets in your packet are Sunken Garden alumni. There's food and drink. live music, then a poetry reading -- all in a beautiful setting on a lovely summer evening. One can hardly get more civilized that that.
* Update -- Well, they are and they aren't. If you're 18 or under (like you), it's FREE! If you're over 18 (like me) it's still $15.00. And only ten if you buy your ticket online. I went last night, and it was as lovely as ever (although it did seem to be more sparseely attended than in years past).
Note: Leonard was having a problem leaving a comment. So he sent it to me, and I posted it for him. If anyone is having the same problem, you might try the same approach.
ReplyDeleteHello, Leonard here.
ReplyDeleteAbout “wishes for sons”: I was able to make sense of most of this poem after reading it twice (being a male, I don’t immediately understand), but “accepted arrogance” doesn’t click with me. Could someone please provide an explanation?
About “Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire”: I found it striking that 4:47 PM took on enough significance to be worth a poem. The poem made me reconsider what makes ordinary, mundane days ordinary and mundane. Paradoxically, those sixty seconds may be significant simply because they are (seemingly) insignificant.
About “Famous” and “Anyways”: These poems both reexamined certain words…and those who know I’m a little word-obsessive might have guessed I would enjoy explorations of connotations. Now, I see that fame and celebrity are separable: you see people like Miley Cyrus making yet another risqué appearance a little often, but how often has anyone considered boots and earth? I am also convinced that “anyways” is much more meaningful than the singular form.
About “Testament”: It seems to me that the figurative grains of sand, representing time, are “unconverted”, shall we say, to concrete expressions of love and affection. Is there a better explanation out there? My mind considers its own understanding of the analogy incomplete.
Unfortunately I cannot seem to think of any answers to the questions that you posed, however I will try and think of a few answers and throw my two cents onto the table. I'm not sure what you thought of the poem "1964" but I happened to like it. I thought that it was sort of clever to leave out any form of formality and punctuation. I liked the casual recollection style that was used. However, I don't know if the spaces in the sentences were typos or if they were intentional. If they were placed on purpose, do you have an idea of what the authors intentions were?
Delete"Casual recollection" describes the poem with great accuracy. Your own phrase, I believe, tells you everything you need to know. To my eyes, 1) it's intentional, and 2) the spaces seem to replace a variety of different things.
DeleteYou might imagine a young Mr. Silex wanting to emphasize how spectacular those "big fat delicious candy apples" were, taking care to stress each of the first three words. Maybe another author would have chose to italicize delicious to indicate the same. Between "Payday bars" and "our Bar B-Q Lays potato chips" another writer might place a comma. An Emily Dickinson-style dash could separate "came" and "thought we were Mexicans".
The spaces, in short, replace other ways of creating those pauses that you might actually hear if someone were to read it aloud. They're substitutes for commas, dashes, dot-dot-dots (technically ellipses), and other such punctuation. It's a little unorthodox, but it is, as you said, clever-- not to mention rather in character with the overall lack of formality.
~Leonard
Hello Leonard! Just responding to your question about "wishes for sons" by Lucille Clifton! You posed a question dealing with "accepted arrogance" . It is better to look at these two words in the context of the entire sentence, rather than by themselves. It reads" let them think they have accepted arrogance in the universe..." In my opinion, the author is making a statement about the lack of knowledge men have for what women go through. With this being said, "accepted arrogance" is referring to the thinking that men believe themselves to be better without knowing what exactly women are faced with. I hope that helps!
DeleteHi Leonard! I was just about to answer your question about "accepted arrogannce" but that I realized Jenna beat me to it!. I was going to say that in my opinion it is refurring to the fact that men have always throughout history thought that they were superior to woman, both mentally and physically. Yet they have no idea what women go through because we rarely ever complain about it, which in my opinion makes women somewhat stronger because we never brag about how strong we are we just accept lifes struggles as they come. Having that said obviously not all men are arrogant and all women are strong, I just think that in the context of the poem thats what the poet ment.
DeleteWell, thank you to you both, Jenna and Brooke.
DeleteI think the answers were complementary, that each completed the other.
~Leonard
The poem "wishes for sons" makes me both laugh and cringe. I wouldn't say I really like the poem as a whole, but I like the line "I wish them no 7-11." I can't count how many times friends of mine have insisted on going to 7-11 for snacks; apparently no other place can suffice.
ReplyDeleteThe Paul Durcan poem, Hymn to a broken marriage. All I have to say is: aw.
Leonard, as for the "accepted arrogance" thing I think she's saying that men commonly will pretend to be more arrogant than they actually are. Many males will carry themselves very confidently even if they don't mentally possess that confidence. The false confidence is like an effect of the lack thereof. I assume that "let them think they have accepted arrogance in the universe" means to let them think that they're okay with selfishness and arrogance, let them pretend to be content and confident with these things even if they're thinking in their head that whatever is occurring isn't right. But, I'm a girl and that's only my assumption.
-Elena
Elena I think that accepted arrogance line is really interesting. Because of the way it's put on the page, it's possible to interpret it many ways. The way I interpreted it is much different than the way you did, but I think that's really cool, because it just proves once again that we won't ever really be able to understand what a poet or author really intends to say.
DeleteThe way that I read it was with accepted as the verb of the sentence, not have as the verb. If you read it with accepted as the verb, it says that men believe they understand the existence of arrogance in the world. They believe they have understood the arrogance of other humans, and so it's no longer a big deal for them to encounter arrogance. Especially followed by the line about gynecologists not unlike themselves line. Going to a gynecologist, arrogant like the men who believe they have accepted arrogance, would show the men that they haven't accepted the worst kind of arrogance, and that they too, are arrogant. I spent a while on that line, and I'm still not exactly sure what it really means, but that's what my gut said when I read it.
Serena Lotreck
Elena Gaughan says:
ReplyDeleteWhen beginning to read "1964" by Silex, I was reminded of this assumption I've always had that childhoods from decades before my generation are so much more meaningful and free, easygoing, etc. It reminded me of certain days, years ago, when sitting in the sun and eating candy was all I needed to be excited about my day. I think you can predict my change of thought as I read on. I love the line that reads, "school would shape our eyes into prisms that could split the brilliance so that everything we saw we would see through pigments and shadows..." I'm trying to picture what he's saying. I'd assume he's saying that he became jaded. He was saying school shaped him and tried to shape his views at a young age and I think anyone can relate to that, including myself, but I also realized at the end of this poem that I shouldn't so blatantly compare my own childhood with others.
Personally, I thought "1964" was one of the best poems in the packet. Like Elena, I thought back to the days when the most important things on my mind were candy and games. However, this poem is about a loss of innocence. While school was molding the child's mind and protecting him from the world, the cruelties were still going on. His transformation from being blind to these cruelties to seeing the racism and being punished shows his loss of innocence. I can connect because now, rather than seeing life as a game and having no responsibilities, I am managing school, work, friends, while looking at colleges and planning my life out.
DeleteIf there was a way to vote up or like these two posts, I'd take it. Well said.
DeleteBy the way, isn't it kinda striking that we're mentioning how school becomes oppressive in an assignment we're completing for school?
~Leonard
After reading "1964", I was definitely blown away by the turn of events. Like Elena and Cam said, the first part of the poem really takes you back to the days where candy and games were the life. It really made me thing how carefree life was as a child. But then it came to the part where it said "we never got to eat our candy apples because the Border Patrol came, thought we were Mexicans..." That really changed it for me. It was then I realized this poem was about the loss of innocence. And it kind of made me really sad. "...the memory of light would be lost from our eyes" That line also struck me because it really pointed out how as we grow older, we do lose the light (innocence) in our eyes. We grow up to view the world in a whole different way than how our little selves would view it. Definitely a powerful poem! -Tiffany Tran
DeleteTo me, the most striking lines from "1964" were the last two, "we learned the secret of why some people fulfill / their own wishes to die"
DeleteIt's such a smack in the face, the bite of the bitter truth of reality...definitely one of the best poems of the packet, in my opinion.
-Michael Marandino
I agree with you guys; I think that the poem about loss of innocence is relatable to us all, as we are at the turning point in our lives where our childhood is basically over and soon, we will be forced into adulthood--forced to see (and maybe live) the harsh realities of the world. I think that the line "school was meant to keep us from seeing that sunlight created this world" is interesting, because sunlight generally refers to a happy image, but in the context of this poem, I think it is referring to the fact that people are shaped from the tinting of the sunlight--causing some to be darker than others. Essentially, Silex is saying that sunlight split the universe into different pigments of people, and divided life in general.
DeleteBeing a writer myself, the poem "Why We Tell Stories" spoke to me in a way that very few things can. The last two stanzas on the first page ("We sat by the fire in our caves ... women who could love no one else") really touched on the start of an idea for reasons anyone could use to justify writing a story about. It gave me the sense of understanding as I realized that a true reason for writing is simply to write for yourself. Then, the second stanza on the back page of this poem ("Because the story of our life / becomes our life") touched me in an even more sensitive and symbolic way, showing me that the influence of your own life for a story isn't just one writer's way of creating a tale. By the end of the poem, I had gained the sense of acceptance and understanding from Lisel Mueller.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! This poem was beautifully written, and a little eye opening for me. I felt as though Lisel Muller perfectly captured the essence of why people tell stories. There is so much truth behind the lines "and grandfathers need to convince us what happened happened because of them". It also made me more aware of the fact that we do in fact tell our own stories, and our story is what we choose to do with our one chance at life. Thought this was a great poem for the packet to start with!
DeleteI agree with you both! The poem touched me with its beautiful language, as well as Mueller's portrayal of how stories can both tie us together, as well as separate us into our own individuality. The line that captures this best is "Because each of us tells the same story but tells it differently." It made me realize that the stories themselves unify us, and the way in which we tell the stories add our individual touch to the stories
DeleteI happened to like "The Mercy" on the basis of a couple of things. I liked the imagery presented, such as, "A long autumn voyage, the days darkening with the black waters calming as night came on." I don't know what I like about it exactly, other than how it gives me an idea of what it looked like to be in the young girls position. I also felt like I could connect on some level with the young women on the account of her being Jewish (Yiddish is a mixture of German and Hebrew that is spoken predominately by Jews, therefore leading me to the determination that she is in fact Jewish). I couldn't help but wonder if her experience on the ship was anything like my relatives who sought refuge from the persecution of the Tsar. On a lighter note however, I thought it was pretty funny to picture someone trying to eat a banana with its peel still intact.
ReplyDeleteJacob, I totally agree with your insight of the poem. I found the imagery was well done here. I definitely felt myself picturing the poem play out as I was reading it. In addition, I felt as if I was with the mother in the poem. Another thing that also got me here was the last phrase of the poem: "She learns that mercy is something you can eat again and again while the juice spills over your chin, you can wipe it away with the back of your hands and you can never get enough." I feel weird bringing religion into this, but being Catholic, we are raised to believe that God's mercy is abundant and great. I related that last phrase to this belief because one person can never get enough of mercy. It's abundant for all. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I misunderstood the last phrase now haha but that is just an opinion and insight.
DeleteI thought Lisel Mueller's "Why We Tell Stories" was a good poem because of its message. Rather than stating it outright, Mueller was clever in the way she described man's evolution from animal to caveman to modern. By doing this, she was able to state that all humans have a common background, but yet we all tell our stories differently. This is what unifies and separates us.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this poem! I also think it's clever how she described man's evolution, but not for the same reason you did. Man's evolution is a story within itself. I felt that the mastery in this poem is that she tells a story as the answer to the question. It explains why we tell stories. We are a story. Our history and our present and our future are all one big, messy story. And so, because we have existed in the culture of living a story, we feel the need to share, to tell.
DeleteI think the best part about this poem was how Mueller ended the poem with "we will begin our story with the word and"... without any punctuation, it took a minute for me to realize that this is where the poem ended and that I had not misread something. Personally, I hope sh did this on purpose to grab my attention towards the end of the poem, because not only did she succeed in doing so, but she also portrayed her idea that storytelling will never really end. By ending the poem with "and", Mueller implies at an "addition" down the road; whether it be a work of her own or someone else's, she knows that this poem will not be the last. Even if this was not intended (I may just be reading too deep into it), I hope others had the same revelation; it certainly made me think about the poem more than any other. - Jordan Shea
DeleteI loved this poem, too! The language was fairly simple, but it conveyed so much about writing as an aspect of humanity. Mueller really emphasizes the introspective nature of storytelling - how it is our means of taking the bits and pieces of ourselves that develop throughout our lives and sharing them with the world around us. We take in our experiences, process them, and channel them into something we can give back to those around us. For example, one of the stanzas reads (and I apologize if I'm punctuating incorrectly), "We sat by the fire in our caves/ and because we were poor, we made up a tale/ about a treasure mountain/ that would open only for us." I highlighted this stanza initially because I think it encapsulates the spirit of writing. The example might at first sound applicable exclusively to fictional writing, but that's untrue. In all storytelling, both fictional and non-fictional, we take our own experiences and use them to fuel our storytelling so that we are personally invested in every story. I think that's why I loved this poem so much: it does justice to the balance of storytelling for the storyteller's sake as well as for the sake of the listener.
DeleteMy favorite poem in the packet was "Undertaker", by Patricia Smith. I found this poem rather relatable in a text-to-world sense. When listening to the news, you will often hear of a young man killed in a shooting and how sad people are about it. They say he was a good boy with lots of potential. However, this is merely the sugar coated reality. In a majority of these cases, the victim is a gang member who was killed because of drug territory or retaliation. The narrator prepares dead bodies up for funerals and is told to fix mutilated bodies. However, he has no sympathy. Stanzas three and four tell of how the mothers always think their child was innocent and ignore the truth. Nobody deserves to be murdered, but often times the victims are not as innocent as they are made out to be.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you approached this poem, it was absolutely one of my favorites from our selection. You're right, violence and murder are far too prevalent in our society, and often times neither the victim or the attacker is innocent. This poem shows a very stark contrast between the view of family members of victims, and a harsh reality (presented by the undertaker). It is certainly an interesting idea.
DeleteI was blown away by this poem (no pun intended..), it was gruesome and informative. I like how the narrator approaches both physical and mental aspects of what he tries to tell mothers, both that it's next to impossible to piece the boy together and that it's next to impossible to make him something he wasn't.
DeleteI agree with you all, and I really like the fact that to the narrator, this was just another day at the job. I think that the fact that the author just wanted the mother to "get over" her sons death really shows how much his/her job has almost dehumized him/her. He/her is forced not to be sadden by all of these deaths because it would make his/her job that much more difficult.
DeleteA few things I'd like to say:
ReplyDeleteMrs. Krikorian made no sense to me when I read it the first time. I saw how the teacher was "saving" the student. But what I didn't understand was from what? And then when the student asked who saved Mrs. Krikorian, I couldn't figure it out as well. Anyone have any insight?
Rain in Childhood was soo descriptive. I loved picturing every single thing that was happening on that bus. It really made me think back to those dark, rainy days and imagine how everything felt for me. The imagery was used so well here!
Those Winter Sundays really made me think of my own father and how he did so much work for my family, and not once have I genuinely said thank you to him. The poem made me feel ashamed. A very insightful, little poem to say the least.
Wishes for Sons was just hilarious. I actually showed it to my younger siblings, and my sister died laughing while my brother was confused...typical responses. I think that girls would find this very relatable because we have to endure through the pains of being a girl while boys seem to not have to go through anything painful. Definitely a funny poem haha
Hymn to a Broken Marriage was, to me, beautiful. The love and desire one man had for his ex-wife was ridiculously present in the poem. It was as if I could feel his desire and pain, yearning for his love. I loved when he said "Even you require to shake off the addiction of romantic love and seek, instead, the herbal remedy of a sane affection." There definitely is a difference between love and affection. And from my perspective, I think that that is a sad reason on why the wife left the husband. Definitely a thought-provoking poem.
That is all for now :)
I may be able to provide some insight to your question on "Mrs. Krikorian". I think what she was saved from was a life of trouble (at least at school). I think the poem is implying that she was a rather disobedient kid. The line that most strongly makes me think this is "And so I was emptied of Lucifer". I think that the author is saying that she was saved by kindness from the teacher (she may or may not have had anyone that genuinely cared for her before). I'm pretty sure there were other things in the poem that implied this, such as saying she was a known criminal. I think that the teacher's kindness was a way for this child to emerge from her stage of naughty behavior and become a respectable and normal kid.
DeleteI think that the answer to the latter portion of your inquiry would be that the author assumed that this was a normal thing for a child to go through (or assumed the teacher made the same transformation) and is just wondering who made her change. This is simply my interpretation and could be totally different from what the author intended however.
In defense of the half of the species to which I belong, Tiffany, boys/guys/men are under the near-constant stress of having to figure out what precisely pains females...
DeleteBut to add a bit to Jacob's response, I think the library was an escape from the writer's "bad half", and the self-administered intellectual therapy that took place there edged out the troublemaker that the child used to be. As for Mrs. Krikorian, she was saved physically from invaders-- most likely genocidal invaders, too. Apparently the two episodes of rescue from evil are of equal magnitude and significance.
But again, that was only my own interpretation.
~Leonard
Hymn to a broken marriage made me so sad but it's so sweet. I didn't really understand the Mrs. Krikorian poem for a bit either.
DeleteI think "Those Winter Sundays" can make us think of anyone in our lives we appreciate.
Thank you to Jacob and Leonard for your insights on Mrs. Krikorian! Leonard, I agree with your first remark...never thought of it that way! And Elena, I definitely agree with you! I'd say Hymn to a Broken Marriage and Those Winter Sundays are my top two favorites :)
DeletePersonally I did not like the poem "Wishes for Sons". I thought this was because I am a guy however I had both my mom and grandma read it. They agreed with me and both did not care at all for the poem. Although Lucille Clifton was a very intelligent and successful woman, it seemed from the mood of the poem that she was very frustrated.
DeleteI agree with Pieter on this one; I did not particularly care for is "wishes for sons." I have a twin brother, and I would NOT wish a period on him. I understand the message: a desire for boys to emphasize with struggles of girls. However, I do not want the only struggle associated with me to be my period. I don't care if my brother fully understands a biological process that cannot be combatted or changed. I care that he understands the societal struggles women go through, because these are things he can help change. If we must be "wishing" something on men (which I do not think is necessary to get them to understand our struggles and seems a bit cruel,) wish them wage gaps, impenetrable glass ceilings, or being afraid to walk alone at night on college campuses.
DeleteI think that it is odd for somebody to “wish” a biological process upon another. Of all possible things to wish upon someone, the author chose one of the only things that is not a byproduct of society. All of the things Molli stated that would be a “suitable” thing to wish upon men are things that were formed by humankind. As Pieter noted above, I also think that this author had a bit of an edge to her when she wrote the poem.
Delete-Jacob Burns
It is hard for me to pick favorites when dealing with literature , but there were a number of poems in this packet that have stuck with me.
ReplyDeleteFirst being the first poem ~ "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins. Upon reading this poem I could not help but smile because it is indeed true that "all [we] want to do is tie the poem to a chair with a rope and torture a confession out of it" . Isn't that what we've been taught to do? I would like to thank Mr. MacArthur for understanding this, and rather than asking us to dissect every words inside each poem, he's asked us to write our emotional responses- which is both a freeing and educational assignment (in my opinion).
"Why We Tell Stories" by Lisel Mueller is another poem I enjoyed. It transports you to the past where all people had were stories, and these stories became your legacy . Hence why Lisel writes "Because the story of our life becomes our life". I couldn't help but recall then, that we watched a movie called Big Fish in Mrs. Morrison's A.P. English class last year, and the film and this poem , I believe, share a similar message on the subject of storytelling.
Being a girl, of course I cannot help but tell you all that I found "wishes for sons" by Lucille Clifton extremely entertaining , and proceeded to share it with my family. I can only hope the boys got as much amusement out of it.
On a more serious note, "Main Street : Tilton, New Hampshire" by Jane Kenyon was one of the most thought provoking in this packet. In particular, the last stanza struck me as eye-opening. " Through time and space we came to Main Street- three days before Labor Day, 1984, 4:47 in the afternoon; and then that moment passed, displaced by others equally equivocal. " Two things draw my attention in this last stanza: 1) the exact time and date and 2) The author stating it will be replaced with moments similarly equivocal. The combination of these two things makes me realize that it is ordinary moments like this that make up our days,our months , our years. Yet, to us, we do not give them a second thought, but we should. These moments that become replaced by others make up our lives , and soon enough we will wonder where all of our moments have gone,because we have not paid attention to the ones that have passed.
~ Jenna Minto
"What the Living Do" I can relate to almost perfectly. I know exactly how the author feels, when doing very mundane things like buying a hairbrush and grocery shopping, and feeling as though there is nothing else to life. But this feeling of living, and being a part of something bigger than yourself. The whole concept of being alive is crazy and especially the end when Howe writes, "I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless" I just understand that line and that feeling so well.
ReplyDeleteThe poem I found most interesting in this selection was “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye. I thought the way that the author approached the subject of fame was startling. I had never thought in a similar way to how the author described fame, and I like the idea that the author gave me a new way to imagine the idea. Before reading this poem, the idea of fame was relatively specific to me—and not something that I would have considered outside of that definition. For example, my first thought would go to a person (actor, politician, or other public figure) or a particular place of note (like the Statue of Liberty or the Grand Canyon, to give a couple of examples). Furthermore, the poem made me think that no matter how insignificant an object may appear, it is famous to another. However, I was slightly confused by a section in this poem and was hoping for some insight. “I want to be famous to shuffling men / who smile while crossing streets, / sticky children in grocery lines / famous as the one who smiled back” (lines 15-18). I was intrigued by this stanza, but I do not feel like I wholly understand it. The only idea I have about this particular stanza is that Nye is saying that fame is not something outside of our every day lives; instead, fame might be something mundane—like the boot and buttonhole mentioned in other stanzas. I guess the idea is that fame is not something only achieved by a few or by those visible to all of us.
ReplyDeleteI also found Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” really powerful too. Part of what I liked about it was simply his use of language. The use of images in the poem gave me a clear sense of the father’s efforts on those cold Sunday mornings. I could feel the setting (the “blueback cold”) and imagine his father’s hands (“cracked” and aching) (lines 2-3). I understood how cold it was because it was “splintering, breaking” (line 6), and that line, in particular, made me think about those days that are so cold that you can hear the trees crack a bit. But what the poem really made me think about was the fact that I do not always appreciate the efforts of those around me (in this case, parents) who perform the difficult and repetitive tasks that make my life easier.
Sam, my understanding is that the fame Nye speaks of deals more with closeness-- literal and figurative-- than the Hollywood type of celebrity.
DeleteSometimes a smile to a stranger can signal or create a sort of spontaneous closeness. Smiling at people makes them more comfortable than, say, a scowl or a sneer. People like you and me have the capacity to smile, to send off that kind of signal.
That capacity isn't "spectacular", but it shouldn't be ignored. Smiling is technically nothing more than some muscle movements, but the happiness passed along in a smile can make someone's day. That someone may have no idea that you are Sam Pallis, but "that guy who smiled at me on the subway on the worst day of my life" will nevertheless be famous to the person.
Long story short, we all have somewhere in our souls a little joy to spread. We just have to remember those "little things"-- and smile back. (Hope that addresses your concerns.)
Also: I think we've all been feeling a little guilty after reading "Those Winter Sundays"...
~Leonard
Leonard, I really liked your little side comment at the end of your reply. Its so true that people all around you are constantly doing things for you yet you never give it a second thought, you almost feel as though thats the way it "should" be and thats that. But few people ever stop and realize whats going on and show their graditude for it. I think that this poem will really get people to try their best to show their thankfulness when necessary.
DeleteI completely agree Len! I had the same sentiments as I was reading the poem. In my opinion, Nye is stating that you do not have to do anything extraordinary to be "famous." Moreover, you can be an everyday object like a buttonhole, or just simply smile back, and still have a profound effect on the world.
DeleteI was delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed the poems more than I thought I would initially. One of my favorite poems in the packet was "Famous" by Naomi Nye, I loved the way she crafted the poem. I believe she was trying to express two different ideas through the poem that what makes someone famous today is only situational and won't last long. In a few years the stars and celebrities will be gone but a small gesture, in her case a smile, won't be forgotten. The idea that it's the little things we do for one another that make us famous to someone else is heartwarming.
ReplyDeleteOn the flip side of that I thought "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden was touching as well for different reasons, because in this poem the little things didn't bring Fame. Right after I finished it I thought immediately of how much my parents go through for me when I won't even notice it, or I'm so used to it I expect it. This poem really makes you step back and look at everything you have and appreciate it more.
Lastly, I thought "Undertaker" by Patricia Smith was a great poem as well. I loved the layers upon layers in this poem moving from how hard it is for families dealing with tragedy, the hardships the mortician faces, and the innocence taken by the guilty..The raw emotion and detail Smith used was so well done, even sitting in the sun while it's 85 and I'm reading the poem I was taken into a cold and gloomy office watching everything in the poem happen. I also enjoyed the perspective of the mortician because I've never really thought of how much they see and the heart ache they must feel. The part I thought was the hardest to read about was how the innocent were the ones suffering. Not only did a friend trying to help die but now his family suffers everyday physically, emotionally, and economically.
I enjoyed "Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire". I've been in the author's shoes so many times, just watching life happen around me as I do something as mundane as walking through the grocery store. People watching is something I do all the time and am always fascinated at the tiny and "insignificant" moments I witness.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has loved and lost a dog, "Atlantis" really spoke to me. My heart went out to Doty when he mentioned the inevitable death of his dog and how the doctor couldn't do any more to help. I really connected to the helpless feeling Doty described and the dread he carried waiting for time to run out. The last line "I didn't know who I was trying to protect" rang very true as well.
I really liked what you said about "Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire". I think the fact that this entire poem is based around "4:47 pm" really makes you think about all these little stories you witness every minute of every day, that you soon forget inorder to continuously witness new events and new people. I find it incredible to think about the fact that every single minute of your life could have its own poem.
DeleteTurner, I too tend to find myself fascinated by those little moments. I always find myself wondering what each person's life holds beyond the mini snippet that I've witnessed. Then I begin to think about how every person I see has their own story and about the millions of different paths that the people around me could be following as I sit there. I think its intriguing to imagine the sheer vastness of human existence and how each one of these people is leading their own separate individual life.
Delete-Lora Giguere
I love the insight you guys all put in to "Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire". We find ourselves so caught up in the routine of things, and it's as if they become something we all do without thinking. This poem really made me step back to really appreciate everything we witness. It's like that saying where you can miss life if you're not looking. This poem fits that quote perfectly.
DeleteBoth poems "What the Living Do" and "Kafka-Lilacs" make me think of mental illness or some kind of sickness/depression the narrator is going through. I thought both were written beautifully, I'm trying to grasp exactly what the change in Lilacs was, like when he says "He cannot eat, though when his friend offers a bowl of strawberries, he breathes in their scent." I'm probably taking this too literally. I'm guessing he means that one person is indulging in things and the other is just only slightly experiencing them. I can't tell if it's by choice or if it's involuntary.
ReplyDeleteAt Smithville Methodist Church was easily one of my favorite poems in the packet. The Internal conflict of the parents was fascinating as they try and deal with knowing the evils that can come with their child’s belief in religion, but realizing it can give her more comfort than what they believe in. The lines “Do you have the right to take away innocence?” “You can't teach disbelief/ to a child,” and “evolution is magical but devoid of heroes,” are all extremely powerful and capture the general theme of the poem well. They know how religion can be perverted and twisted to cause pain rather than hope, but their daughter doesn't and they don't know if it would be fair to ruin something like that for her.
ReplyDeleteThe Photograph from September 11 was also extremely powerful with an already heavy subject, but adding even more weight to it by keeping the victims alive in a sense. “The photograph halted them in life/ and now keeps them/ above the earth toward the earth,” and “You can do two things for them-/describe this flight/ and not add a last line,” were both powerful and well worded stanzas that did well to serve the poems main purpose; remembering the victims.
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At the Smithville Methodist Church was a really cool poem! It's the opposite of what I expected, and the opposite of what is normally told. Normally it's that the child, as they get older, wants to break away from the religion that they've grown up with.
DeleteI also really like how the poem goes through the psychology of a child. A few of the lines particularly stand out in this respect. "you can't teach disbelief/ to a child" and "You can't say to your child/ 'Evolution loves you.'" The poem is almost less about religion, and more about how a child learns and loves. The parents struggle with trying to make their child rational, practical, and failing. Because you can't make a child practical. A child loves, looks up to role models, feels things that may be entirely irrational, but doesn't process the irrationality. In effect, this is what innocence is about.
I love The Photograph from September 11, because it makes me think of the phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words." This poem is putting those words to the picture, but because you never see the picture, it's more abstract in your visualization.
I agree with you and Serena! At Smithville Methodist Church was probably the most interesting poem in the packet because if was different than what was expected. I never thought of the struggles of a set of parents who were not religious and unsure on what they should teach their child. Like Serena said, it focused on the psychology of a child. You can't teach a child reason, because they want something they can admire. They want a powerful figure that they can love and that they know will love them in return. It was about a struggle between letting their daughter believe in the simplified, almost "Disney-fied" version of a religion, or taking away her joy and awe in attempt to show her that everything has a negative side as well.
DeleteAnother poem I just wanted to draw attention to was "Anyways" by Suzanne Cleary. The poem itself is a wonderful example of how certain words, or things make us who we are. They hold such a significance to us on a personal level. Throughout this whole poem we get a sense of what the word "anyways" means to the author, yet what struck me the most was how the poem ends with the word "regardless". It is the last word in the whole poem, and it has it's own line.. Cleary could have easily replaced "regardless" with the word "anyways", but she did not.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these comments I'm fascinated that only one person talked about "Photograph from September 11" by Wislawa Szymborska. I cant even begin to fatham what thousands of people went through that day, even the thought of it leaves me in shock. And to the survivors, they saw things no human should see, such as the people jumping out of windows 80 floors to their death because that would be a more peaceful way of dying than being burned to death. I think this poem really makes people think of the terrifying decision these people had to make. It also gives a story (though short) to one of these "jumpers" that most people wouldnt think twice about. I cant really describe it but this poem just makes my mind wander thinking of all the other jumpers and their families and everyone else who died that day. Anyway, I think that Megan did a really good job describing the poem as a snapshot in time.
ReplyDeleteOn a happier note, I really liked the poem "Famous" by Naomi Nye because it gives you an entirely new perspective on the word "famous". In this modern time when we think of famous we immediately think of celebrities, however this poem describes the word famous almost like "rare", or its famous because its rare. One of the lines I found humorous about this poem was "The boot is famous to the earth, / more famous than the dress shoe, / which is famous only to floors." I liked this because of how true it is.
In regards to "Famous" ~I don't think I could have said it better ! The new point of view is definitely eye-opening and unique
DeleteBrooke, your insight on "Photographs from September 11" was beyond what I could've said. I absolutely agree with everything you said. When I read the poem, it left me in complete shock because of the image it really placed in your head. It's crazy that even though Sept. 11 happened so long ago, and yet it still has a lasting impression on all of us. And to think that many of the people in the Twin Towers, to be placed in a life or death situation, one cannot even comprehend the amount of terror the jumpers might have felt. A powerful poem to say the least.
DeleteI enjoyed the variety of all of these contemporary poems. One of the lines that has stuck with me (since I just finished) is from "Thanksgiving" by Martin Espada. "When the first drunken pilgrim dragged out the cannon at the first Thanksgiving- that's when the Indians left." I find this line to be a smack in the face to his wife's family heritage. He didn't say it out loud but you could tell that by him making this statement he had to of had a lack of respect for the "Indians leaving" situation. Especially when the father was just shooting cannons into a cemetery, completely being ignorant to the fact that it's extremely disrespectful even if the bodies there are already dead.
ReplyDelete-Meghan Noble
There were a few poems that spoke to me, as Mr. Mac said would happen to all of us.
ReplyDeleteIntroduction to poetry: I found this poem funny because of the blatant truthfulness of it. Teachers expect us to immerse ourselves in and find some hidden meaning in poems, and I found the metaphor of torturing a confession out of a poem to be oddly realistic.
Rain in Childhood: I smiled throughout this entire poem. I love rain, and the smells and feelings it brings with it. Reading this poem, I can almost taste and feel the rain, and its deep effect on the author's mind. It also helps that it is raining as I am writing this.
Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire: This poem sang to me like a choir. The meaning of it is something that I feel very strongly about. Every moment in life becomes monotonous with all the others, especially when we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. The more stressed we feel, the less we really remember what goes on moment by moment.
Undertaker: I found this poem to be blatantly truthful, and am starting to realize that the blatancy in some of these poems is what I like about them. The author pictures what the mother's son was doing as he was shot, and doesn't "sugar coat" it at all. He is more than willing to tell how depressing his job is, and all he has to do to do it correctly. As someone who lives in the city, he knows first hand the effect of gangs, and the common occurrence of a death.
After reading the packet of contemporary poems, the poem that really spoke to me in a way that none of the others had was Anyways. I had never really thought of the way i had been saying "anyways" until I read this poem. When i say "anyway" i feel as if i have swallowed half the word like saying "singin or dancin" where it is just slang for the word i'd normally say. The way Suzanne Cleary described the word, as it has to be big enough to hold all of the reasons for doing something. "Anyways" stands for what cannot be said in different situations. Language falls short of what people want or need to say as if there is no such arrangement of words that can be combined to create the effect the speaker wants it to. In an essence, the act of saying "anyways" is saying it is beyond reason and cannot be said. The examples that Cleary lists are what gives the poem an feeling of dreaminess, forbearance and faithfulness.
ReplyDeleteI found the poem "Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire" to be very interesting. I found it interesting because it reveals that the seemingly ordinary scenes of everyday life are somewhat mysterious and unknown. For instance, the author doesn't know whether the lady in the truck is wiping away tears or sweat. She also doesn't know what is in the bags held by the mother and child passing by. As familiar as the scenes may be, there is always going to be unknown that may never be solved.
ReplyDeleteThe three poems I liked the most in this packet were “1964”, “Rain in Childhood”, and “Anyways”.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of “1964” by Edgar Gabriel Silex it brings me back in time when the hardest decisions in life were whether you were going to have a Snickers or Twix. The turn of events in the second half of the poem, when the child loses his/her innocence, I thought was perfectly placed and kept the poem moving.
“Rain in Childhood” by Eric Ormsby was a similar poem in the sense that loss of innocence was also a theme. I can remember when on rainy days in the bus the windows would be all fogged up and you could draw on the windows. The change in the weather and the children losing their innocence keeps the poem interesting and the readers mind does not wander as much.
Lastly, the poem “Anyways” by Suzanne Cleary I found very relatable to my self. For whatever reason I also say anyways even though I know that it is grammatically incorrect and and I should be saying anyway. For this reason I thought the poem was comical.
Pieter, you know what-- I'm starting to loosen up a little about grammar; it's not good to be up-tight about too many things. On that note, I do appreciate your last paragraph. Words are expressions of self, and for that reason rules cannot be allowed to take precedence over personal comfort.
Delete~Leonard
Hello everyone! I am back from studying abroad in Oman, (which, though amazing, does not have prevalent internet access.) So, I am ready to start posting!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite poem in the packet was "Main Street: Tilton, New Hampshire." This poem's message is one I have been trying to work on realizing myself: the value and importance in everyday moments. I am someone who often rushes through life, always thinking a few steps ahead. I rarely stop and enjoy the moment I am in, because I am so focused on where I will be tomorrow, next week, next year, even 20 years down the line. However, if there is one thing this summer has taught me, it is to slow down once in a while and enjoy these everyday, seemingly ordinary moments. For the first time in my life, I found myself stopping on the side of the street and just watching the world go by. 4:32 in the morning, hearing the call to prayer echo from the mosque across the street and watching the men walk to it. Three minutes before noon, standing at the entrance to the souk, watching people go about with their everyday lives. 6:22, counting down the final hour until Ramadan fasting hours are over and we could eat, watching the little kids in my host family ride their bikes around our village. These moments, though ordinary and unremarkable in other people's lives, became beautiful when I took the time to look at them closely.
I had a very different reaction to "Photographs of 9/11" as a lot of you and I'm wondering if anyone else felt the same way. I thought this poem was slightly manipulative. It almost seemed to be using a horribly tragic situation to get more of an emotional impact. Firstly, the purpose of the poem, to preserve the victims before their death, is negated by the graphic third stanza. With the reference to blood, the reader can't help but imagine what happened only seconds after the photographs were taken. That particular sentence stuck out to me as really being for shock value. Additionally, the tone of the last stanza seemed to be almost savior-like. "There were only two things I could do..." Why is the author inserting him/herself into the equation? I would argue that the most effective way to honor the victims would be to let the photographs speak for themselves. The victims are already preserved in the photographs, but the author took the focus away from these people and onto their words. Why did this poem need to be written? Further more, if the purpose of the poem is simply to honor the victims, why wasn't it published anonymously? I do agree it was a well-written poem, I just can't get past my questions about the reason behind writing it.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar feeling about this poem. It didn't seem like it was in honor of the victims, but instead was used to get an emotional reaction. I think I would have felt better about the poem if the last stanza had not been added. I understand that "not add a last line" is supposed to be symbolic of remembrance, and not letting their memories die. However, like you stated, by putting herself into the equation, it seemed manipulative. If the whole poem was about their own reaction to it, I would have had a different opinion. But, the first five stanzas were meant to commemorate the people in the photograph. They are not part of that picture, and when the author inserted herself into the poem, she was making it about her, and not the victims in the photograph.
DeleteI'm glad that you brought this up. I have mixed feelings on the poem. I can agree that there are parts of the poem that might make one question the motives of the author a bit. The poem is certainly shocking which raises the question: Was it written solely to astonish the audience? But, in giving the author the benefit of the doubt, I have to say that there's a chance that the author's foremost purpose was to insert the reader in the moment. Perhaps the author did try to draw an emotional response from the reader. If so, it was likely to instill a sense of fear in the reader that mirrors that which these victims surely felt mid-fall. While I fully understand the points made about the last stanza (it does come across a bit like the author trying to be "heroic"), a valid argument could also be made that the "I" was inserted to cause the reader to engage his or herself personally. By saying “I can do only two things for them/ describe this flight/ and not add a last line,” the author is demonstrating that there is no action now that will undo the pain and loss, only feeble attempts to allow the victims to live on in spirit. It shows the helplessness that comes with being unable to change the past. Of course, the poem is meant to honor the victims, but it would certainly be less effective if the reader didn't feel a sense of personal emotional engagement and responsibility. I apologize if this response wasn’t exactly cohesive or consistent– I'm not sure I did a great job of conveying what I was trying to say.
DeleteHello everyone thought it was a good time to join in on the blog. I will be talking about "Introduction to Poetry". I thought this was a very meaningful poem for students like us. We read all these poems and will often miss the deeper meanings and ideas that the author intended for us to uncover. I admit I am also guilty of constantly reading these poems and interpreting them all in the same way which only allows me to skim the surface of what is hidden. Each poem is unique and must be read meticulously and with a fresh mind each time in order to fully absorb all that is intended to be known. This poem brilliantly shows how teachers want us to read these poems with care and interest instead of using the same method over and over again and get nothing out of it. I enjoyed this poem also cause it reminded me of how I would normally just rush though this packet. Instead I tried to take my time with each poem and truly understand them. I will be sure to post again soon after I finish absorbing more of another poem.
ReplyDelete-Connor Parent
I think you perfectly summed up this poem. Just like you said, I always skim poetry and read it as fast as possible to just get a jist and often end up missing the big ideas. Because of my old habits I was nervous to read and discuss each of these poems. However, after reading this poem I promised myself to slow down and really dissect each word, making this assignment much more enjoyable. I was delightfully surprised with how much I enjoyed these poems after I slowed down and truly appreciated them, as Jordan also mentioned above.
DeleteTwo poems that stood out to me were “The Mercy” by Philip Levine and “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Mercy” I truly believe that the essence of human nature and humility is captured in the particular details Levine shares about the immigrant mother’s surprise at the standards of her new life. The poem focuses on how the immigrant mother comes to appreciate the little things in life, as she is now faced with the struggle of learning a new language and culture. I feel that the author used the repetition of the title throughout the poem very effectively. He used this technique to deliver the few solid points about human nature that he strived to demonstrate.
The second poem that caught my attention was “Famous”. In response to Brooke’s comment on the poem, I completely agree with you! This poem highlights and focuses on the alternative meanings behind the term “famous”. For me this poem really brought to life the sometimes unnoticeable things in life.
In response to Devan, I agree with your thoughts on the poem “The Mercy”. I appreciated the depth of the simple ideas the author shared. It most certainly sparked some contemplation on that humility element that you also caught wind of.
ReplyDeleteOne of the other poems that I found meaning in was “Hymn to a Broken Marriage” by Paul Durcan. I was able to take the feelings the author was expressing over his “broken marriage” and gain a sense of respect for the man. This poem radiates an immediate unhappiness yet at the same time articulates the love he once had for this so called “Nessa”.
Lastly, I enjoyed reading “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden. The decision Hayden made to keep the poem concise was effective. He did not overflow the poem with useless information but instead constructed the words to create a literary masterpiece. While reading, I definitely applied this poem to my personal life. I thought about how grateful I am for so many people in my life, mainly my large and close-knit family. It was a gentle reminder that a simple “thank you” is often deserved yet forgotten.
-Morgan Martens
I loved this poem packet. As a few people have already mentioned, I was impressed right off the bat by the inclusion of the Introduction to Poetry poem. I love poetry, and I read and write a lot of poetry on my own. But I've had many negative experiences with English Class Poetry Units. I've at times felt boxed in to analyze a poem a certain way, or pressured to rip apart a poem in its guts to find out "what the author meant to say." I like how this poem, with lines such as "or press an ear against its hive," suggests that the best way to really understand a poem is just to listen, and hear what you hear, understand what you understand from it, not what someone else understands from it. As a poet, I know that in my own poetry, I'm often not sure what I really mean by certain lines or even entire poems, but it rings with me, so I keep it. I can't be the only one, and so I've always thought it absurd that we, who have never met the author, asked them questions, gotten to know them, should be expected to somehow divine the "correct" meaning of something they themselves may not have understood.
ReplyDeleteThere are two lines in Hymn to a Broken Marriage that have stuck with me. "Even you require to shake off the addiction of romantic love / And seek, instead, the herbal remedy of a sane affection" It stuck with me because this is the first this I have ever read about love that is really true. In media and literature, love is often portrayed differently. As bringing home roses and going out to dinner, those first few dates and the marriage proposal. I actually relate this strongly to Return of the Native. The whole time I was reading that novel, I kept thinking over and over again that Eustacia was wrong. What she called love was not really love, just romantic and passionate infatuation resulting from boredom and dissatisfaction. And she is. Because romance, that passionate, addictive infatuation, is not really what love is. Love is what follows those lines I mentioned above in the poem. The sane affection is love, "In which are mixed in profuse and fair proportion / Loverliness, brotherliness, fatherliness: / A sane man could not espouse a more intimate friend than you." For a woman it would be Loverliness, sisterliness, motherliness. Love, love shared by a couple in a committed relationship, can't be all romance and addiction and passion. It has to be sane, calm, able to withstand the test of time and stress. Passion can't last forever, as Eustacia says, “’Yet I know that we shall not love like this always. Nothing can insure the continuance of love. It will evaporate like a spirit, and so I feel full of fears” (Hardy 193).
I'm going to post this in two parts because it's telling me I'm over the character limit.
-Serena Lotreck
Here's the second part of that comment above:
DeleteI also really liked Famous. Although I feel as if it's almost cheesy in its message, I still like it. I like that she uses the word Famous to describe what she is describing. She says "I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, / or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, / but because it never forgot what it could do." It's almost contradictory the way she uses the word Famous. Isn't that the definition of famous? Doing something spectacular so that everyone knows your name? But here she redefines that a little. It's not because of spectacular doings that everyone knows these things, but because these things are so helpful and ever and omnipresent that no one can forget them.
I love Anyways. This poem is by far my favorite of the whole collection. I love the format, how for no apparent reason it doesn't look like a normal poem right away. The whole poem is wonderful, but there are a few lines I'm particularly fond of. "It is anyways, plural, / because the word must be large enough / to hold all of our reasons. Anyways is our way / of saying there is more than one reason, / and there is that which is beyond reason, / that which cannot be said." This sentiment is something I completely relate to. Sometimes, no matter how you rationalize the reasons why, there is still some missing component, something that would really say why the action or event is justified, why it is done. But that reason is intangible, and no matter how good of a wordsmith you are, you can't form an adequate sentence to truly describe what it is. I also love the lines "This is how we know home: / someone who will look into our eyes / and say what could ruin everything, but say it, / regardless."
One question. Does the poem Kafka: Lilacs have anything to do with Franz Kafka? When I read it disregarding the title, I came to two conclusions. The subject is a cancer patient, or, the subject is a brilliant genius who is so absorbed in his own mind that he cannot take care of himself. I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on how this poem is or is not related to Kafka.
I think Kafka may have something to do with this poem. Franz Kafka was a very disturbed individual who was suspected of being a schizophrenic as well as being anorexic (so the internet says). This poem leaves me with the impression that something is not particularly right in the setting. It just feels very surreal, or even Kafkaesque if you will. I have a suspicion that his friend is not real and he is simply talking to himself. The only reason I say this though, is because the author puts his name in the title. However, this is just the way I see the poem, and I could have a completely different opinion than what was intended by Robert Cording.
Delete-Jacob Burns
Serena I really love your comments about "Anyways." I, too, was going to point out those lines as they have stuck with me ever since I first read the poem. You have taken the words right out of my mouth. Each example Cleary gives sheds light on the intangible reason you mentioned; especially the lines "(She/he) treats me bad, but I love (her/him) anyways." There is absolutely no rational or obvious reason why you would stay with a person who treats you poorly, but we see this situation repeated over and over. Like you mentioned there is no adequate explanation, and no words can suffice. I really loved the overall complexity of this poem as I feel it matches the complexity of human nature.
DeleteSerena and Jen,
DeleteI completely agree with everything you said about "Anyways." Not only was it beautifully written, but it addresses a facet of language that I've never heard anyone put into words. The line Serena referenced, "It is anyways, plural, / because the word must be large enough / to hold all of our reasons. Anyways is our way / of saying there is more than one reason, / and there is that which is beyond reason, / that which cannot be said" sort of blew me away. How interesting that a word we use every day could be so loaded. It's as if the word "anyways" offers an explanation in itself. I really admire this poem and its author.
I really enjoyed the poem 1964 because the author does a great job of showing their day instead of telling it. For example Silex said, "... she was making big fat delicious candy apples
ReplyDeletelike shiny red crystal balls". This shows how big and juicy the apples were. It really shows how when his sibling and himself were younger how badly they lusted for those apples. Silex compares the apples to crystal ball as a way of showing when you are young the simplicity of things, such as sorcery and psychics, could be so peaceful and exciting. This is a way for us as readers to be pulled into the poem and be at the candy store with them, reminiscing back to times when all we wanted to do was eat candy in the grass with the sun beaming down at us. That type of writing style makes us one with the piece.
This piece of poetry is also very relatable to us, whether it be we have had days like this with our own siblings or we have thought about of having days like this with our siblings.
Sarah Hoke
I really liked "Why We Tell Stories", but not because of the explanation it gave for why we actually tell stories. I liked what Mueller had to say on the subject, but even more I appreciated the perspective it gave on life as a whole. When it says "because the story of our life becomes our life, because each of us tells the same story but tells it a little differently, and none of us tells it the same way twice", it made me think a little differently about my life in comparison to others' lives. Maybe its just me, but I always thought the cliche about life was that everyone has a different story. This poem made me think about the fact that we do all have the same story if you look at the big picture. We all are born and live and go through good times and bad times and then we die. We all tell the same story just with different names and details, and that is something I never thought about before.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite poems that was included in this packet was the very first one, "Introduction to Poetry". I thoroughly enjoyed this poem because it observes what I believe is one of the most fatal flaws in literary learning in todays day and age. I think thats why I liked this poem so much, because it is easy to enjoy something that you agree with. I know that when I have been asked to read poems in school, it can be ruined by a teachers idea that there are concrete right and wrong answers to a poem. Right off the bat, that just seems unnatural to me. The beauty of a poem is that it is not a math problem, but something you immerse yourself in and explore, without having to conform to a specific answer. Many times, a teacher will want that, and I believe that it squashes the free thinking that most poems promote. Now this isn't to say that I believe there should be no questions asked when it comes to a poem. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The only thing is that when reading a poem, the reader has to be okay with not having an answer sometimes. They must understand that sometimes the point of a poem is to purely make you wonder, and that you shouldn't try to dissect it and break it down until it becomes something alienated and broken. I believe that too many people are concerned with putting chains around free thinking and always trying to come up with concrete answers. As Collins says, reading a poem should be exploratory and observational, such as searching a dark room to find a light switch. Too many people will try to "Tie a chair to the poem with a rope, and torture a confession out of it".
ReplyDeleteOne of my least favorite poems was Wishes to Sons by Lucille Clifton. I think that it is obvious by the language in the poem that the author does not have children as no mother would wish pain on her child. While the main point of the poem seems to concern understanding towards the problems facing women, the author goes about it all wrong. She seems to have contempt towards men because they don't face the same issues as women, and that feeling detracts from the points she was trying to make.
ReplyDeleteEric,
DeleteI understand how you view the poem, Wishes to Sons by Lucille Clifton, in a way such as that. However, I respectively disagree. Based on the poem, I do not believe that the title "Wishes to Sons" refers to a mother speaking to her son. I think that the author, frustrated at the hardships that women face, was referring to all men, who, ultimately happen to all be 'Sons'. In addition, the title may have been referring to all 'Sons' of God. I, as a women, understand the point that the author was attempting to make. That many (not all) men have a sense of arrogance as they do not have to go through many of the unrelenting struggles that women have to endure.
I understand both of your points of view. I can see why a male would see the poem as a form of contempt, and ill-wishing. However, I think I agree with Clare. This poem is not so much about wishing that their son's suffer, as much as wishing that they understood the difficulties of being a woman. The last stanza, "let them think they have accepted arrogance in the universe, then bring them to gynecologists not unlike themselves" is an attempt to relay that men often overlook the pains of women. It is not rare that a man thinks a woman is being dramatic when she is on her period. I think what she meant when she wrote this poem is that if a man experienced the hardships that a woman goes through on a monthly basis, they wouldn't be so "arrogant" about a woman's struggles.
DeleteAfter combing through each poem, I ultimately came back to the very first one. In "Introduction to Poetry" the poet, Billy Collins, describes, what I think, may be the epitome of reading today. In each English class throughout high school, students are ultimately asked to review a poem and find the deeper meaning to the work. Many simply read through the poem once and attempt to automatically understand its deeper meaning. They struggle to come up with ideas and fail to understand the profound meaning. I, along with Serena, have had some negative experiences with, not only unscrupulous poetry units, but with teachers who I’ve deemed unsuccessful to teach poetry in the right manner. Teachers who demand an answer out of students. Teachers who pick and pull apart every little sentence, fabricating a far off meaning that was ‘destined to be found by the reader’ and ‘what the author actually meant.’ Teachers who seem to encourage “tying the poem to a chair and torturing a confession out of it.” As I have understood by reading this poem, figuring out the meaning to a poem is much simpler than ripping it apart or demanding a revelation out of it. It is as unassuming as merely pressing an ear against a hive, or listening to it. It is as unpretentious as waterskiing across the surface, waving at the author’s name, or being in touch with the author and sensing his or her presence in the poem.
ReplyDelete"Rain in Childhood" sticks out to me because its simplistic language allowed me to better see the transformation that the child was undergoing. At first, the poem talks of the child seeing the rainstorm on the school bus surrounded by other children. Then, the poem takes a turn as the child begins to associate rain storms with nostalgia, as he/she is growing up and leaving their childhood behind. Finally, in the end of the poem, the child is afraid of thunderstorms, as he/she only sees the harm that they can cause (traceries, hairline fires). This poem touches me because it shows how as we grow up, we see things in a different (sometimes darker) light.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Rain in Childhood, too. I found it to be incredibly relatable, in part due to all of the detail and imagery that was included. I liked the way your interpreted it. It is true that as we grow older and more mature, our perspectives and takes on mundane, ordinary events and things evolve. Very well said, Alyssa.
DeleteAfter reading the poetry packet, I found that multiple poems were very relatable to me. "Those Winter Sundays" perfectly described how we often do not show enough appreciation for our mothers or fathers, who work tirelessly to make sure that we are in a good place. The line "Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well." speaks to me, because it makes me sympathize with my mom and dad, who I sometimes take for granted in everything that they do for me. "At the Smithville Methodist Church" was also a poem that appealed to me. It is a complex poem about an adult who has lost all their faith in any sort of God or savior in general. The adult struggles with telling the innocent child that there is no Jesus who loves her, but in the end, comes to terms with the idea that religion fills the void of unknown with wonderful images of heroes and magic that science cannot. The poem hits many people who may have lost faith as well, but in the end, I think that the author is trying to say that faith and religion provides us with a happier ending than science and reasoning, so why fight it? Finally, I thought that "Undertaker" also dealt with some serious and complex ideas that touch on the harsh reality that not every son or daughter that dies young is innocent. In the poem, the narrator (who I assume is some sort of funeral coordinator or make-up artist who fixes up the dead bodies to place in the casket) struggles with the idea that all of the mothers who have lost their sons try to defend their sons' actions, when, in actuality, the son played a big role in provoking their own death. The line "Fix my boy; he was a good boy. Make him the way he was" highlights the mothers' suffering, as well as the misconception that she has that her son could do no wrong. I think that this poem does depict the possibilities that young adults in these types of inner-city shooting types of situations are not always the "good boys" that their mothers see them as. Sometimes, we have to face the reality that those who die were not exactly saints on earth, simply because they were taken from us too soon.
ReplyDeleteIn reading through the poetry packet before this summer, midway through this summer, and finally a week or two ago I found I had the same problem every time, I found it hard to connect with many of these poems. On this third time through the packet I decided to keep a tally of which poems “spoke” to me, so to speak, only to realize that I only really felt something from roughly a quarter of the poems. Many of the experiences that these poems speak to are ones I have never had myself and I makes me wonder if I would think of them differently were I not in who I am at this moment. Out of the ones I did connect to however two stood out as ones that did speak to me the most, “Why We Tell Stories” and “Famous”. I think the reason I liked these two poems best is because they speak to the importance to self and how we live our lives, for we are the only authors of our life stories like “Why We Tell Stories” would suggest.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the poems that I've read over the summer, Patricia Smith's "Undertaker" was by far my favorite. Like "Famous", this poem is all about perspective; while normally there is many a poem that sympathizes with those who have lost loved ones, Smith takes an unique approach and tells the story from the viewpoint of an undertaker. Not only is he burdened with seeing the effects of gang violence, but he also is burdened with the extreme pressure of "another mother needing a miracle". When we read the poem, it is clear that he has been serving as an undertaker for a considerable time; whether it be the cold, jaded tone of the author, or the fact that he evokes so much sensory detail about the gruesome state of each of the deceased, it is clear his profession has molded him. Every mother wants to think that their boy is special, and this poem clearly emphasizes that idea about human nature. As a society, mothers need to be more aware that your darling child isn't the angel that you make him out to be. Many mothers would rather live by the phrase "ignorance is bliss" than face the truth that their sons did a turn for the worse, but because of that, it now falls to the undertaker to make what is wrong right again. This says something terrible about our society, where those who choose to be ignorant can live a peaceful life (until fate finally catches up with them), and those who see the world as it truly is must carry the burdens of everyone who would rather turn a blind eye. -- Jordan Shea
ReplyDeleteJordan, I really agree with you. I really liked your emphasis on the mother's ignorance as to the reason her son is dead. Perhaps it was her way of grieving or perhaps it was the "don't speak ill of the dead" mentality. Either way, I really felt for everybody in that situation. You put it really well.
DeleteAfter reading through this packet I found that, like Ian stated above, I was not able to connect or relate to a good amount of the poems. As a result, I wasn't able to determine what the authors' purposes were in writing their respective poems as well as I was in the other poems. One example of a poem that I was able to connect with a little was "Undertaker" by Patricia Smith. This poem had a rather sad and depressing tone to it but, even though it may sound bad, it seemed to speak to me more than the others did. I found I was really able to feel what the undertaker was feeling. I could feel the pain and the sadness of the mothers, and the way their depression and grief must act like a black hole, sucking all positiveness from the room. Also, in the way I interpreted the poem, I found that the undertaker sees how all the mothers tell him the same thing about their sons. They all either refuse to believe that their son died as a result in gang involvement or they just tell the undertaker a different story to make their sons seem like better people. The undertaker sees that not everyone is who they may seem to be during their life on Earth. Just because somebody may be robbed of a long life, it doesn't means that they were good people or that they died for a good cause. That is what I got out of this poem and, for some reason, this poem just seemed to jump out to me more than the others did. For that reason, it was one of my favorites. I apologize if I have repeated what others have already said, which is probably likely for I doubt I am the only one who felt this way about the poem.
ReplyDeleteI like how we post about the same poem with three minutes of each other... but regardless I completely agree with your statement about how "everyone is not who they seem to be during their life on Earth". Some may say that the negligent mothers (and fathers) are the true killers here, but we all have the ability to think for ourselves. I still believe that the parents are in some way responsible, but the undertaker truly sees these boys for the mistakes that they have made. Every bullet hole he sees is just another reminder that innocence is a commodity we lose every day, and these boys are the ones who chose to pay this price. Maybe at some point the undertaker was ignorant of this fact, but in the present day, he is fully aware of the corruption that has filled the lives of many a young man. -- Jordan Shea
DeleteI really enjoyed reading through the poems in the packet. One that really stuck with me, along with many others on this blog, was Undertaker by Patricia Smith. I thought it was going to be very dark and depressing by simply looking at the name. Once I kept reading, I realized that yes, it was definitely dark but also incredibly moving. The cosmetic preparation of a body before a funeral is a process that is disgusting, gory, and not very often talked about. Even more obscure are the feelings and thoughts of the undertaker, the individual who is tasked with making a body less of a shell, the remnant of a loved one. In the poem, the undertaker is preparing a teenage boy who got shot for his open casket funeral. It then details the dead boy’s mother’s plight to make his boy “the way he was.” To me, this was so incredibly heartbreaking. The undertaker is faced with the immense pressure and responsibility to pay homage and properly represent the vision of this boy’s mother as well as the boy’s life itself. This poem was unusual, but I also felt it was a poignant reminder of or mortality and the tragedy that some people face daily due to their occupation, such as this undertaker.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you! This was one of the poems that stuck out to me because it addresses not only the mothers of the deceased as well as the undertaker herself, but of the social on-goings in cities right now. By talking about how these children that she had the undertaking of preparing were in gangs, and how their mothers defended them, it highlights how destructive and dangerous these types of things are. Even if they were in "gangs", they left behind mothers who cared, and who have to go through life with the memory of seeing their child cold and dead. It was a very moving and emotional poem for me.
DeleteI realize this is really late, but I couldn't help but notice that nobody has posted anything about "Looking Back in My Eighty First Year." I really enjoyed this poem, hopefully I'm not the only one, because I found it very relatable. My parents are always telling me to stay in school and experience the world before I settle down and start a family. My parents have been together for many years, since the last day of eighth grade to be exact, and their relationship was very textbook for their time. They were married young, had kids while they were young, and have been together ever since. Despite being very happy, both my mother and father have expressed that they wished they had traveled more and experienced more of the world before they were essentially bogged down by my sister and me. In my opinion Maxine Kumin mirrors their desires perfectly. She shares those deep down desires, just as my parents have. While much of the poem is focused on Kumin's questions, she also showcases how strong love can be. As a reader, I found this poem to be almost encouraging; it seems to me like their is no wrong way to live, whether I choose traveling the world, more of a modern philosophy, or falling madly in love and marrying immediately, as commonly done in the past. Maybe this is just the inner girl coming out of me, I'm not entirely sure, but I found this poem very touching...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Jenny that I found this poem really encouraging. I always mock my parents because they were 35 when they had me and I used to ask why they waited so long because I thought it was cool that kids had parents that were closer in age but as I grew up I realized that they had this amazing life full of adventures before I came along. I really liked that this showed the opposite side and that no matter what the choices they made they were still happy with them.
DeleteIn all honesty, I’m one of those people who genuinely likes reading some poetry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I love to analyze it in the classroom. That said, I want to note some things about the passage by Tony Hoagland that Mr. Mac included in the packet (although I realize it’s not listed as a poem). One of Tony’s points is that the selection of poems offered to high school students is outdated and overused. Undoubtedly, countless poems, including a few he listed (i.e. “The Road Not Taken”), have become kind of played out and drilled into the minds of students; however, I can’t decide if I agree with Tony’s opinion that such poems must be “removed” from curricula in high schools. After all, the reason they’re so widely known and taught is because they have some aspect that is innovative and inspiring or thoughtful and meaningful. Something has caused teachers to be drawn to those poems for so many years. Nonetheless, as a student who has read “I Hear America Singing” and “I, Too, Sing America” countless times throughout my schooling, I can’t take bring myself to oppose Tony’s call for new content that “will vitalize teachers and students everywhere.”
ReplyDeleteAside from that non-poem, a work I really enjoyed was “At the Smithville Methodist Church.” It addresses religion (as you might expect), but in a sort of roundabout way. The main focus is instead on the impressionability of children and perhaps also on the handling of a child’s innocence, using religion as an example. I appreciated the honesty in this poem because, unlike a lot of poetry, it wasn’t romanticizing the subject. Rather, it was thought-provoking and raised more questions than it answered. Why do we feed beliefs to children who can’t always fully understand them beyond the superficiality of the crafts and the songs? After they’ve accepted these beliefs, are we to then question them, creating confusion and possible mistrust in the child? At what point does their innocence take precedence over knowledge and truth? Of course, based on any given individual’s religious beliefs, the answers to those questions would vary. In any case, my mind lingered on this poem for quite some time. I found that a lot of the poems in the anthology had fluidity and word choice that were deliberate and pleasing to the reader, but I, like several others have noted, didn’t connect with many of them. This poem was a standout for sure in that it had the elements to make it a poetic read while maintaining the candid nature necessary to promote a deep analysis of a largely untouched subject.
I am not one to really enjoy poetry, I always think it goes over my head but there were a few in the packet that really connected with me. One of my favorites is "Those winter Sundays". I know we did in class last year as poem of the week but there is something about this poem that I connect to every time I read it. It reminds me so much of my father. He is a mechanic and works so hard to give our family everything we could need and it always to slip my mind to give him my thanks for everything he does I always just assume he knows. But reading this and hearing stories from my friend who recently lost her father it just strikes something in me to try harder to show my appreciation to him.
ReplyDeleteAnd now to move away from my mushy rant about my dad. The other poem that I really enjoyed was "Undertaker". I'm not one for dark readings, but when I read Aziz's post of how much she enjoyed it, I felt like a had no choice but to give it a chance. I was really moved by this poem. It really illustrated the other side of death and how the morticians are impacted by the profession they have chosen. It made me really feel for both the mother trying to regain her son and the stress of the undertaker.
In addition to "Undertaker", I found that "Photograph from September 11" was another of the poems that jumped out at me. I can't really put my finger on exactly what it was about it that caught my attention, but my best guess is that it is because I have always had a slight interest in the events of 9/11. Whenever the documentaries are on TV I always find myself watching them, and one aspect that they always highlight is the people jumping from the burning towers. In my eyes, this was one of the saddest parts of that day and it is what this poem deals with. However, I had a reaction to the poem that was different than most people's and very similar to Molli's and Shannen's. I don't think that Szymborska did a very good job writing about the people who jumped. I found it almost offensive at times. An example of this is when she writes, "Each is still complete, with a particular face and blood well hidden". At first when I read this stanza, I didn't think anything of it, however upon reading it again, I find it to be borderline offensive. By saying "blood well hidden", she seems to be telling the reader of what will obviously happen to those who jumped. I believe that the comment was unnecessary. However, what makes it strange is that later in the poem she basically says she does the people who jumped a favor by not adding a last line to talk about their death. This is contradicting because she already hinted at their deaths to come when she added the comment about their blood being hidden. Another aspect I wasn't very fond of was that, to me, it seemed like she thought it was her obligation to write about them jumping. She says, "I can only do two things for them - describe this flight and not add a last line". In my opinion, she makes it seem like describing them jumping was something that had to be done. However, I believe that describing their "flight" was not something that was necessary, at least in the way that she went about it. It's completely possible that I'm missing something here or that I misinterpreted Szymborska's intentions in writing this poem. However, in the way that I currently see it, I didn't really like the way she went about writing it. I'm curious to know if anybody else felt this way. Also, please feel free to let me know if I've overlooked something or if I'm not seeing things the right way.
ReplyDeleteBen, I'm quite tempted to say the fact that the poem was translated-- from Polish, I believe-- may have corrupted in a way the author's intentions. I read recently that Hindi has well over a dozen words for "happiness" while we have but a handful. There are, in other words, some language barriers. Perhaps the relationship between "blood well hidden" and "not add a last line" is clearer in Polish.
DeleteNonetheless, the point that you and Molli and Shannen make is quite valid for the English translation. I'm glad it was brought up.
~Leonard
Leonard, thank you for clearing that up for me. I did see that it was translated prior to reading it, however afterwards I was so caught up in it that I neglected to consider that fact in my analysis of the poem. Thanks again
Delete-Ben
I was surprised how much I enjoyed these poems, as poetry was usually the least enjoyable part of English class to me. One particular poem stood out to me and that was At the Smithville Methodist Church by Stephen Dunn. I had never really thought about what a parent who did not believe in religion would say to their child. How would they answer some harder questions without leaving the child with a sense of despair? Religion at least gave the kids something to believe and enjoy. Even as adults many people find comfort in religion as the unknown can be scary. It is hard to think about what happens after you die, and saying there will be Heaven gives many people comfort. The last stanza of this poem states that you cannot do anything except wait. You cannot teach a child rational thinking. That is something that will be learned later as they grow older. I found the questions this poem brought up quite interesting. How should a family handle religion, whether it is an atheist family with a child who believes, or a religious family with a child who questions their beliefs? I enjoyed the insightfulness of this poem and the author’s directness in approaching a touchy subject for many people. This made At the Smithville Methodist Church my favorite poem of the selection, and gave me a good insight into an important topic.
ReplyDeleteI usually hate poetry. Most of the time, I feel as though it is the root to all evil. It is just one more thing that teachers expect students to master through the process of drilling and hammering it into them. I normally do whatever is possible to get through the poetry unit with as little effort as I can scrounge up. "Introduction" by Billy Collins summed up my views on poetry because I have always felt that it is up to the reader to decipher what they are reading, not the teacher to poke and prod for what may or may not be the right answer. In my mind, there is no right answer. That is one reason why I liked finishing my summer reading off with this collection of poems. I could actually understand the meaning of most of them and the ones I couldn't truly comprehend, I didn't find a bother to read. I made connections with these poems that I have yet to make with any other poetry. I was truly pleased with this selection of poetry and I only hope that the rest of the years poems go as smoothly and are as down to earth as the ones I read.
ReplyDelete-Tyler Dodd
One of the poems that I really enjoyed reading was called "Famous" by Nami Shihab Nye. I'm not quite sure why I liked this poem, but it just clicked. One line, aside from the concluding lines, that stuck out the most to me was "[t]he bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it and is not at all famous to the one who is pictured." This line stuck in my head because the first thing that popped into my head was the common photograph of a Marine or soldier looking at a ragged faded photo of a loved one. To the loved one, that photo means nothing. The camera was pointed at them and the picture was snapped in less than 30 seconds. However, to that Marine, it means the world. It is the one item that he hold close to his heart and would protect with his life. It is his ticket to a better time and his reminder that he will come home. That picture is truly famous. That line, regardless of how insignificant it may seem, etched a mark inside my mind.
ReplyDeleteOk, I read through all of these poems again, and after reading the majority of the posts here I have one final comment. Regarding to something Molli said a while back about "Wishes for Sons", I did not see any deeper into this poem until you posted your insight on it and know I feel that I more deeply understand the poem's message. It holds a deeper meaning regarding the equality between men and women. Not only the physical struggles that women face, but also the injustices prevalent in our society.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading "Looking Back in My Eighty-First Year" I realized that some people live their lives thinking that they had everything up until a certain moment where the become aware that that isn't the case. In this poem the narrator regretted not doing certain things such as taking a fellowship to a University and travelling the world instead of being married to her husband for sixty years right after graduating. She doesn't say that she regrets her marriage but she regrets not taking the initiative to do anything adventurous or fulfilling besides that. I took this as a reinforcement to my belief that I should take the opportunities presented to me that I believe will be fulfilling and that I won't regret later in life. I also can't guarantee that as an older person I won't regret the decisions I thought were 'fulfilling' now.
ReplyDeleteAnother poem that caught my interest was "Undertaker" because of how real it was. It did not do much to mask the reality and the grotesqueness of being an undertaker and this is what I liked about it. It went into detail about how their job required gut-wrenching tasks and also how they had to deal with the family members of the deceased. It talks about a scenario of how a boy that died was caught in the middle of gang warfare and other reasons why people died, reasons that made it clear that the danger presented in their lifestyles was bound to catch up to them someday.
Sorry I'm posting so late! I totally forgot to post for the pomes I was so focused on the books! Ahhh! The poem "1964" was by far my absolute favorite! It reminded me of all those old story's you hear from your grandparents..."well when I was your age..." I loved how the author described what was happening without straight out telling you what was happening "...grandma covered us with red welts from grandpa's belt" I also liked how he described what the characters in the poem might have looked like and where they were from without flat out telling you as well..."Border Patrol came thought we were Mexicans" maybe it's just because I'm a history nerd and love anything that has to do with history, but this poem was, for me, fun and entertaining and enjoyable to read (that's saying much because I really don't enjoy poetry)
ReplyDeleteAnother poem I really enjoyed was Undertaker. I really don't have any personal connection to this piece, but the author did an amazing job in telling this story. It was one of those poems where you sit back and say "dang" after reading it. The last line was well worded and was a strong closing line which I enjoy. The tone of the poem was very dark and gloomy, and while reading it I could just picture the dark alleys and the cold room the undertaker works in. This poem really made you think about how horribly familiar every mother's story was. They swear their child is a good kid, yet this kid is out in the streets being involved in gangs, leading to the child getting shot and killed. You can tell that the undertaker has a tremendous amount of weight on her shoulders from fixing kid after kid, listening to story after story. Being told the same thing all the time, and watching these broken mothers believe in a lie that their son was truly perfect, and was truly trying to get off the streets. This poem really brings to light the cruel fact of when you die you leave behind people who care about you. That was the saddest part to me, realizing how often this happens to families.
ReplyDeleteA poem that I particularly enjoyed in this packet was "What the Living Do". This poem appears to have a negative tone to it at first as it describes the monotony of life that i think every one of us feels stuck in at some point or another. However, in the sixth stanza the poem takes a new direction. It points out we always seem to yearn for more beauty in our lives. We sit around waiting for what we hope and dream for and this increasing wishing begins to take hold. Yet, if we stop for one second we can see the beauty that is life. I thought it was really interesting how relatable this poem was because i think we all have moments where we feel like we're stuck and just want more. I think it sends a good message that we all need to just take a moment and realize that we are alive and that's a beautiful thing
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