$Poetry$

Journal #6

2007-02-15T21:55:00.000-08:00

S – A man
O – A man telling his love one to be honest
A – Those that cheat on others, and those who understand but just want to be told the truth
P – If you lose love for a person just tell them, don’t cheat
S – Loyalty, honesty, love
TONE – subtle demanding and understanding and sad

Contemporary Poet

Just be real

It may not always be so, and I say
You men and women who deceive others
Why do you do it because if you were lovers
The other would want to know on any given day
If you’re losing interest or no longer want to be amongst one another’s
Arms; don’t put a façade
Even if it’s April and you have been together since last may

If this should be, I say if this should be –
The heart of the other might be destroyed, but its better than
To be cheated on day after day, and lying in their face
Its just not right, and I wouldn’t want it to happen to me
So don’t lie, be honest, but however you feel
Just be real

The way I interpreted “it may not always be so; and I say” by E.E. Cummings is by the speaker being, unfortunately, in a relationship, in which their partner no longer loves them and is with someone else. Therefore, I wanted to make my poem with similar feelings. In life I notice that people are often disloyal to their partners, some to be cool and others because they simply lost love, so I wanted to make it clear to that it’s wrong. In some ways I offer better solutions than cheating on the person one is losing interest in. In my opinion I think it is much better for a person to just brake up with another person rather than cheating on them. Hence, my poem delivers that message that people should just be real.

Journal # 5

2007-02-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

S – A man
O – Embracing a women or talking to a women
A – Female or lover/ To those in love
P – Love is blind, but things are more beautiful with love
S - Love
TONE – Serious, lovable

Literary Critic

In since feeling is first, E.E. Cummings begins her short but sweet poem with a stanza of four lines. The “who” in the second line, right away, begins ambiguous because it can be interpreted two different ways. One way is by viewing it in a “who does that” way, meaning nobody pays attention to the syntax when in love. The other way one can view this is by “the person who” pays attention will never receive a good quality kiss or the kiss they want. Overall her diction here was perfect because it is up to the reader to decide which way they would prefer to read this. She states that love makes a person blind in line 5 by saying that “wholly to be a fool.” Then in line 7, Cummings uses “my blood” to resemble the speakers own feelings approve. Instead of just saying my strong feelings approve, she used a word that conveys the same meaning, which adds to her metaphorical speaking nature. In lines 7 and 8, it seems as though Cummings is saying that love has a better fate than wisdom, most likely meaning that with too much wisdom can possibly end in disaster. Love can also lead to disaster, but in her case she would prefer love. Cummings ends the poem nice by having the speaker in some ways seducing the female to him with his flattering words. By saying that “life s not a paragraph” (line 15), the speaker is telling his lover that life is not short and take is slow. The message was clearly illustrated up to the last line, and then Cummings ends on an ambiguous note. Moreover, I did not understand the last line, but if I had to guess I would think that she, through the speaker, is trying to say that death is not something to be looked over, like words within a parenthesis.

2007-02-08T20:46:00.000-08:00

“I am accused of tending to the past” by Lucille Clifton

S - God
O - God reflecting on the accusations of humanity
A - Humanity
P - To not blame God for something humans are guilty of
S – History and its creator
TONE – Angry, shocked
Literary Critic
Lucille Clifton, in my opinion, does a magnificent job of conveying her message in this poem, in such a small passage. The reason I say this is because most of the time she is metaphorically speaking and when a metaphor is presented in any writing, there is a deeper meaning most of the time. I also like the fact that she leaves much ambiguous, but at the same time she doesn’t. The way I interpreted this poem is by the speaker being one of three personas: God, twenty-first century white person, or men today.
The reason I think the speakers is God is because when I first read this poem it seemed as though someone was being blamed. Then Immediately I thought about God because throughout history people blame God for the things that have happened to either the individual or a group of people. Clifton, through the voice of God, responds by saying that it is not God’s fault, but it is humanity’s fault. God created man and man, not God, created history, so if anything, it is humanity’s fault. Therefore, the audience is humanity and the occasion is a period in which God is reflecting on the accusations people are implying. My interpretation makes it clear on what the purpose of Lucille Clifton’s message is to not blame God for something humans are guilty of. Moreover, the speaker’s tone is at first angry because of the accusations, but turns into a more lesson teaching tone.
A different way of interpreting this could be the speaker being white people in our generation who might not be racist at all, rather the opposite, and are being blamed by minorities for what happened in past history. Men can also be the speaker because feminist women who blame men today for how men back in history treated women. Although not as good explanation of the speaker being God, they are equally as valid. Lucille Clifton message was clearly stated for me because the way I interpreted, “she is more human now…(until the end).” Is that History is in the making even today. Back to the interpretation of God being the speaker, He is warning them because He sees what is in story for us, humanity, as History grows.

Poetry Journal #3

2007-02-08T20:41:00.000-08:00

Forgetfulness by Billy Collins

S – A person curious of why things aren’t remembered
O – Seeing something familiar but does not recall exactly
A – those who forget
P – to say that it is normal for people to forget
S – function of brain capacity of memory
TONE – confused

failure to remember
The name of an author
I don’t even know
Let alone remember
If it’s a good one
The plot might stay
Not 4 forever
But as of today
Some say….
If you forgot
it might not have been important in the first place
Or important today
For instance the name of all the power rangers
Because you simply grew out of that memory
For some things involving geometry that you initially
Didn’t even learn
so confusion occurs when it appears
Whatever it is that we don’t remember
Was obviously not in your mind to stay
And will make us think we didn’t even know it in the first place
But something peculiar
about it
Will be familiar

The reason I decided to make a poem sort of in response to this poem is because this is something I am a victim of; forgetting. I enjoyed the poem’s list of things so I decided to make my own in some way that could connect to this poem and some of my observations. The animation to this poem in some ways instilled a certain tone in my mind which was some what like passive or tiresome. For some reason the poem had a point, but not the most powerful one and philosophical, so I wanted mine to be the same.

Journal #2

2007-02-04T12:56:00.000-08:00

Everything the power of the world is done in a circle

S-Native American reflection on his circular observations
O-Observing life and nature around us
A-Other Native Americans or those who view life the same
P-to convey own thought about life and send a message
S-the world, life, and circles
TONE-Philosophical, analytical, and understanding

Again, a poem that in some ways relates to me. The reason I say this is because the narrator does the same as I do; observe what is happening around me. What the author of the poem observes connects to life or the world today. Many things today take circular paths. For instance: People go from home to school or work and back, food is grown, cooked consumed, then digested, people recycle, and all of the world elements are taken, but returned. People go in a circular path as they go from being born, to growing up, reproducing, and then dying. All the elements for humanity are created in the mother’s wound and returned when the body decomposes at the graveyard. Animals circle around their pretty, certain dances are done in circles, when animals go to sleep they circle around the ground. Clocks go round, the season, and weather, go in circular motions. Many people might notice it, but don’t take the time to realize what is happening in the world around us. Many people are concentrated on making money, not knowing it is going to go back through the same system they received it from. Wars, disease, virus, death, life, and people come and go. When people shoot guns, their shooting round of bullets, when people rap the go for rounds, when people box they go rounds, many sports balls are circular, and the game go back and forth. I myself am making circles around pools when I clean them. Circular motion is part of life. Regardless of what people try to do, it will stay in motion.

49

2007-02-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

28 and more to come

Homework

2007-02-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

We Wear the Mask

S – A great observer, who sees themselves fallowing society.
O – It can either be a daily observation of things or a person about to enter society
A – the audience is for those who do and do not where the mask
P – the purpose is to convey that society forces people to “wear the mask.”
S – Society, mask, and putting a front or façade
Tone – to inform of the situation the person is in and the society lived in

Personal Response:

Although I have read this poem several times before, I find it extremely interesting and truthful. I am also drawn to the poem because I can relate; not only because I see similar things in my society, but also I find myself observing things most of the time. The way I interpreted the poem was by the mask being a façade that everyone posses. Sometimes it is physically visible, but most of the time is something not seen. This mask that we, and I say we because I am a victim to the same society that the person in the poem is speaking of, wear is put on right when we step out of our own self. Examples of people who I see wear the mask, are people who are fronting about their money, about their culture, about their accomplishments, and other things that will cause one to “fit” in society. A perfectly good example is when someone says, “hi, how are you doing?” and some one naturally says yes to when in reality are burning inside and dieing slowly. People who are struggling to survive don’t want to make it know so they hide their situation behind this mask. This mask that we wear is full of lies and mainstream. People trying to hide their true identity or trying to go beyond their level by acting differently wear the mask. Acceptance into society is something everyone wants. People will go to the extreme and get nose, face, butt, breast, or stomach surgeries. Some will try to lose weight, have a certain style, like certain music, wear make up, or wear certain clothes. Others will gang bang, do drugs, drop out, be thugs, and live the fast life. No one is their own unique, talented, gifted self because regardless of what ones’ characteristics are one is never satisfied. People are born with good intentions, but society corrupts them. People wore the mask centuries ago, people wear the mask today, and people will continue to wear the mask because society will never change.

Discovering my Voice

2007-01-28T14:22:00.000-08:00

Some people have found their voice, but others haven’t, or just don’t know they have a voice. As for me, I have not found or recognized my voice. Since I don’t write much I don’t know what it could be, and when I do write its for Laura, so you can imagine what voice that is.

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. (Aristotle)

Poetic Language

2007-01-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

I think that there is not a set definition for poetic language. Everyone has there own meaning of what is poetic language, but for me poetic language can be anything a writer or person decides to say or write. Since poetry is different for one person to another, so is poetic language. It can be the form one writes, style, vocabulary, grammar, diction, and even the actual language being conveyed. Poetic language is used in everyday life which serves as a means of expressing oneself. So it can be defined as ones own unique voice. Just like artists have their forms of understanding their own art work, poetry is the same because poetry is a form of art.