critical

For the final paper, I am thinking about changing my topic. Im not really sure if I understood the prompt after reading other peoples papers and I am not sure if I will be able to write 6 pages about what I chose. One of the hard parts will be putting in textual evidence because it is not really about a theme that goes through the poetry more about how the poets construct or format different poems visually to help the poem to be creative or to help the reader understand it more.

creative

Cancer

Before I left for college was when he told me.

The reasons for the weight loss had not been the gym,

The fatigue was not from over working.

The man I believed to be perfect was now flawed.

The sparkle in his eye was lackluster

His once radiant skin transformed into fragile paper.

He told me it was good though,

The sickness he had was slow to spread

And he was going to start treatment immediately.

How could this be, my dad, my friend

Sick to the point that it could take his life

Sick to the point that I could see him giving up.

Nothing was working.

The sickness kept spreading

And he kept suffering.

One Saturday I got a call from him.

They had found a new experimental treatment

And would have to go to Nebraska to get it.

He said that it would be rough

And it may not help but it was worth a shot

To beat this or at least delay it.

For a year he was gone

Strict treatment schedule everyday

Not allowed to do anything to jeopardize his progress.

Finally some relief, the word progress.

In my fathers situation, progress is the only thing you can hope for

Because progress means they are at least delaying the inevitable.

separate from the world

Wrestler

The referee comes to the center of the mat

And makes us shake hands.

No longer does anything else matter to me

But waiting for the sound of the whistle,

And the advance of my opponent.

I have trained hard and had my teammates behind me

But at this moment I am alone.

Alone knowing that the outcome is only up to me.

Nothing anyone else can say or do will matter.

The rest of the world goes quiet as I anticipate his move.

Out of the corner of my eye I see blurred images.

But I cannot make anything out

I know my coach is yelling to me,

but no sounds reach my ears.

Alone in this battle until the end.

I feel something slap my back

The match is over and at once,

My hearing and vision seem to return.

dramatic monologue

It’s a difficult life

Being under a hood

Hunted by all

For just doing good.

Steal from the rich,

Give to the poor,

Forced into this way

For loving a whore.

Is it really worth it

What I am doing

Would I reconsider

From the trouble that’s brewing.

I want to be normal

Have a family and friends,

Not just the company

Of my merry men.

Robin of Loxley

My family name.

Is what I am doing

Going to bring that name shame?

Give me a house

A farm of my own

And not have to worry

That my cover gets blown.

It is knowledge to all

My skills with a bow.

Id rather be known

For the seeds that I sew.

I’m over the hiding

Using Sherwood as cover

Id much rather be

Like my citizen brother

Id take it all back

In a moment I would.

To just be normal

And not of the hood.

Critical post

Denise Duhamel uses many different forms in her poetry book Ka-Ching. In her poems "Weapons' Inspectors Checklist", "Anagram America " and "Please Don't Sit Like a Frog, Sit Like a Queen", You see three very different forms that add uniqueness to the poems. In the first poem, "Weapons Inspectors Checklist", the form of the the poem is a list. The poem lists many phrases that are translated across several languages and then back into English. It is interesting to see how some of the phrases are changed when they cross languages and how some of them don't. Several of the phrases were completely different after they were translated back to English. I think that the list form is effective in this poem because you can easily see the phrases and their translations. The point gets across very well that Duhamel is trying to show how different things sound to different people. It flows very well and does not seem over done and allows you to see her point very clearly.
The second poem, "Anagram America", is a very interesting poem as well. She uses letters of the word "America" to end the lines of her poem. To me, the poem does seem a little playful for the sake of playfulness just because of what she is trying to do. There are only so many words that you can make from those letters and some of them are a little stretched but it still is a fun feat to accomplish. The poem itself has an intersting meaning where she seems to be defending America against what other people may think. She has a good point and it is hard to do the form that she used but i think overall it is effective. In the third poem, "Please Dont Sit Like a Frog, Sit like a Queen", Duhamel uses the form of a villianelle. I think that this is a good form for the poem. The poem seems to prtrya the message of what is expected of a woman. Telling women to embrace their woman hood and to be flashy about it. Sometimes the poem seems playful when she is trying to find rhyming words. I think it could be more effective If it was on a more serious topic but other than the rhyming words, It has a fairly basic message. I enjoyed this poem.

creative post

Welcome my friends
to the show that never ends.
you take it in stride,
you try for amends.

Wherever it takes you,
its your ride to control.
life brings you down
it's about how you roll.

 Its good to have trials,
they teach resilience.
you can get back on your feet
that is the brilliance

of the thing called life.
Its all what you make it.
just give it your best
be a man with true grit.

like the great bambino,
when things go awry,
heroes get remembered,
Legends don't die.

2 excercises from practice of poetry

Short narrative(164)

In the warm morning air I felt a chill.

The shock of what happened fresh in my mind,

We ran to my car thoughts racing, confusion.

What was wrong, were we really that blind.

A night full of dancing, indulging and fun.

Camping and singing once it was done.

He left in an anger, we brushed it off

The call in the morning destroyed us.

I still remember hearing those tears

Of my other best friend fall in the grass.

Sick for not seeing the hurt that he masked. 

Writing the spectrum(55)

Green

The color of woods, OU and clovers

Things I hold dear to my heart.

Memories forever in my mind can be seen

Whenever I see the color green.

Through all the seasons, something

Is there for me to fall back on,

A blissful dream,

Whenever I see the color green.

Critical assignment

errance Hayes seems to have many themes running through his book Lighthead. One of the themes that I noticed was parenting. He mentions his stepfather many times. Two poems where I noticed this the most were “Three Measures of Time” and “Lightheads Guide to Parenting”. “Three Measures of Time” is a poem that takes you through an instance in the day through perspectives of his brother, father and mother. “Lighthead’s Guide to Parenting” seems to outline ideas that he had about parenting based on experiences in his childhood. In both poems, some clues gave me the idea that his father was not very involved in his life. “By the time the coals die down/ you’re asleep before the whispering TV. / No such thing as darkening”. This line from “Three Measures of Time” suggests that his father did not interact much with the children. Also, in “Lighthead’s Guide to Parenting” a similar quote, “a father to slump black and whipped on a big couch. Come darlings, unstring my boots”, gives you the same separated feeling. Although it seems that he may be tired from a hard days work supporting the family, the fact that it is mentioned twice makes it seem like it is a big deal to the speaker in the poem. Another theme about parenting that I noticed was that he seemed to be closer to his mother. In the poem “Three Measures of Time”, Hayes attitude towards his mother seems thankful and understanding. He claims that his mother tells time by “You are in a kitchen with a spatula/ above something inedible or inevitable/ darkening or you are asleep/ in a locked room”. To me it seems like the mother is providing food and life for the family. Hayes would be closer hi mother since she is biological. It seems he knows how hard she works so that they can have food, but she is still not prominent in his life. In “Lighthead’s Guide to parenting” it suggests that his parents were not very good parents. For someone to write a poem like this is seems that they must have some conflicting thoughts how he was raised and how he should have been raised. “Therefore I suggest corporal punishment as a way to establish the boundaries between youth and adulthood… If you are disciplined with your discipline, he or she will love you”. This quote seems to say that his childhood lacked discipline. He seems to wish that that there was more structure in his raising because he writes multiple times about the distance between himself and his parents.

Poem inspired by Pure Country

The lights and smoke,

The laser shows,

The loud bass bumping,

My true friend knows,

How much this is not me.

Crowded cities,

Sold out shows,

Fans ecstatic,

My true friend knows

How much this is not me.

Wide open spaces

Where the wild breeze blows

Living free,

My true friend knows

How much that this is me.

Smokey bar rooms

Small town shows

Work boots dancing

My true friend knows

How much that this is me.

Why must we do things

That we don’t want

Be like a puppet

Put up a front

To please everyone around you.

Be free and wild

Like a feral horse

Run with the wind

And then of course

I know that this is me.

Critical thinking

In W.H. Auden’s essay titled “Poetry as Memorable Speech”, he talks about how even though there are many types of poetic language used in poetry, even the simpler language can be memorable. Any type of language that makes us think or inspires certain emotions can be considered memorable. Different poems will do this to different people. Certain lines or themes may invite us to remember things that happened in our past or resonate with us based on our personal beliefs.

In Philip Larkin’s poem, Reasons for Attendance, he describes a scene where he is standing outside of a bar or dance club watching the people inside. This poem has many pieces of memorable speech to me.

“ The wonderful feel of girls. Why be out there?

But then why be in there? Sex, yes, but what

Is sex? Surely to think the lions share

Of happiness is found by couples – Sheer

Inaccuracy, as far as I am concerned.”

This particular section reminds me of weekends spent drinking uptown in Athens. When I hear this section I immediately go to memories of walking down Court Street and looking into the bars and seeing the commotion of all the other college aged kids. There always is a feeling that many of the people are looking for sexual experiences, couples or not, when you look into the bar windows. There is always someone on somebody’s lap or dancing on someone. Larkin’s tone is similar to mine. He wonders why they do this because he does not feel like that it the place for him. He gives off the impression that he would rather be somewhere more quiet enjoying himself. “But not for me, nor I for them; and so/ With happiness. Therefore I stay outside”. The voice sticks with me because it sounds like something that would be going through my head while being in the same situation.

Auden says, “The test of a poet is the frequency and diversity of the occasions on which we remember his poetry”. While I may not think of this poem every time I am up town, probably due to the state in which I am in during those occasions, It is the type of poem that if I were up there sober I would remember. The poem does not specifically say that he is sober at the time but the experience of being outside looking in reminds of being the only sober one at a party. You are able to look around and really wonder ‘why do I ever do this’. Memorable speech does not have to be about anything major such as a death or beauty as long as it makes you think. Larkin seems to have a indifferent tone until the very end where he says “Or I lied”. This make you wonder if he was saying this and then coming to the realization that he does in fact want to be in the bar sharing in the chaos. He seems a little unsure if maybe under different circumstances someone else migh be standing outside looking in ad seeing him in there.

when i was one and twenty

Happy

When I was one and twenty

To Ol’ Friends I will go

To drink some beer and shoot some pool

And hang out with my bros

I don’t know where the night will take us

I just know I will not drive

Maybe to the honkeytonk

To show them how I jive.

It feels so good

To be this age for so long I have waited

Just hanging out and having fun

The thought makes me elated.

Bummer

When I was one and twenty

I have to leave my friends

To go to school and read some books

Not glad of how this ends.

I don’t like leaving home

For the school I chose to pick

My friends are here my rots are deep

The thought can make me sick.

Off to school I go now

Summer memories bright in my head

No home cooked meals endless nights

And of course my comfy bed.

Mixed feelings

When I was one and twenty

School work still in my mind

To drink or study that’s the question

What mischief can I find?

My friends at school are great

Not as much as those from home

We still have fun and happy times

When Athens we do roam.

I will surely miss the farmer’s fields

And stacking hay up in the barns

But Athens is a wondrous place

With many subtle charms.

blog # 2

The two poems, “Easter, 1916” by Yeats and “Returning We Hear Larks” by Rosenberg, both portray a different view of war. In Yeats’ poem, it seems that he is talking more about the beauty of war while Rosenberg paints a portrait of misery that is only lightened by the sounds of the larks. At any minute that noise could be bombs or some other terror but the sounds of the birds help to calm the soldiers. Rosenberg likes to use similes in his poem to help you to paint the portrait as well as Yeats, who does it to compare the feelings that he has towards war to things that are more beautiful. “that is Heaven’s part, our part to murmur name upon name, as a mother names her child when sleep at last has come on limbs that have run wild (Yeats)”.

These poems compare to us because there are many hardships that people face everyday and there is always that one thing that gives us hope even when we think that there is none. Not specifically towards war, but Rosenberg’s example of the larks effect on the soldiers, shows an example of this that can be seen in many different aspects of life.

Contemporary poem

A taste of Afghanistan

Rob Densmore first went to Afghanistan in 2004 with the US navy. he returned in 2007 as a freelance journalist particularly concerned about the effects of the turmoil on people. He then did a Masters degree in London in War and Psychiatry returning in 2008 to conduct research on mental health in private security contractors.

His stories, interviews, and poems deal mostly with the content and historical perspective of these trips - but "with the human element in mind".

A taste of Afghanistan

City sand has its own taste

Not the country’s dust,

But darker.

It’s stronger – bitter parts

Under infantry foot.

Under 500 years going and coming.

Kipling’s finest up and over –

Through the pass,

Through the places where soldiers stood

In stolid white snow.

Cemeteries in the pass where Alexander’s own

Fell on the square rocks.

Paved with smoothed over river rock,

This open grave – white, bare.

Kabul sand polishes everyone’s edges.

Tajiks sharp on the cusp

And Northern Alliance coming down

Hard in the fray.

They all want each other’s throats.

Their wives lost in the fight –

Save for pointed heels and

Gold bangled over fine red henna.

Eastern sand and southern sand,

Pakistan sand crooked as broken teeth,

Herati sand pure and rising to the top.

Nothing mixes and there is no space in between.

If God loved this place he doesn’t now.

If He breathed in the brass bullet casings

And the diesel air and spiteful prayers.

A place for lust and dirty children

And the things night can hide.

What things grown men can hide-

In the dark corners of their own children’s rooms.

In the big shadows of a capital with no master and no disciple.

No scope for all things to come together

The sand and the dust and the dirt that makes things grow-

When it is left alone.

But we’ve put our fingers in it

And the stirring and stamping won’t leave

Much for the growing.

Dust bowls and cyclone air will take the rest.

Every village is filled with it now –

Dust from our bombs and inside our APCs.

Dirt scrubbed from our rifle actions

And ground into our sweaty palms like Mississippi silt.

And still nothing grows.

I’ve taken a knee in seventeen villages –

On street corners and broken down roundabouts,

On highways and in shattered homes.

On helo pads and plywood chapel steps,

On the backs of dead men-

And screaming vile women.

They will, all of them, bend or break –

It is either them or me.

It’s either winning or losing

And putting in its place

What does not belong,

Sand of a different taste and hue

That cannot tell me it is sorry.

Rob Densmore, 2009

Sonnet

I walk into the woods to find a tree

A tree that must be tall with perfect view

A tree that must have dense leaves to hide me

To help me carry out what I will do

I reach around and clasp my climber stand

Nervous about the climb that I must make

I get into position bow in hand

Being silent because of what’s at stake

In the brush I hear a tiny sparrow

The noise makes me think I will have good luck

Noise, I quickly load a camo arrow

Underneath my tree a monstrous brown Buck

I draw back finally it is my day

The bow string snaps, the hunter has his prey

Critical Response to "Hap"

In this poem, Hardy is talking about how throughout life, you encounter many ups and downs. This frustrates him becasue he would be more comfortable if it were a constant state. Not know in things are going to be good and when they are going to be bad makes him struggle. At some points he questions a higher being asking what the reason for this is. all that gladness ever brings him is a worse feeling when something bad happens. He feels that if he were in a state of constant pain, he would be satisfied had he never know happiness.

This poem is similar to another poem by him, "Ah, Are You Digging On My Grave". I think these poems are similar because, the dead woman who is speaking is originally curious and happy at the thought that someone might be digging on her grave because they miss her and loved her. In the end, she feels pain when she comes to the realization that no one loved her or misses her. Had she been in a constant state of either pain or happiness, she would be able to know that it was either someone or just an accident as it turns out in her case. Even though she is dead, she still feels the pain of being unwanted that she might not have felt if she was never happy with anything.