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.