Wednesday, February 27, 2013

TRIP ON FRIDAY!

Hello students!

Do not forget that Friday is the trip to Park University where you get to work with, and meet, the four nationally known poets!

If you have permission slips to bring in, do so as soon as you can!

We look forward to seeing you!

Anne

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

"Euphoria" by Major Jackson

This poem has me wondering about the sexual exploits described in the second to last stance: "In rhythm to my hips' thrashing, in rhythm to Luther's voice, which flutters around that word I now mistake for "weep...". I was debating with a fellow about what exactly the girl did, did she have intercourse or did she help the guy master bate? As a teenager, I know that other teenagers do crazy things. But this poem has me so confused, the first lines describe how this teenage boy sees his mom smoking crack, but he's still, waiting in a Benz. I guess that shows that even wealthy, stable individuals struggle with the same vices of individuals of lower classes. In that part of the poem, Jackson also describes how the suspected prostitute is dressed, the environment they're surrounded in, and the experience they share together. To me, this poem describes a real life experience, maybe Jackson is the young man in the poem. Also, this poem is something I could see in a movie script, maybe this is the life of a young man, and somehow ends up leaving his city to find a different kind of life. But my favorite line is the last line: "A family, a dinner, a car, nothing but this happiness so hard to come by." If you're familiar with current slang, this sentence could have a dirty, as in a sexual, connotation. I have more to add, but maybe later. 

"Sticks" by Thomas Sayers Ellis

I enjoyed reading this poem because I can relate to having a father who's strong, tough, and extremely hard/cold. At the beginning of my life, when I was about three years old, I hated my father. We never had that typical "daddy's little girl" relationship. One of Ellis's first lines explains my dad's outlook on life: "Kind and lack of size were nothing more than sissified signs of weakness." Yes, I am a female, his youngest daughter, but he often says he wishes he had more sons. My father still tried to plant that sort of masculine attitude in me. I mean, I'm not weak, well as not as weak as he think I am. I cry, smile, laugh, and make mistakes. But we (my dad and I) have never had a conversation about how I feel about him, or how we feel about each other, and about the mistakes we both have made. Like I said, we both have made mistakes, but he has changed. Our relationship has improved so much; we have conversations about his life, and what he has been through. He had to be brave when he left Mexico at the age of 14 or 15; so along with becoming independent, he left those emotions behind. I don't want to go into detail about my dad's struggle, but now I understand why he is the way he is, and I respect him for that. 

Monday, February 25, 2013

"Sticks" by Thomas Sayer Ellis

When I read this poem it kind of made me feel bad for the kid. The kid has no good role model his dad slaps his mom and the mom tolerates it. Therefore the child thinks it's O.K. and he wants to follow in the same foot steps as his father. "Use his, pretending to slap mother when he slapped her."

"Elegant Endings" by Richard Blanco

I chose this poem because I felt like it was very descriptive. He used many adjectives to describe what he was talking about. I also like the way he connects everything. Another thing I like is how he compares things to other things. I really enjoyed ready this poem. I especially liked the part about "a foggy night, a silver train someone's hand pressed on glass, crystallized breaths eclipsing a face in a window slowly moving past someone left with smoke clinging around their feet--that ending." I felt that it was very descriptive.

"Euphoria" by Major Jackson

In this poem I like how he describes the mother and what she's doing. In this poem the mother likes smoking. Smoking is a bad habit, but at the same time people like smoking. Also I like how he describes where he's at, and what he is seeing. When he says, "But this happiness so hard to come by" it makes me realize that he hasn't been happy, and when he is, it's just once in a while. Walking in the street at night is scary because something can happen.

"Elegant Endings" by Richard Blanco

I like his poem, "Elegant Endings" because he goes into details and describing. He seem well inspired in the poem. Also I like how Richard, that author, was into the poem, while he was writing it. I like how he describes the girl in the poem. Another interesting thing is when he says, " I trust in God, I fear no one." It's true because nowadays nobody trusts anyone, only God. When you don't fear anyone, I think that makes people stronger.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

"Divorce" by Joel Brouwer

I chose this poem because it really shows how it relates to life. Joel says, "This week we learned that if you want to be one, you can't be celery, a  hotel room, or the big dipper." I think he is trying to say that you need to be your unique self and not be like anyone else.

"Aesthetics" by Joel Brouwer

I like this poem because I can relate to it. I know how it feels to have something terrible happen to you and nobody care or give sympathy. He is saying that no matter what happens in life, you have to move through it and not let it bring you down. The poet says, "A body has soft and hard parts like a piano. Music comes from where it meets." In my interpretation, I think he is saying that life has its ups and downs, but you have to keep moving forward and see what new things life gives you.

"Atomic Bride": Thomas Sayers Ellis

Atomic Bride is a poem that makes you wonder. Its about a guy who's cross dressing as a girl and is a bride. He starts off talking about how happy a suburban home is, and then all of a sudden everything has fallen apart.  It goes from good and happy, to bad, mad and sad in an instant. He talks about things that a lot of poem writers usually wouldn't. It gets to the point to where it seems like he's trying to say that people tell lies to get them by. It's a lot different than most poems I've read, which makes it that much better. He talks about things that really do go on.  Whether in our lives or not, it goes on in someone's.

"Sticks": Thomas Sayers Ellis

This poem, "Sticks," has somewhat of a twist to it. It starts out as a poem where he's talking about his family life and really emphasizes about his father and how he's more of bigger and muscular guy and that he wanted to be like him. He makes you really feel the intensity of the poem by saying "I learned to use my hands watching him use his, pretending to slap mother when he slapped mother". Then he states he discovered writing where he really let all of his feeling by using word like "BAM" to express his emotions and to control his thoughts. He digs real deep into his emotions so that you feel exactly as he does, which makes it a great poem.
Occupation - Suji Kwok Kim

This one was deep. I liked how she described the situation of the occupation. " They hammer bodies into the earth like nails" "They paint the walls with blood" Good descriptive stuff right here. It had a holocaust feel to it.
Sticks - Thomas Sayers Ellis

I found this poem interesting. Had to go back and re read some parts. There was a twist towards the middle where he saying how his dad would beat his mom. He talks about his dad like he's this great guy and then we see he's diabetic as well. He's stricken with illness.

"Sticks" by Thomas Sayers Ellis

The thing that cause my attention was a ling, "...Pretending to slap mother, when he slapped mother." When I read that, I thought go a kid, wanting to be like his father, in the wrong ways. His father, "..was a enormous man." His Father, think and showing things, not right for kids. But then I like when he discovers writing. It sounds like he could take is "learnings" out on it, instead of others. I enjoyed it going from the father to discovering and writing.

"Errata" by Kevin Young

I enjoyed this poem because I though it was cute and jumbly. I thought it was creative and interesting how he intentionally misspelled the words. It made it seems like he was acutely nervous. I also like the sentence, "Mill you larry me?" It was charming! Like a nervous man about to ask his girlfriend to marry him. The loving, vulnerable vibe to it really caught my attention, along with the mixed up lettering. Over all it was just adorable.

Portrait Of A Child.

This Poem Had me Deep in thought and made me think diffrently about religion and children and how important a person is.. I have a heart for this story and would love for it to keep going . but it stopped. my favorite line was "The Painter Thinks of his Inffant son. His son must be important to him and every family should Cherish there child. But this poem is understandable to me

Emptying Town by Nick Flynn

The Poem is mysterious, very adventurous. Some of us might not see it, but it sinks deep in the words, and you don't need to reread twice to know that there is something behind the walls of this mysteriously hidden feeling, a feeling that swims deep in the words of the poet, the idea that maybe god sees something much greater in us than we imagine. The poem basically talks about Jesus, how Jesus rescued him, ripped his shirt to show him what he has done for him. Words are deep, and to understand you need to understand the poet, read more about him maybe you might see why he wrote this poem. Then you'll truly understand the poem. and these mythical words I use to describe the poem.

Occupation

I really like the poem because i visions people working together helping out one another. Making sure everyone has a safe, beautiful home, that took precious handwork and helping hands. It stood out to me because i believe thats how our generation should be today but it seems like its every man for themselves. The author used perfect wording to express the poem, it was great!

"Errata" by Kevin Young

I chose this particular poem because it really made me think about my ex's and the good times in those relationships. It made me feel the love surrounding and looming around me like a Sunday morning breakfast. I really like how the writer worded some of the words. The writer would say: "Hive" when he really meant "Give" or he would say: "Lake" when he meant "Take". I just thought it was pretty awesome how he played around with the words in his poetry, it's something new to me.
"Occupation" by Suji Kwock Kim

In this poem, Siji Kwock Kim, was talking about death and heaven. She describes the death as peoples bodies are being buried into the earth. How their blood is the pain on the walls. The doors will always be shut and locked to people on this inside of the house. That the house will last forever, and everyone is welcome and you will have your own room. You have your own room because everyone is welcome into heaven, there will always be room for you there.

Pest By Major Jackson

Why I picked this poem is because I Hate Bugs and insects they disgust me. The line that really got me is when he had said " My First thought was of the Swiss Cheese  Hardening on a Counter....My stomach dropped after that and It was nasty. But I kept Reading it beacause it was to intersting .so therefore I kept reading and the words kept me moving and engaged with the story. And My Mothers Loves bugs so it kept me going.

Suji Kwock Kim

I like this quote because she is talking about the soldiers and I believe they need to be spoken about more. They are very much appreciated by Americans. She quotes "They hammer bodies into the earth like nails, they paint the walls with blood". This line really got to me, her words are very visual and harsh. She is comparing the last line as being heaven saying come on, there is room for everyone. This quote is also very sentimental.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

"How to Look at Mexican Highways" by Monica de la Torre

I chose this poem because she really speaks to me about life. She speaks harshly, but once you think about her words they are all true.  She states, "You are not going anywhere, no one is waiting for you." You cannot always depend on people to be there for you all the time. You have to do things for yourself every once in a while. She is foreign but speaks from the heart.

Monday, February 18, 2013

"Divorce" by Joel Brouwer

I read the piece named "Divorce."  I love how the author, Joel, symbolized the death of the marriage by the crate of dead crows. I also liked it when he was saying how he's learning how to become a man.

Friday, February 15, 2013

"Blunts" by Major Jackson

I really enjoyed the poem, "Blunts."  I like how the author used analogy. He worded it perfect to where I could really imagine it as if I was there. There wasn't really a part that stood out the most, but it was a great poem all around.

What Is Poetry

It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader's or listener's mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry.
Because of its nature of emphasising linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuances of meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation.

"Unworn" by Dan Beachy-Quick

I picked this poem because of the way this artist wrote it. I usually prefer rhyme in written poetry, but this one just caught the eye of me. This poem rhymed in a way, because it repeated the same line twice. My favorite part of the poem is when he said: "Open the water glass with a shattering disregard... My nervous finger makes me pick up the shard..."

Thursday, February 7, 2013

What Is Poetry


Poetry is something beyond rhythm and rhymes.
It is said, that what an elder sees while sitting down, a child can never see it even if standing up. Now I'd like to bring poetry into this. Imagine a beautiful rainbow picture, with all six colors. Now bring those who never sit to imagine what they'll be like in years to come, and those who do wonder, whether they'll achieve the UN-achievable, those who sit to wonder whether they'll live to see there great-great-grandchildren, those who sit to wonder whether they'll achieve greatness, will most likely see the incredibility behind these colors, this natural beauty filled with hidden stories, stories that only those who understand poetry can see, and be able to recognize.
Everybody has a way of expressing poetry. It is this little thing, that those who don't know poetry would see and say, "this is pathetic" but those who've seen and lived poetry, would see and say, "Magnificent". Something that can not be explained by just any man. Something that I'd look at and say, this is immortal, but those who don't know poetry, wouldn't see it and not even wonder what it is, why it's there. People who never sit to wonder, people who never imagine, people who never live an imaginary moment will less likely see the true magnificence of poetry. It is hidden and only those who see it and begin to wonder stories behind it, will discover it. It is only open to those who know it and understand it.