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. 

4 comments:

  1. Hi Gabriela,

    You raise some interesting questions for this poem. Have you discussed it in class? FYI, don't forget to bring your permission slip in for Friday's trip if you haven't already! Looking forward to meeting you!

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  2. I totally agree with you. We were discussing this in class! It;s not really clear as to what she did with him but everyone see's it differently. I think that it's weird how they could be so rich driving around with a benz and still be going through a problem that a regular person would be going through.

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  3. The Benz doesn't have to be a new one, or even a nice one. Or maybe these are the things they do to keep up a nice car. Everything looking fine on the outside. Everything so messed up on the inside.

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  4. I agree with the peom. "In rhythm to my hips' thrashing, in rhythm to Luther's voice, which flutters around that word I now mistake for "weep...". It did make me think she did have intercourse or something. The Benz (car) sounds nice! it was a nice poem! :D

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