Stolen line: "Then water enters."- Jane Kenyon ("Portrait of a Figure Near Water")
"The Creek"
As I observe my backyard,
my eyes focus on the creek.
The rocks,
the sand,
Then water enters.
It trickles over the stones,
Bringing life,
And sound,
To the scene.
I lay down in the grass,
And let the rhythmic sounds
of the creek,
lull me into an afternoon sleep.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Blog Assignment for Thursday
1.''Crow is Walking"
Crow is walking to see things at ground level,
the ground as new under his feet
as the air is old under his wings.
He laves the dead rabbit waiting --
it's a given, it'll always be there --
and walks down the dirt road,
admires the pebbles,
how they sparkle in the sun;
checks out his reflection in a puddle full of sky
which reminds him of where he's supposed to be,
but he's beginning to like the way the muscles move in his legs
and the way his wings feel so comfortable folded back and resting.
He thinks he might be beautiful,
the sun lighting his back with purple and green.
Faint voices from somewhere far ahead roll
like dust down the road towards him.
He hurries a little.
His tongue moves in his mouth;
legends of language move in his mind.
His beak opens.
He tries a word.
I broke the poem up this way because it seems to give it an easy flow to read. Each stanza has a main idea and a main action that is going on so it seemed fit to seperate the poem this way. This also puts emphasis on each action that the crow performs, showing that each detail that the speaker says is important to the crow and to the poem.
2. "Faith" Is a Fine Invention
by Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see-
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yY1Nrznh4I
Although this poem is short, it gets a strong point across about faith. The speaker says that in an emergency, or a bad situation it is often hard for us to see the best in the situation. I chose the song "One Last Breath" by Creed because in the song, he sings about going through a hard time and bein on the edge, but he has one last breath. This relates to the poem in showing that sometimes its hard to see the best in bad situations, but if you are given another chance you should take it and see the good in the situation.
Crow is walking to see things at ground level,
the ground as new under his feet
as the air is old under his wings.
He laves the dead rabbit waiting --
it's a given, it'll always be there --
and walks down the dirt road,
admires the pebbles,
how they sparkle in the sun;
checks out his reflection in a puddle full of sky
which reminds him of where he's supposed to be,
but he's beginning to like the way the muscles move in his legs
and the way his wings feel so comfortable folded back and resting.
He thinks he might be beautiful,
the sun lighting his back with purple and green.
Faint voices from somewhere far ahead roll
like dust down the road towards him.
He hurries a little.
His tongue moves in his mouth;
legends of language move in his mind.
His beak opens.
He tries a word.
I broke the poem up this way because it seems to give it an easy flow to read. Each stanza has a main idea and a main action that is going on so it seemed fit to seperate the poem this way. This also puts emphasis on each action that the crow performs, showing that each detail that the speaker says is important to the crow and to the poem.
2. "Faith" Is a Fine Invention
by Emily Dickinson
"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see-
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yY1Nrznh4I
Although this poem is short, it gets a strong point across about faith. The speaker says that in an emergency, or a bad situation it is often hard for us to see the best in the situation. I chose the song "One Last Breath" by Creed because in the song, he sings about going through a hard time and bein on the edge, but he has one last breath. This relates to the poem in showing that sometimes its hard to see the best in bad situations, but if you are given another chance you should take it and see the good in the situation.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Poetry Attack
Poem One
Child Development
As sure as prehistoric fish grew leg
and sauntered off the beaches into forests
working up some irregular verbs for their
first conversation, so three-year-old children
enter the phase of name-calling.
Every day a new one arrives and is added
to the repertoire. You Dumb Goopyhead,
You Big Sewerface, You Poop-on-the-Floor
(a kind of Navaho ring to that one)
they yell from knee level, their little mugs
flushed with challenge.
Nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out
in a pub, but then the toddlers are not trying
to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.
They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.
The mature save their hothead invective
for things: an errant hammer, tire chains,
or receding trains missed by seconds,
though they know in their adult hearts,
even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed
for his appalling behavior,
that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids,
their wives are Dopey Dopeheads
and that they themselves are Mr. Sillypants.
Billy Collins
Personal Response:
I really liked this poem by Billy Collins because I can remember when I was a little kid and made up names for other kids or adults. Collins writing about name calling of little children helps many people to relate to the poem because everyone was a little kid once and remembers when they used to name call. I also liked that at the end of the poem, Collins shows that even adults feel the same way about name calling sometimes as the little kids do. Collins refers to a boss as "Big Fatty Stupid" to show that even as we grow up we all still have some childish ways about us.
Poem Two
Flames
Smokey the Bear heads
into the autumn woods
with a red can of gasoline
and a box of wooden matches.
His ranger's hat is cocked
at a disturbing angle.
His brown fur gleams
under the high sun
as his paws, the size
of catcher's mitts,
crackle into the distance.
He is sick of dispensing
warnings to the careless,
the half-wit camper,
the dumbbell hiker.
He is going to show them
how a professional does it.
Billy Collins
Personal Reflection:
I chose this picture of Smokey the Bear because in Collins' poem he makes a funny reference to Smokey being fed up with telling people to stop forest fires, so he sets a fire to one himself. If you had not read this poem and looked at the picture, it might seem like just the normal Smokey the Bear. After I read the poem and looked at this picture I found Collins' poem very humorus that he used a kid's cartoon character in one of his poems as a forest-fire-starting bear.
Poem Three
Walking Across the Atlantic
I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach
before stepping onto the first wave.
Soon I am walking across the Atlantic
thinking about Spain,checking for whales, waterspouts.
I feel the water holding up my shifting weight.
Tonight I will sleep on its rocking surface.
But for now I try to imagine what
this must look like to the fish below,
the bottoms of my feet appearing, disappearing.
Billy Collins
Personal Reflection:
This poem by Billy Collins is much different style wise than the first two. The first two had more humor behind his tone and style while this one is a deeper, dream like poem. He desribes himself walking across the Atlantic Ocean and describes details such as, " I feel the water holding up my shifting weight." This is a powerful poem by Collins, that describes a situation in which he feels very strong and as if he can do anything. His tone is very confident, adventurous, and daring.
Child Development
As sure as prehistoric fish grew leg
and sauntered off the beaches into forests
working up some irregular verbs for their
first conversation, so three-year-old children
enter the phase of name-calling.
Every day a new one arrives and is added
to the repertoire. You Dumb Goopyhead,
You Big Sewerface, You Poop-on-the-Floor
(a kind of Navaho ring to that one)
they yell from knee level, their little mugs
flushed with challenge.
Nothing Samuel Johnson would bother tossing out
in a pub, but then the toddlers are not trying
to devastate some fatuous Enlightenment hack.
They are just tormenting their fellow squirts
or going after the attention of the giants
way up there with their cocktails and bad breath
talking baritone nonsense to other giants,
waiting to call them names after thanking
them for the lovely party and hearing the door close.
The mature save their hothead invective
for things: an errant hammer, tire chains,
or receding trains missed by seconds,
though they know in their adult hearts,
even as they threaten to banish Timmy to bed
for his appalling behavior,
that their bosses are Big Fatty Stupids,
their wives are Dopey Dopeheads
and that they themselves are Mr. Sillypants.
Billy Collins
Personal Response:
I really liked this poem by Billy Collins because I can remember when I was a little kid and made up names for other kids or adults. Collins writing about name calling of little children helps many people to relate to the poem because everyone was a little kid once and remembers when they used to name call. I also liked that at the end of the poem, Collins shows that even adults feel the same way about name calling sometimes as the little kids do. Collins refers to a boss as "Big Fatty Stupid" to show that even as we grow up we all still have some childish ways about us.
Poem Two
Flames
Smokey the Bear heads
into the autumn woods
with a red can of gasoline
and a box of wooden matches.
His ranger's hat is cocked
at a disturbing angle.
His brown fur gleams
under the high sun
as his paws, the size
of catcher's mitts,
crackle into the distance.
He is sick of dispensing
warnings to the careless,
the half-wit camper,
the dumbbell hiker.
He is going to show them
how a professional does it.
Billy Collins
Personal Reflection:I chose this picture of Smokey the Bear because in Collins' poem he makes a funny reference to Smokey being fed up with telling people to stop forest fires, so he sets a fire to one himself. If you had not read this poem and looked at the picture, it might seem like just the normal Smokey the Bear. After I read the poem and looked at this picture I found Collins' poem very humorus that he used a kid's cartoon character in one of his poems as a forest-fire-starting bear.
Poem Three
Walking Across the Atlantic
I wait for the holiday crowd to clear the beach
before stepping onto the first wave.
Soon I am walking across the Atlantic
thinking about Spain,checking for whales, waterspouts.
I feel the water holding up my shifting weight.
Tonight I will sleep on its rocking surface.
But for now I try to imagine what
this must look like to the fish below,
the bottoms of my feet appearing, disappearing.
Billy Collins
Personal Reflection:
This poem by Billy Collins is much different style wise than the first two. The first two had more humor behind his tone and style while this one is a deeper, dream like poem. He desribes himself walking across the Atlantic Ocean and describes details such as, " I feel the water holding up my shifting weight." This is a powerful poem by Collins, that describes a situation in which he feels very strong and as if he can do anything. His tone is very confident, adventurous, and daring.
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