The Book- Miller Williams

          My first reaction to this poem, besides it being completely creepy, was that the book could possibly be about the bible. The skin binding representing Jesus and the self sacrifice he made that brought all of the stories in the Bible together. As the owner of this book read on and went through life, he realized the depth and enormity of what it was about. After reading it a couple more times, I changed my mind.
           My second reaction was that a young man found a book and carried it with him through life. As he went through more experiences, he documented them into this blank book. It became fuller and fuller as the real world corrupted him throughout time. When the book keeper told him that this book was bound in human skin, it forced the man to take a step back and think about it's contents and his life. He realizes that he has been selfish in the way he has been living and looked out for himself, and sacrificed others for hims own happiness. It's a reflection on humanity and the desire to get ahead at any cost.
        Both of these views still being demented, and again, extremely creepy, I like that this poem can be taken in lots of different ways. I'm sure when we discuss it in class everyone will have their own ideas, which are interesting to hear.

Untitled- Stephen Crane

      Although this poem uses simple language and is extremely short, it has probably made the most vivid picture in my head out of all the other poems we have read so far. It's a pretty gruesome and depressing image, but still a huge impact is made. I feel this poem is saying how man easily destroys himself and yet while it's disturbing and he knows it's wrong, still somehow finds joy in that self pity and does nothing about it. We complain about things in our lives on a daily basis, yet don't fix something that is so easily fixable. I like that this poem leaves just enough room for the reader to make their own interpretation, yet is long enough to create a image vivid enough to want to look deeper to make that interpretation. The title also leaves another question of what this poem is really about. The title is what sums up the poem and brings it all together, without that piece the reader has to do that for themselves. I could've taken this a completely different way then another reader given the exact same poem. Stephen Crane is an amazing writer for being able to do all this in such a limited amount of words, I really liked this poem because of that.

It was a dream- Lucille Clifton

       Lucille Clifton was an African American writer who was known for writing about fighting through feminism and racism. She believed in fighting for what you believed in and holding yourself to a high standard and not failing. She creates a large message out of little words, she doesn't use correct punctuation or structure, which adds to the matter-of-fact way that she writes. She leaves a lasting impression on the reader.
      In this poem she talks about a dream she had where she was criticizing herself on the life she had led and how she could be doing better. It reminded me of the Christmas story where the ghosts come back to tell Scrooge what he had done wrong in his past and how it will affect him in the future. She uses figurative language to describe how she looked like "with her extra finger whirling in a gyre of rage" and "sparked her wild eyes." It was one of those self realization moments where she was looking back on her life and realized she hadn't really done anything significant or important and wantd to change but didn't know if it was too late or not.
         I liked this poem because I feel like we all have these thoughts and need to think about what we can do that's actually important before it becomes too late.

Personal Helicon- Seamus Heaney

In Greek mythology Helicon was a river that ran across the land until Orpheus, a hero back in that time, was killed and the women who did it went to the river to wash off the bloodstains. Now it's said that this river runs under the Earth so it can't assist in the killing of men. This relates to the well in Heaney's poem because no reflection from above ground can be seen at the bottom, and it refers to Greek mythology by saying that it's beneath Narcissus. Also as a child he is so facinated my wells which seem to have no end and go underground like the Helicon river.
     At first it seemed that this poem was just strictly descriptive about a young boy who was intrigued by wells and reflecting back on it as an adult. As an adult he's grown out of this juvenile obsession and now focuses his efforts on writing. He makes a connection when he was a child he would yell into the wells to hear his own echos and have "a clean new music" in his voice. Now as he's matured he looks at himself by his writing, and that writing is the echo back that is a self reflection of who he is. Both ways allow him to look at himself as a second party. Now, hes just realized a more mature way of doing it.
      He picked such a dark way of seeing himself, instead of looking into a clear pond or shouting in the mountains to see the reflections and echos of himself. I thought that was definitely interesting. I liked this poem and the hidden meaning that you had to work at to figure it out.
 
 

Ethics- Linda Pastan

        The first thing I noticed about this poem, obviously, was the unique style. Most of the other poems we've read in class have had some sort of structure, even if its odd or different, but this poem was just like a conversation or a paragraph. I really liked this style, but it also made it difficult to realize where the emphasis was or where the main idea was. It also made it less formal and intimidating as other poems, it felt like the author was just telling a story about her life in an everyday conversation. It was refreshing.
       As for the meaning behind it, I like that as well. She talks about in this past how she was asked a question from her teacher about which she would save out of a burning museum: an old women or a Rembrandt painting. Since she hadn't experienced or been passionate about either of these things, she just randomly picked one and went with it. Then at the end shes standing, as an old woman, in a museum seeing the painting for herself and realized that such a decision shouldn't be placed on such a naive person. She says children, which i don't agree with that part. Maybe it's because I'm young right now, but I think she devalues children and their opinions, which can just be as important as an old woman's. Besides that, I did like the message that a person has to experience or have knowledge about something before making such a big decision.

Toads- Philip Larkin

      This poem is about envying other people who live carefree and don't worry about money or jobs or responsibilities. The toad represents this work, that most people base their lives around to pay bills and support their family. Larkin views himself as the type where this "toad" controls his life and stops him from living how he would prefer to. In the end he says, "I don't say, one bodies the other, one's spiritual truth; but I do say it's hard to lose either, when you have both." This is the conflict that he desires to live his life day to day, yet also can't get the future and preparing for it out of his mind. This can be found in most people, and like he says, it's hard to choose just one, when you have the desire for both. They are both so contradictory that it is also hard to balance them out and live both ways. I really enjoyed this poem because it's relatable and uses descriptive and symbolic words that definitely made me think.

Poem :)

After the orange faces become wilted and droopy
And the leaves are covered in snow

We stuff our faces until we lay on the couch full and  a little loopy
Giving thanks and gratefulness to those we know

But why just this one day a year you ask?
Good point, more often then once seems like a simple task.

So give thanks to those around you on a regular basis,
Enjoy and appreciate those familiar faces!