Introduction to Poetry

I remember this was the first poem we read in class. I thought it was ironic how the poem talks about not over analyzing a poem and then we over analyzed it. My favorite stanza from the poem was "walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch" because it brought the familiar feeling of that fear of the unknown and the unsteadiness when you're sliding your hand along the cold wall in search for the light switch. This poem is divided into seven stanzas. The second stanza is the one that sticks out the most to me because it is only one line but still part of the same sentence in the first stanza. "or press an ear against its hive." Some writers use shortened sentences to provide emphasis on an idea or phrase. I think in this case, the author, Billy Collins, separated this one lined stanza from the first but kept it the same sentence because it relates to the first stanza but is a different idea. I really love this poem because it makes me laugh because it shows how much we over analyze especially AP students.

The Envious iPhone - Tone Paper

I have wanted an iPhone ever since they have come out. When I was finally eligible for an upgrade, my parents refused to even let look at one because they were to expensive and contained to many unnecessary features. Disappointed, I succumbed to a basic touch screen phone that often freezes and ceases to work. After a few months, my dad was up for a new phone. He had a Black Berry and despised the thing. It was to complex and he said, "All I need a phone to do is text and call people." So, during my dad's visit at the phone store, the representative talked him into getting the one phone I dreamed of having- the iPhone. I was so envious and jealous! He hated cell phones. He just wanted a phone to call and text people, so he bought the most complex phone currently available! The worst part was they wouldn't even let me glance at it, but as soon as the guy mentioned apple to my dad, he was drooling over an iPhone. He has had it for almost two months now and he absolutely loves it, and I hate him loving it.

Poetry Blog

Hey Mrs. White this is my free week for poetry blogs :)

Thank You Pie

Thank You Pie

Stephanie Kerbel
(b. 1993)

I thank you pie,
For giving us such a sweet moment
Of pleasure with every bite that we take.

I thank you pie,
For providing us with so many options
Of fillings, crusts, and toppings.

I thank you pie,
For your sweet flaky crust
Which holds this concoction together
And melts in my mouth
With every scoop of my spoon.

I thank you pie,
For your gooey insides
That make you unique
And embody your pieness.

I thank you pie,
For your diverse toppings
Which give beauty and elegance
To your face.
Thank you pie.

Those Winter Sundays

I liked this poem because you didn't have beat it with a hammer to get its meaning. you only had to barely look under the surface. "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden talks about a child's memories of his or her father. In the fist stanza, Hayden tells about the dad's work and how it damaged his aching hands. "[C]racked hands the ached from the labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze." This line from the passage reminds me of my dad's hands because they are often dry and cracked from his work. The next stanza, Hayden discusses the house and its atmosphere. "I'd wake and hear the coal splintering, breaking. When the rooms were warm, he'd call and slowly I would rise and dress, fearing the chronic angers of that house." This stanza some what confused me, but I was able to sort of relate to it. The line where Hayden says "fearing of the chronic angers of that house" makes me wonder if the parents did not get along, or if they had financial problems so there was tension, or the dad was angry from doing so much work. I was, however, able to relate this part because I have had times where my parents wake me up and I lay in bed and wonder if they are upset or if I am in trouble. The third stanza talks about the child's interactions with his or her father. "Speaking indifferently to him, who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well." This line makes me think that the reader feels guilty for not being more grateful to his or her father because even though the dad did all these favors on top of working hard. The final stanza is more from the readers matured view. "What did I know, what did I know Of love's austere and lonely offices. This final line leads me to believe that the reader once he or she was older and more mature understood that his or her dad in reality did love him or her but may not have shown it through hugs and kisses but through favors and hard work.

A Work of Artifice

"A Work of Artifice" by Marge Piercy talks about the possibilities of a bonsai tree and how its growth was stunted by the gardener. This poem is very easy to relate to no matter who the reader is because almost everyone at some point in their lives have experienced some sort of repression or has learned of the repression of a particular group like women and African Americans. Piercy begins her poem by discussing the possibilities of the tree. "The bonsai tree... could have grown eighty feet tall on the side of the mountain." She then discusses how to tree was restrained from reaching its full potential. "It is nine inches high. Everyday as he whittles back the branches the gardener croons, it is your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak." Finally, Piercy says that to hold back living creatures one must start early. I really related this poem to Janie and Jody in Their Eyes Were Watching God. While Janie is married to Jody, Jody is constantly trying to win Janie's silence and obedience. He does not believe that Janie and all women have anything to say or think. He insults her ideas and dreams and even results to beating her until she finally gives in. Janie loses sight of herself and her dreams for a while. If compared to "A Work of Artifice," Janie is the little bonsai tree imprisoned in the pot, and Jody is the gardener holding her back from her true potential.

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

"The Coming of Wisdom with Time" by William Butler Yeats talks of a person acquiring knowledge throughout their life time. The first line, "Though the leaves are many, the root is one," can be interpreted several different ways. At first I took it as the leaves are many different ideas and the root as the one mind, the one person, who has those thousands of ideas. The second line, "Through all the lying days of my youth," relates to the mind set of a child. All the world is right in their mind and that is the lie. They believe they are right and their opinions are the only ones. Next, Yeats goes on to say, "I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun," which means he flourished in the learning of knowledge and wisdom and understood the world. Finally, he goes one to say "Now I may wither into the truth," which simply means as he grew old, he wallows in the truth and understating that he has learned throughout his lifetime. Then after rereading the first line, I thought maybe the world is the one root and the leaves are the people, and that first line is the wisdom that is acquired over time: that we are not alone in the world and it does not revolve around us.