A Reflection on Poetry

Poetry is

A churning sea

Crashing onto the shore.

Poetry is

A delicate flower

Waving in the wind.

Poetry is

A soaring eagle

Mighty, majestic, beautiful.

Poetry is

A golden wind

Sweeping across the land.

Poetry is

A dance under the midnight moon.

A song as old as time.

Poetry is.

I’ve always enjoyed writing poetry (after all, I did write an “All About Poetry” book in third grade), but this year I think I have really blossomed in poetry. Rhyming poems have never been my strength (I’m decent at limericks and couplets but mediocre at everything else), but I’m actually proud of my nonsense poem “Where I Like to Be”.  I still enjoy writing non-structured poems more than structured ones, but I made huge leaps in my skill.  Surprisingly, my favorite poem of mine is “Loud Talkers”.  I didn’t even know what a bitterness poem was until the day I wrote it! It’s a very different kind of poem that I’ve written before, and I love it. Should I be worried that my bitterness poem is my favorite?

Sometimes, poetry is too flowery for my liking. The occasional metaphor is great (it adds depth and is wonderful for emotional expression), but when everything is a metaphor it gets a little convoluted. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I almost want to say to the author, “You know, it’s great that you have these deep emotions that can only be expressed through confusing poetry, but you REALLY need to lay off the figurative language!”

Something that I love about poetry is that it’s a creative outlet for bottled-up emotions. Instead of hitting a pillow or even just typing angrily, you can write poetry. Because of the figurative language, it tends to be much more expressive than other forms of prose, and because grammar isn’t a top priority is can be more artistic. Overall, I adore writing poetry and hope to improve in later years.

The Survivor (Analysis #3)

The Survivor

By Marilyn Chin

Don’t tap your chopsticks against your bowl.

Don’t throw your teacup against the wall in anger.

Don’t suck on your long black braid and weep.

Don’t tarry around the big red sign that says “danger!”

That you have bloomed this way and not that,

that your skin is yellow, not white, not black,

that you were born not a boy-child but a girl,

that this world will be forever puce-pink are just as well.

Remember, the survivor is not the strongest or most clever;

merely, the survivor is almost always the youngest.

And you shall have to relinquish that title before long.

The first thing that caught my eye in this poem was the title: The Survivor. I was immediately intrigued. Surviving what? At first, the poem seems to be a parent gently reprimanding a child about bad habit (Don’t tap your chopsticks against your bowl…), but as it progresses it reveals more and more of the author’s self and it almost seems like illeism, like she’s talking to herself about herself and her identity as an Asian in America (I believe that “puce-pink” is representing the tainted perfection of the American culture). As I read into the last stanza, it seems like she’s learning to let that go and become her own person without being defined by “girl-child” and “yellow” and “youngest”. As the poem ends, she breaks free of the bonds and relinquishes her old identity and the words that once defined her.

(Stock photo)

If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking (Analysis #2)

 If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking

By Emily Dickinson

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain

This poem surprised me. I read it once, and dismissed it, thinking, “Oh, it’s just another one of her depressing poems.” When I was looking through the book (Poetry Speaks Who I Am) and picking out poems to analyze, I found this poem again. I read it, and immediately scribbled its title down in my outline. How did I MISS this?! I thought. It’s such a simple poem that it’s easy to skim right past it. It’s seven lines long, which is only a bit more than a third of the requirement we have for one poem in English class. How can such a short and simple poem have such deep meaning? It’s because it has such a lovely theme. Just from the title, it’s beautiful. If I Can Stop One Heart from Breaking. Very poetic, no? Another thing that I like about the poem is that the rhymes are so natural that I didn’t even realize it was a rhyming poem until I read it a second time. It’s not a very popular rhyme scheme (A-B-A-B-C-B-B), but it definitely works. This lovely poem touches my heart because Emily Dickinson is basically saying that you find true meaning in life by helping others. So, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything is selflessness, not 42? That works for me.

Image © Gabriella Camerotti 2007

Caroline, by Allison Joseph (Analysis #1)

Caroline

By Allison Joseph

In the eighth grade, we teased that girl

as much as we could, mocking

her clothes, her stringy hair

her flat, pallid face that revealed

little protest. Used to being

the one white girl in our class

of blacks, Hispanics, she endured

our taunts on her lack of rhythm,

on her stiff, flat-butted walk.

How we pitied her—brown hair

parted straight, pulled back

in a dull ponytail, her jeans

or corduroy pants in washed-out

shades of gray or blue,

her homework neatly done

in pained, legible print.

How weak it was to be white,

we thought, not able to dance

or run fast, to have skin

that peeled from too much sun.

We never let Caroline forget

that she was white and we

were black, that we could

swing our hips and snap

our fingers without trying,

privy to street-slang rhythms.

But she was our white girl,

and if anyone else dared

to touch her or call her names

we’d be on them in a second,

calling them ugly right back,

slapping offenders if necessary.

With one of us by her side,

she could walk the school

safely, knowing she was ours

even if we didn’t let her in

all the way, even if we laughed

at her white speech, thin lips.

(Whoa, that was long! For the record, that was not done by copying and pasting)

I really don’t know why I am drawn to this poem. It doesn’t relate to me at all, and it doesn’t particularly resonate with something deep inside my soul. It’s not very emotional, so it doesn’t stir up some sort of profound feeling. I don’t know what it is about it that I love so much, I was just immediately drawn to it. I guess I just like it because it’s a great poem. It’s well written, delightfully constructed, and has an interesting theme that hasn’t been approached very much in modern poetry. I was especially pleasantly surprised when it took the sudden turn to “But she was our white girl…” The first time I read it, I did a double-take. What? They WEREN’T mean to her, but they were? How does that work? Another thing that I like about this poem is its beautiful language. Allison Joseph uses a different type of imagery that’s very satisfying for this poem. Instead of using flowery, formal language that’s typical for imagery, she uses awesome words like “peel” (say that out loud really slowly… peel) and “privy”. It suits the tone of the story, and I feel that the author is being real with the reader. I feel that she’s being herself.

Image © Anders Hald

Where I Like to Be (Poem I Wrote #5)

Where I Like to Be

I like to be

Out on the sea

With sailors

Who tailor my suits by the shore.

I like to stand

Feet in the sand

While they mumble and bumble

Doing my chore.

I like to fly

Up in the sky

With a bird

Who is heard

All over the world

I like to soar

Looking for more

While he tweedles and twiddles

His winged arms curled.

I like to think

Writing in ink

Could bring me away

From this very grey day

I like to wish

That with a swish

Photo © Sarah Ann Loreth 2011

This world could whisk me away.

A Snowy Grave (Poem I Wrote #4)

A Snowy Grave

He came upon

A snowy wood

The light from the dawn

Trickled through the canopy.

It peppered the shadowed land

With sprinkles of gold

Reflecting off the snow.

This is where

He would dig his grave.

He grasped the shovel,

His fingertips pale and numb.

Digging it into

The frosted earth,

A tear trickled down his cheek.

It fell,

Dancing in the still air,

Until it landed

In the divot he dug.

It lay there,

Serene.

He dug again.

The tear was no more.

Midday sun

Shone above the treetops.

He kept digging.

The warm colors of dusk

Poked through the trees.

He threw down the shovel.

It landed with a clang

On a nearby stone.

He pulled a slip of paper

From his dirt-caked pocket,

Clutched it against his heart,

And collapsed into the hole.

Night fell,

And the wood was silent.

A passerby

Saw the shovel

Saw the pile of dirt.

She hurried to the scene

And saw him,

His lifeless form soaked with snow.

She pried the note

From his cold hands.

It’s for you, my darling,

It read.

It’s for you.

Image © jdnpics 2012

I Am From (Poem I Wrote #3)

I am From

I am from the scattered guitar picks

Orange flowers blooming in the lamplight

From the torn papers

Strewn across the tables

I am from the mellifluous plucking of strings

The constant hum of my daily life

I am from singing in the bathroom

From whistling our favorite songs

From the soft crooning of lullabies in the dark.

I am from the cracking paint,

The gutters sprouting with moss.

From the freezing winters,

The conservation of heating oil.

I am from the great pine outside my window

That I used to make shapes in

A hamster

Superman

Arms shackled with thorns

Watch me as I sleep.

I am from rushed Chanukahs

The candlelight dancing in the window

The lights turned down low

I am from the carefully planned Seders

With the Haroset piled gently in its place

The parsley-flicking wars

Flinging salt-water onto my glasses

Shouting, “Blood!” and “Beasts!”

Without a care in the world.

I am from the cold Belarusian winters

The hastily hidden cucumbers

From Shabbat by flickering candlelight

I am from the hurriedly packed belongings

Their carriers rushing to the port

I am from new beginnings

Image © Paula Bailey 2005

On a road paved in gold.

Loud Talkers (Poem I Wrote #2)

Loud Talkers 

Your thunderous voice

Booms across the cafeteria

Creating almost visible waves

Of pure noise

I cringe

And hunch in my seat

“AND THEN I WAS LIKE, NO, DUDE, THANK YOU!”

Squinting my eyes,

I peer through my lashes

You walk towards my table.

I bury my gaze in my lukewarm food.

“HE SAID THAT HE JUST HAD TO GIVE ME THE PART!”

I’m suddenly very interested

In the clumpy rice

Strewn across my tray.

Please don’t come over here,

I beg quietly,

Whispering into my salad.

“HEY, EMMA, WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

I flush red,

Plastering on a smile.

My temples pound

With the sheer volume of your speech.

Go away

I think.

“Nothing much. You?”

I say quietly

In sharp contrast to your loudness.

“I WAS JUST TELLING THE GUYS ABOUT A NEW PART I GOT, WANNA HEAR?!”

I heard it already

When you told them

Across the room

If I was writing your voice

It would be in bold, capital letters

With exclamation marks

Peppering the page

Whenever you speak.

“Sure,”

I sigh,

Resigned.

Image © Kim Chau 2009

Winter's Cruelty (Poem I wrote #1)

Winter’s Cruelty

The cruel wind thrashes at my face

An invisible whip

I am a slave to the cold

Bound by icy shackles

By the frosty, long-fingered hands

Grasping at my ankles

I exhale a cloudy stream

Into the frigid air.

Placing my gloved hands into my pockets

I persist onwards

An unseen weight

Bearing down against my scarred back

I think of the day

When Spring will come

Her mellifluous voice will melt

The callous shrieks of Winter

Her cloak of golden light

Her tears of sweet-smelling rain

Will warm my cold soul

Image © Wayne Shipley 2009

And I will be free.

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Metaphor-A metaphor is a comparison of two things without using like or as. The two things could be related (like bacon and heaven), or they could be totally different (cough drops and shaving cream… I can actually find a metaphor for those two, surprisingly). Example: Her hair was a silky curtain, its soft and shiny folds draped over her shoulders. Extended metaphors are when you write an entire poem (or any piece of prose, really) sticking to one metaphor. For an example (because I really do NOT want to write out an entire poem for the sake of an example), see “Winter’s Cruelty”, which is an extended metaphor.

Simile-A simile is a comparison of two things USING the words like or as. As with the metaphor, they could be similar or totally unrelated. There are two kinds of similes, and they have a certain form. One: (subject 1) is like (subject 2). This kind of simile uses like. If you want to make it interesting, you can add an adjective somewhere in there. Adjectives always make things more awesome. Two: (subject 1) was as (adjective) as (subject 2). In this kind of simile, an adjective is always used. This is even confusing ME a little, so here are some examples to clear things up. Example 1 (using like): The dewdrops are like glitter on the grass. Example 2 (using as): He was as smooth as an oiled hinge. Many sayings we use in everyday language (quiet as a mouse, as easy as pie [it came from “as easy as eating pie, because pie is extremely difficult to make well], eats like a bird, etc.) are similes.

Personification-Personification is when you give an inanimate or non-human object human qualities. Have you ever said, “Aah! My printer hates me!”? That’s personification (actually that’s something called resistentialism, which is the thought that object that have no thoughts are out to get you. It’s a form of personification). Personification is often used in poetry and other forms of prose to give a certain human quality to things, therefore the reader relates to the subject of the poem more emotionally. Example: The tree stood, a tall figure in the clearing. Did you find the personification? It’s the word “stood”. Trees don’t stand! Standing would imply that they had feet, which they do not. If you’ve read The Giving Tree (which everyone in my English class has), you’ve probably noticed that the tree talks. That is personification as used throughout an entire story.

Alliteration-Alliteration is where every word or close to every word starts with the same letter or sound. Many humorous poets (Jack Prelutsky, Shel Silverstein [even his NAME is alliteration!], Piet Hein, Ogden Nash, etc.) use alliteration as a form of wit. If you come across a poem with alliteration, say it out loud, because it’s fun. Example: Totally torn-up telephones are terrible for transmission. It’s actually pretty fun to write.

Rhyme scheme-A rhyme scheme is a pattern of rhymes at the end of lines. The definition sounds much more complicated than it actually is. If you’ve ever read a nonsense poem, a limerick, or a children’s book, then you’ve probably heard a rhyme scheme. A popular rhyme scheme would be A-B-A-B, meaning rhyme A would be the first line, rhyme B would be the second line, so on and so forth. There are also A-A-B-B, A-A-A-B-C-C-C-B, and Shakespeare’s sonnets had A-B-A-B-C-D-C-D-E-F-E-F-G-G. For an example, you can see Where I Like to Be, which has a rhyme scheme of (I think) A-A-B-C-D/E-E-F-D (yeah, it’s weird. Deal with it). A limerick has a rhyme scheme of A-A-B-B-A

Imagery-Imagery is visually descriptive language. If you’ve ever read a book, which I assume everyone has, you’ve read imagery. Imagery is so commonly used that most people don’t even think of it as a form of figurative language, but it is. Agh, I’m really bad at explaining this, so I’ll just give an example. You have the sentence, “He walked down the hall.” It’s not a bad sentence, but it’s not very descriptive either. How did he walk? What does the hall look like? Who is he? Countless questions can be answered (or at least partly answered) with simple imagery. Now, look at this. I’ve taken “He walked down the hall” and turned it into imagery: “He sauntered down the stone corridor, his tarry black shoes clicking loudly on the slick floor.” I just created a character, setting, and mood, all in one sentence. Thanks, imagery!

Pun-A pun is a kind of figurative language, believe it or not. It’s a way of twisting the meaning of something for humorous purposes. I really don’t have that much to say on puns, only that they’re very punny (har har)!! A lot of people claim that puns are childish and silly, but I think they’re awesome. A type of pun that you’ve probably heard of is an oxymoron. Oxymorons are phrases in which the words are opposites, for example, “a true lie” is an oxymoron, along with “jumbo shrimp”, “alone together” and “deafening silence”. Another type of pun would be a play on words, such as “The optometrist made a spectacle of himself”. Yeah, I guess puns are a little childish… but that’s what makes them amazing!

Hyperbole-A hyperbole is an exaggerated claim or a statement that isn’t intended to be taken literally. Have you ever said, "This meal could feed an army"? It probably couldn't feed an entire army, but you say it anyways. That’s an example of a hyperbole. Another, cuter, example of a hyperbole is when (in the popular movie Despicable Me) the little girl looks at a stuffed unicorn and cries, “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!” She’s not actually going to die (that would be tragic, since she's so adorable). It’s a hyperbole.