"Classroom Dream"-New Poetry: Wk 7; M, 9/30

Eyes fluttering shut, her mind pictures the constant drilling of Ms.Wordsworth 

spitting rhymes at a classroom of gaping mouths, ceasing to capture the buzzing of flies.

A tall glass of virgin Margarita sits to her left. Red hair, bright pink lips-

The sweet juice of ripe, succulent strawberries ready to be sucked. His father’s cologne trails

past her as he rescues wood falling from fingertips. Laser beams pierce his superman

tee. He notices. Turning to her- a cordial grin, a simple nod. Then, back to square one.

A sigh circles her head, breathing over her fantasy. Ms. Wordsworth comes to view

thumping the whiteboard “Ms. Greene answer one.” Heart beating, her lip trembles.

What was the question? Eyes and ears waiting on an answer scared to come.
“Uh, yes ma’am. The theme is to focus on reality.” Stiff, hairsprayed hair graces gray, leathered skin.

Red crusted lips turn up and say “ok.” Sweaty palms rub against tight denim like

sponges scrubbing dishes on a Sunday night. Glancing to her left, She catches a smile

red like love. Eyes fluttering open, white light blinds her view. A blinking cursor winks at her

as she gains reality. The title begins with only a dream.

Poem Response: Wk 7; M, 9/30

When did I come to understand the meaning of iambic pentameter? I do not think it has ever truly clicked in my head. I've written countless poems yet my mind still swivels at the mere word. I tend to forget the definition, searching it on Google for instant relief. It seems to always pass by me as an eminent fog. My guess is that I can never remember because it was never emphasized in my youth..or that may just be an excuse for my forgetfulness. I can say that I've found the key to somewhat remembering though...and it's reading and analyzing poems with iambic pentameter. Specifically, "The Lull" from "Meter, Rhyme, and Form" comes to mind. I sat down reading this poem about a dead opossum. I felt like I was in a trance watching these dressed-up adults "traipsing" down railroad tracks, watching this dead creature on the side. I loved the imagery but what was most notable was the sound. It all seemed to fit conveniently.  Not every line sticks super close to iambic pentameter, but overall it does and that's what makes it wonderful to read. Poems like "The Lull" help me understand concepts in a more relatable fashion.

Response to Concept: Wk 7; M, 9/30

 Reflecting on my younger school days, images of rhyme-filled poems come to mind. I remember reading nursery rhymes and poems that included end rhyme. I remember learning about ABAB-the constant pattern being drilled into my head. Since I grew up reading these poems, it's unsurprising that I expected most poems to follow a certain rhythm or sound. I didn't realize until my senior year of high school when I took my first creative writing class the diversity of poetry! I learned how much you could do inside a couple of stanzas, and I loved it! It wasn't until this year however that I was able to understand internal rhyme in such complexity. In the chapter "Meter, Rhyme, and Form" the author discusses this concept. They demonstrate how poems can rhyme words within a line rather than at the end of a line. It is something with which most poets can take home with them and use as a sharpened tool to craft any piece.

Response to Concept: Wk 6; M, 9/23

In my writing, I have always felt a difficulty in finding my voice. Everything always felt choppy and like a conglomerate of other voices: bits and pieces of authors shelved on my bookcases popped out awkwardly in my writing. A piece of advice that truly helped me find my voice was from Stephen King in his novel "On Writing". He states that we can find our writing by reading a variety of novels and by copying some of our favorite passages. We could start by copying passage and analyzing the tone, sentence structure, diction, and syntax. I tried following his advice and it proved helpful. A similar piece of advice is provided in "Voice and Style." The authors tell us to find our persona by reading more poems and by copying different techniques. This chapter gave me a similar relief as "On Writing" because it provided different ways that I could shape my voice in poems.

Poem Response "Skinhead": Wk 6- M, 9/23

Out of all of the poems, I've read thus far, this one definitely contradicts the expected. While reading this, I imagined a white supremacist angrily writing lines of fury. A man with such anger that he felt compelled to expel it onto thin sheets of white paper. Of course, there are some things which would go against this thought process. Foremost, the speaker would have to be uneducated and unable to write something so cohesive. I could hear the tone of an angry, racist man and I felt almost scared with lines like "I get hard listening to their skin burst" making my eyes widen from the image of blood splashing at the hands of a white supremacist. Immediately after reading this poem, I turned to my boyfriend (Alan) and asked him to read everything from start to end. He had a similar reaction, specifically pointing out the same line that stood out to me. I was amazed by how appalled I felt... all at the power of a black woman. It is amazing to see how we can change our persona while writing poems and create something which is utterly not ourselves. I was able to see this change in persona also most clearly in the poem "Cuba, 1962" written by Ai. The poet is a black, Asian woman who writes as a Cuban man. Some people may say that poems only reflect what the poet has experienced, but as can be seen, that does not always have to be necessarily true.

"Aquamarine": Wk 6; M, 9/23

Swimming through aquamarine

is like sucking 

refreshing gulps

of coolness that drifts

and glides, forming

chill bump mountains.

It is rain 

between fingertips

washing away

the grime 

beneath nails.

It is relief

condensed on dry

 tongues. The sweet, 

innocent taste of

mineral purity.

It cools the red veins

popping out of my 

eye sockets, pushes

me into a sea where

I'm swimming through aquamarine.

"La Migra"- New Poem: Wk 6; M, 9/16

Sweat like icicles
pierce cracked skin.
Tender from the scorching
star in space. A ball as big
as the knot growing

in your throat when you see-
men handing signature-filled
booklets saying: passport.
Madre always warned-

do not look back Ignacio
or else doomed to be
a pillar of salt. The very
thought reminds his

tongue to touch
crust like dried ocean
on his upper lip.

"Apurale hombre"
"La migra, Ignacio"
Madre always did say
men must run

when stupidity traps
rationality in a
lucha for survival.
Donde esta el coyote?

Trained on dens
hiding the unfree.
Where are these
brown rubble inns

filled with hope?
"Apurale, Ignacio"
Lights as bright
as a hooker blast through

men like dregs of coke
splattered on rocks.
Hands course as
a madre's eyes tear

at brown skin.
"Apurale, Ignacio
que ya llega la migra"

Response to Concept: Wk 6; M, 9/16

While we all gravitate towards familiar phrases, it is important to reach for the new. String together the familiar with the unfamiliar and create something oddly refreshing. One of the exercises in my intro creative writing class peaked my curiosity. We were to use a familiar phrase such as "raining cats and dogs" and switch out a few words. The intention is almost the same, but the execution is grandly altered. I read to the class my classic twist: raining men and hookers. I thought it was clever at seventeen. Although, I can't say much else at eighteen. I still laugh at it while simultaneously feeling embarrassment cloud my memory. Now, I took some something familiar like "men" and "hookers: and put it into a familiar phrase. Yet, the result was something new. The same can be said with similes and metaphors. You can use a familiar phrase, but replace the words. Or, you can add more to the phrase for a personal vendetta. Ah, yes, I will ruin you with my own personal touch you filthy, cliches! "Simile and Metaphor" expands on this piece of advice. It is important to use all sorts of interesting similes and metaphors in your writing to make it interesting! Or else, the writing would be taken more literally. At the root of it, do we want our writing to be taken absolute literally? Of course not. So, include similes and metaphors and idioms and other figurative language. Copy the old and paste something new.

Poem Response: Wk 6; M, 9/16

"Feared Drowned" has a lyricist novelty to it. To start off, both words end with "ed" and contain two syllables; easily flowing off the tongue. Images depicted simply with something relatable. Fear? We have all felt it. Drowning? We have seen some form of it. Connecting both words, connects both meanings. A different yet similar reaction in many. While reading the poem, the title proves its place at the top. The similes as mentioned in "Simile and Metaphor" make the imagery all the more clear, using relatable items in starkly, new comparisons. "Your suit black as seaweed" is fresh and rewarding. We are met with new phrases, sharing a catchy tune as familiar as "black like your soul". What also stood out was the urgency. The tone of it scuttling, shown by the rush of description coming from someone trying to identify"Too short, too heavy, clean-shaven." The enjambment in the fourth stanza is a nice, personal touch. The reader feels like they are truly near the edge. The first time reading this poem, I could'nt quite process what was happening, but the last two lines answer any questions.

Response to concept: Wk 5; M, 9/9

We are reminded in "Images" that "poets need to keep all five senses...on continual alert, ready to...reinvent it in language." Rather than focusing on one sense-usually sight- we should incorporate all senses into our poems. One way that we can do this as mentioned in the chapter, is by keeping a journal and jotting down sensations that stood out. It envelops us into a rich world where we are more aware of the particular details in our surroundings. We can include those notable sensations into our poetry and create something lively that also envelops the reader. An image in our minds can come to life and dance around to the soft sensations of description. A bronze saxophone can cut fingers from permeated rust and tinge the air with dust. Orange can travel from sweet cases of juice, from sweaty hands carrying brown lunch bags, from children's picture books. We can make these images come to life with simple description of all five senses.

Poem Response: Wk 5; M, 9/9

While reading the chapter "Images" in The Poet's Companion, I found myself wondering how I could include these rich images so skillyful inscribed in poems into ones of my own. Of course, advice was given at the end of the poem, but I learned best by reading the poems. The one that stood out the most to me was "Oranges". The poem used images of familiar items to evoke nostalgia and comfort. The imagery from the description of bright oranges, deep reds from rouge, bright yellows like the sun made my mind light up. The bright colors created a positive association inside my mind; the poem felt vibrant, energized. This lended a hand to the story being told inside the poem.

"Comfort the Unsteady": New Poem; M, 9/9

Plush arms wrapped around a quivering frame comfort the unsteady. They provide warmth
when the night is too
cold and the days
too frigid.
Tightness from chains strapped around the heart begin to melt. Until, a fortified memory may arise:
one of
taunts
from cruel children.
one of
the deaths of
9/11.
one of
belts slapping
bruised thighs.
one of
beggars begging
on streets.
one of
a globe of people
hurting.
Pitter patter of rain coursing down one's face is a reminder:
although justice may never be served,
although people are starving and dying,
although people are forever being haunted,
plush arms wrapped around a quivering frame can comfort the unsteady.

"Mobile-Home Fantasy"- New Poem: Wk 4; M, 9/2

Raking leaves,
I see the same grizzly man
staring at overgrown trees:
green, covering the view
of millions of mobile homes.
I wonder what he sees:
winding, cracked roads.
Windshield wiper stained
windows attached to
long, grey snakes on every
corner.
Garbage overflowing cans
marked with a city's sigil.
Fast-food wrappers taking flight;
landing on brown grass.

I wonder what he doesn't see:
Dirty laundry over pouring,
leaking against the aisles.
Wet dishes screaming
at yellow, soaked hands.
Carpet cleaner absorbing
last night's stains.
Paradise pinned against
the walls.
Fantasy paintings of
hot, sandy beaches
with seashells traveling
clear waves.

Poem Response "Home" : Wk 4; M, 9/2

While reading poems, some of us become accustomed to the same format: four lined stanzas evenly spaced out until the end. It is the familiar way that poems are written, but poems do not always have to be written this way. In fact, most times, the message of a poem is influenced by the way it is formatted. In Winner's poem "Home", we see wider stanzas with lines that aren't evenly spaced out. Instead, we see two paragraphs, with the first one being larger than the other. It is written almost like a story, and it engages us like a story. It wouldn't have made sense for the poem to be written in the comfort of the familiar four lined stanzas. And, because of the way it is written, it feels like I'm reading an interesting story regarding a man's sad home life in the Bronx. The description in the poem made it all the more engaging with words like "blighted","bleak","damp and dingy","bluffed", and "unremembering". This is a story about a desolate city, and we're made sure that that message hits home.

Response to Concept: Wk 4; M, 9/2

Familiar places influence the way we write. They may shape our format, thoughts, or inspiration. In the chapter, "Poetry of Place", we are shown that these triggers usually come in places most familiar to us; or sometimes normal places with odd things. Hugo often had these triggers when visiting towns. He had the inspiration to write poems about towns that had certain peculiarities that no one could quite answer. These poems were interesting because he answered his own questions; he provided a story and rich history for these "triggering towns". Whenever we sit down to write a poem, we may easily be influenced by our personal settings. And, when we can not find inspiration, we can simply use the places we have visited as content for our poems. I find it interesting that Hugo took something as simple as a tree and turned it into an object of interest in an intricate poem.