So Mexican's are Taking Jobs from Americans

I really thought that this poem was terrible, It starts off talking about how Mexicans are taking jobs away from Americans, and then it goes into small farmers selling out to "clean -suited farmers living in New York" (line 26&27) who are shooting "blacks and browns whose ribs I see jutting out and small children" (lines 21-23). I think that the author should have stuck with a topic that actually pertains to multiple jobs and not just farming. The author is almost making it seem like all that Mexicans do is farm, and that's where the American people think they are taking our jobs from us. There should have been a better example than just farming, cause the view of the author is hard to see from the text that was used.

Dig Dig Dig!

This poem to me is kind of like falling out of the tradition of the family, which in this case, is where the men in the family dig for potatoes. The boy isn't as good with a spade, but correlates the spade with his pen and writing abilities. I can related to this because the men in my family are all electrical engineers and have went on to get their masters/ph.d in different fields of it. I however am the youngest and am going in a different direction, I am a nurse, and plan to get my masters in anesthesia. Either way, I can make a connection by saying that no matter what the tradition is, or what the task is, we all have our own areas of expertise and went/or are striving to be masters at our own trade.

Jump Cabling

The post below was from the poem "Jump Cabling"

I felt as if this poem describes nothing but a sexual encounter. This was very interesting on how it was made to relate to jumping a car... The correlation between the two topics, sex and jumping a car is amazing. The author is describing how when the jumper cables are connected between the two cars, there is an energizing connection, then it can get a little more intimately detailed by describing the opening up the hood and taking an intimate look at the "workings" (line 3) underneath. It's like the author is describing that after the two people have a connection and take their relationship to the next step, they explore each others bodies after the "hood" (line 2) or the clothes are gone... Then it seems like the author is goes into how during the connection everything is exciting and "energizing"... After all of the events occur, the two people would decide to stay together because of the strong intimate connection. I also thought about this in another way, thinking that what if the jump cabling would have been frayed, or faulty? The connection wouldn't be as strong and energized, not allowing the start of anything, whether it be a car or a relationship. If that was the case, wouldn't the title just be called "A one night stand"?

Wheel Love

When I read the poem "Jump Cabling" by Linda Pastan, I imagined the beginning of a love affair, only it is the love affair between cars and not humans. "When our cars touched" (line 1). The words in the poem reminded me of the old Disney production of the movie "The Love Bug". The car in the movie was "Herbie" and he talked as if he were alive and human. "To see the intimate works underneath" (3) is almost like when a person is trying to understand one's heart inside a human body, well, the Princess is letting another car check out what's inside making her tick. In another words, the cars have a mind of their own just like we do, and they make a connection.

Ozymandias - Poetry Blog 5

I was really interested in the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley. A few years ago I took a college class from Northwestern College in Saint Paul, MN called "Old Testament Archaeology" which was really interesting. Some of the things I learned I recalled as I read this poem, which really made it more interesting and understandable, and also made it come alive more. Ozymandias is the Greek name for Ramses II, who was a pharaoh in Egypt in the thirteenth century BC. The belief of living forever was common to ancient Egyptians, who believed that after they died, they would go to live in a new world, thus, living forever. The pharaohs were believed to be divine gods. The interesing thing is that Ranses II has been indentified with the Biblical Moses - the arrogant pharaoh who battled against the Israelite God and lost. In the story of the Israelites Exodus from Egypt, Moses went before Ramses II numerous times and asked for the Pharaoh to let the Israllites go into the wilderness to worship their God (later it was to let them go period). Each time the Pharaoh said no, he and his people were struck by a plague from the God of Moses. Through the story, you can see the arrogance of the Pharaoh as he parries with this unseen God. Finally, he was 'broken' by the death of his firstborn son, and let the Israelites go - only to quickly change his mind and send his army after them, which brings us to the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and the Egyptian army lost in the sea. In the poem, I really could see how arrogant Ramses II was - just look at the head of the statue, "And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command." (line 5) The irony is that this magnificent statue has such arrogant and boastful words engraved on it, "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" (11) The "ye Mighty" words are mocking words. But the statue lies in shattered disrepair, "...Two vast and trunkless legs of stone/stand in the desert. Near them on the sand/half sunk, a shattered visage lies..." (2,3,4) This statue (and the one the statue represented - Ramses II) vainly thought he was all-powerful and could live forever. He mistakenly found out that nothing can stand untouched by time, as the broken pieces of his statue on the desert floor show us.

We Real Cool

In the poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks displays irony in the title. The informal dictation displayed in the poem is almost funny. Each like is shortened but makes a point. When I read this poem, it feels like something you would hear your parents telling you of what not to do. I can hear my parents telling me to go to college and study hard in school. This poem is a reflection of what could happen if you don't. It is a brief but to the point. School, stay away from drugs, be responsible and live long. "We/ Strike straight" (line 3-4) saying that they don't walk the straight line. Everyone knows people like that. People who had fun through the years and now regret it. "We/Die soon." (line 7-8) Unfortunately I know a handful of people since I went to high school that made some poor choices and did in fact, die too soon.

Barbie Doll

The poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy got my attention. This poem is sad because the Barbie Doll is made for little girls to play with. At such an early age they get the wrong impression of what they look like and what they should look like. Little girls play and without knowing it, are setting images in their minds of what they will look like one day. Little do they know that when they go through puberty, and when they are the most aware of their looks, their bodies are changing and most do not look like the Barbie they had imagined themselves to be. "Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/ You have a great big nose and fat legs." (line 6-7) I have a 12 year old daughter and this is the kind of thing she is going through. At this age, everyone wants to look like their friends. How sad to not be able to overcome the issues of being different. In the poem, the speaker describes the girl who couldn't take it anymore and committed suicide. "So she cut off her nose and her legs/ and offered them up." (line 17-18) Today there are so many TV shows that offer to young girls a body image that to most, is unattainable. I hope I can instill enough self confidence in my child to get through these tough years of middle school.

Stop all the Clocks, Cut of the Telephone

Clearly this piece was about grief of a loved one or more specifically a partner. I had several waves of reaction to three line, “He was my North, my South, my East and West , My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;, (lines 9-11).” First I thought how beautiful this description of love is but soon after I asked myself if any one person should meet that description for another. I then felt sad for the narrator, to place so much in one person. Not long after I had my third reaction. This poem tells of a new grief, one that is not rational. When we begin the grieving process everything seems larger then it is. In the beginning of such a large loss we can’t imagine life without our loved ones but as each day goes by we find our strength. So after my rollercoaster of emotions, I think this poem describes the beginning phase of grief perfectly.

“The Man He Killed” – Poetry Journal 2

When I began reading the poem “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Hardy, I got the impression that the poem was a man’s memory of a bar fight. “Had he and I but met/ By some old ancient inn” (lines 1-2). It seemed that the two had just met and one killed the other. However, as I read on it seemed that the two men were enemy’s that had just met. “I shot him dead/ because he was my foe” (lines 9-10). This brought me to the conclusion that this was the story of a soldier. As the poem went on, the soldier described how he felt about his experience. “He thought he’d list. Perhaps,/ off-hand-like – just as I” (lines 13-14). This seems to suggest that the soldier was questioning the decision he made to kill the other man. I also found this part of the poem difficult to understand. It seemed that Hardy was trying to show the soldier’s difficulty accepting his actions through his impaired speech. One example would be when the soldier was not able to complete a smooth sentence in lines 13 and 14 as shown above. Hardy continues, “Yes; quaint and curious war is!/ You shoot a fellow down/ You’d treat if met where any bar is,/ Or help to half-a crown” (lines 17-20). It seemed that in the last four lines, the soldier was trying to tell himself that it was just an act of war; almost like he was trying to comfort himself.

Barbie Doll

I think this piece is really before its time. This made me think first of my own history with the Barbie Doll. As a child I had thirty plus Barbies with all their accessories and as I grew older I packed them all up in a box in hopes that one day my daughter would one day play with them. I now laugh when I think of those Barbies. They still are in that box even though I now have a daughter of my own. I have no desire to have my daughter play with Barbies. As this piece describes they represent a superficial and unrealistic view of a women today. For they praise only an outer beauty at standards most of us will never meet. My mother was always a strong feminist. I remember being told many times as a child that if a Barbie with its current measurements lived in real life its boobs would be too large for its frame leaving the women unable to stand. Funny how I was taught this but yet was provided with so many Barbies. I guess as most social change occurs it will occur in stages. Maybe my daughter won’t one day be told, “You have a great big nose and fat legs, (line 6)” when she reaches puberty, leaving her with a stronger self-esteem then I was.

Fire and Ice

I really enjoyed this poem. I loved the use of rhythm and rhyme. It is a very dark, pessimistic piece. I am not sure if I have ever thought of how the world would end but I have to agree that fire is the most likely. This was my first reaction to the piece but then I started to look for a deeper meaning. One word hate from the line, “I think I know enough of hate, (line 6)” stuck out to me. I began to think of this whole poem as if it was speaking of the destruction of hate. To me the message that comes across was that no matter the form in which hate is shown, destruction always follows. I wonder if this is true. Does hate always lead to destruction? I agree with Robert Frost that hate will always lead us to our demise through fire or ice.

"Barbie Doll"

I believe the poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy is about the female image and how much pressure girls are under to be perfect. "The in the magic of puberty, a classmate said:/ You have a great big nose and fat legs"(lines 5-6). Even just one comment can burn that image into a persons mind and make them feel imperfect and that they have to change themselves, "So she cut off her nose and her legs/ and offered them up"(17-18). I thought this meant she had plastic surgery done to make her perfect in the eyes of others and that she had died. But when reading further on it said the undertaker had to put a putty nose on her face, so she must have actually cut herself. "Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said./Consummation at last./ To every woman a happy ending"(23-25). The whole time people thought she was pretty, but that one comment made by a classmate made her self-conscious and she tried to fix her imperfections but in the end she kills herself. So many girls feel self-conscious about themselves and it is impossible to live up to the barbie doll standard and the pressures sometimes put people over the edge.

"We Real Cool"

"We Real Cool" by Gwendolyn Brooks is about rebels and how rebelling can lead to death. "We real cool. We/ Left school"(lines 1-2). today many kids think skipping school, drinking, and getting into trouble makes them cool. "Lurk late"(3). kids sneek out at night just to hang out with friends, drink and get into trouble and again they think these things make them cool. But what most kids don't think of or realize is that these behaviors could lead them to their deaths "We/ Die soon"(7-8). This poem was written in 1959 and is still relevant today. Kids think that rebellious behaviors are cool and that others will like them more but in reality these behaviors kill many kids every day.

"The Man He Killed"

In the poem "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy, I got the feeling the speaker didn't really want to kill the man but had to so he himself would not be killed. "I shot him dead because--/ because he was my foe"(lines 9-10). Also, he states "Had he and I but met/ by some old ancient inn,/ we should have sat us down to wet/ right many a nipperkin!"(1-4). I think the speaker is trying to say that if they were to have met under different circumstances they probably would have talked and been friends even and have a drink or two together, but this was war and they had to do what they had to do. This poem was quite interesting to read and learn that some had to kill just to survive and to fulfill their duties, not because they wanted to but because they had to.

"Fire and Ice"

I liked this poem "Fire and Ice" by Robert Frost, for the fact that it was simple and the tone was easier to understand. I believe this poem showed the feelings of indifference and hatred towards the world. The speaker didn't care which way the world ended. I believe that the speaker chose fire as his first choice because of the lines "From what I've tasted of desire I told with those who favor fire" (lines3-4). You can attach the word "desire" with "fire" such as burning (fire), intense, or consuming desire. The speaker's desire is being consumed with hate. I also feel that the speaker gives off almost a numb feeling and indifferent attitude. "Is also great And would suffice" (lines 8-9) this show that the speaker really doesn't care which way the world ends as long as it ends. The speaker says "I think I know enough hate" (line 6), perhaps the speaker is depressed or has numerous bad experiences throughout his life. I believe the speaker might be at a constant struggle as well, perhaps and inner and outer, like fire and ice which are opposites.

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone

The poem "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone" by W. H. Auden, got me to think. When someone close to you dies, it is natural to mourn their loss. Some people are able to move past it quickly while others feel as if the world has ended. At first I felt that the speaker was describing a famous person's death. "Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead/ Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead" (Lines 5-6). This action would be fitting if a public figure such as the president had died. While I continued to read, "My non, my midnight, my talk, my song/ I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong" (Lines 11-12), I realized that it was the speaker's love that had died. I felt that the speaker was being a bit over dramatic, but that is understandable when you lose the love of your life. While the speaker may think that the clocks have stopped ticking and life can not move forward, they must remember that life can not just stop. "For nothing now can ever come to any good" (Line 16), is simply not true and it is not what her love would want for her.

"Porphyria's Lover"

When reading "Porphyrai's Lover" by Robert Browning, I thought it was going to be about a man and a woman engaging in an intimate moment and that was it. But as I got further into the poem I could tell it was actually about a man who kills his lover. "Too weak, for all her heart's endeavour,/ To set its struggling passion free/ from pride, and vainer ties dissever,/ And give herself to me for ever"(lines 21-24). I feel that these lines were the turning point in the poem, he knew she loved him and wanted to be with him and he did not want to lose her so he killed her so she will be with him forever. He said "That moment she was mine, mine, fair,/ perfectly pure and good: I found/ A thing to do , and all her hair/ In one long yellow string I wound/ Three times her little throat around,/ And strangled her. No pain felt she;"(36-41). He strangled her with her own hair and seemed not have no emotions about killing her, no remorse. He almost seemed to try and validate why it had to be done, so she couldn't leave him and had to be with him for ever. It's a very dark poem but definately an attention grabber, it kept my attention.

Barbie Doll

In the poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, I feel like everyone can relate to the pressures presented in this story. Barbie is a lie; no women could look like her, but that does not stop them from trying. The girl in the poem played with dolls and admired them like all little girls. When the time came for her to stop playing with dolls, she realized that she did not look like them. Even though, "She was healthy, tested intelligent" (Line 7), "Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs" (Line 11). Even though she had many great qualities, society could not see past the physical "flaws" they labeled on her. I found it sad that she was so unhappy with her self that she felt that she needed to change her flaws, "So she cut off her nose and her legs" (Line 17). This action lead to her death, "In the casket displayed on satin she lay" (Line 19). In the end all she wanted was to be accepted, "Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said" (Line 23). So in once sense, there was a happy ending.

"Barbie Doll"

I believe that in this poem "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy, describes how some women will change their appearance just to please others. I feel that in the beginning, she had a happy childhood and she was like any typical young girl that played with Barbies which have unrealistic proportions if you compared it to a human being. Society views that beauty resembles the look of a "Barbie Doll" and this is what is instilled in children at such a young age; children are given misguided conceptions of beauty. When she hit puberty, she was teased for her appearance, thus the girl didn't feel beautiful. She was also described as being healthy and intelligent by the speaker. The girl had inner beauty and should have been happy but yet she wasn't because others didn't see her for who she really was. On television you see women all the time getting plastic surgery to try to change their appearance to find happiness, but are they really doing it for themselves and afterward are they ever really truly happy? The girl tried to please everyone else so much that eventually she gave up. The line "So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up" (lines 17-18) does this mean that she did have plastic surgery to change her appearance? The next few lines it says "In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose" (lines 19-21) So did she end up killing herself because she could never find happiness, and it was her only way to find peace? I couldn't believe the end when everyone said that she looked pretty when she was dead. The girl waited her entire life to be told that she was beautiful and was never able to hear it, they waited until after it was too late and she was dead. She had a fake nose and because she was dead her inner beauty was gone. Its unfortunate that some people view beauty in this manner. She was beautiful all along and didn't know it. It kind of made me feel sick at the end and really empathetic for her.