Sunday, March 29, 2009

Meaninglessness

I pile up heavy words
still not enough to whisper
what I really mean
and what you really mean
to me they have silently
grow into black walls

in the maze of my mind
the one I wait to be sought
and escape
I have long lost the direction
as in your dictionary like
Independent defines Childish
Simple implies Deep

blue sea of your pupils
from which I see myself
struggling to utter bubbles
burst before reaching
your euphe-
mistic ears

* Subject to further changes
* Chan Wing Hong

Thursday, March 26, 2009

"Good Poetry"

After reading the poem “True/False” by Dean Young, I can’t help but feel worried about future literature and the advancing poetry of the modern day. Reading “True/False” was a concrete example that anyone can write anything, and if the publisher likes what you have written then they will publish it in hopes that others will enjoy it just as much as they did. There is no “standard” that someone who is going to be published must follow. In other words, someone who wants to be published doesn’t have to have a certain degree from college or have any kind of credibility beforehand. The poem, “True/False” is a simple list of statements that the reader must deem as either as true or false. There is not much more to that. Sure anyone can read it and think that there is a “deeper psychological” meaning hidden in the words. But for some reason I don’t feel like that at all about this poem. It is more likely that this poet had been previously published and wondered if he just wrote random thoughts down, would he be able to get published. And he got what he wanted. He wrote down random facts that he thought was clever, numbered them, and called it a poem. And behold! A poem is born. But in all honesty can we call this poetry? Is this real skill? Hell, I could write a list of things I did in a day and call it “My Day,” and say it’s a poem. If the publisher likes it, then he’ll do his thing. But if he doesn’t then it dies there. But really why aren’t more people writing like Shakespeare, or Dickinson, or Poe? Because it’s hard and takes true talent, which unfortunately not everyone has. It’s good to write because you enjoy writing. It is however ridiculous to think that everything you write is an amazing piece of work that will affect society. Just because you have a pen in your hand it doesn’t mean that you are a good writer. The sooner people realize that, the sooner we’ll get less of what people deem “poetry” and get real works of literature.

Now I’m not saying all poets have write in flowery English but they should at least have the training of what is universally considered “good” poetry and be trained in the classics before they develop their own style. Once you have the fundamentals, you have the building blocks to make your own work good.

*Donya Botkan*

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Beneath Speech

Beneath Speech

To start with, I have to say Purr, which mean to utter a low, continuous, murmuring sound expressive of contentment or pleasure, as a cat does, is an excellent name for a poem collection.

For the poem itself, I regard it as a funny poem exploring the nature of english, or language itself. As the first line of the poem has said, the undersides of words. The meaning of second stanza is quite easy to understand. For the third stanza, one side convex and one side concave could mean the shape of the night sky, when perceived as a part of the whole sphere earth.

‘This must be like winter for fish’ does not make a lot of sense to me at first, but it seems more understandable after reading ‘and all the nouns went seamless as ice and slightly opaque.’ To the writer, she feels that all nouns are cold and smooth like ice, which may explain why this must be like winter for fish, also the next sentence, ‘if she put out her tongue, she might stay there forever.’, I guess perhaps it is because the nouns are like ice and the tongue would be stuck by the ice, or another possibility that, there are so many nouns in this world, thus it is impossible to read them all, so that the tongue would be stretched outside the mouth for a long long time.

In the last stanza, the smell of snow connects with the previous mentioned winter and ice. I cannot get what ‘because or so to cover me’ until it is raised in the class. I think it is cool for the poet not to add quotation there though, hence it allows more space for interpretation. Because or so, this little words, cover me like snow, and makes me ‘beneath speech’. I do not regard this poem as that random as in discussed in the class. I think it is well written with complete and closely linked imageries.

* Chan Wing Hong*

Monday, March 23, 2009

I had no classes today!

This morning
I woke up
I checked my MIX email account
and found that
both of my teachers
could not make their classes today!

BIG SMILE!!! : )

my ENG teacher was officially fired
by my classmates after failing
for the fourth time
to send an email to notify the students her absence.
Tied up by ropes on a big wood cross
her body was burnt in the fire
ignited by the assignments and tests papers
graded B minus or below
and the fake sick leave certificates
found in her drawers.
The students hope
this would stop her from being absent
for another time.
As the flare rose up
like an old-fashioned smelly pink tongue
struggling to squirm

like the words that slowly moved along and
clogged the blood vessels
of my fiction writing teacher
who was buried
by papers of short stories assignment
which were either about
death of lover(s),
explosions,
car accidents,
divorce of couples,
childhood memories,
or all of the above.
She had her eyes closed when
the plot that circuits over and over again
in this world
happened to her finally
and she whispered to herself
'Oh! No! Not another cliche!'

Yes
things end suddenly.
And I have learned
so much today.
Hence, I typed them up
as a beautiful poem
for one of my eight blog posts.

* Chan Wing Hong*

DREAM OF A NEW PATRIOTISM

The poem "DREAM OF A NEW PATRIOTISM" by Matthew Rohrer seemed to really captivate my attention. The poem begins with the line "people tend to pair off, but not me." This single line represents a complete thought that I think is rather intriging. It is very true that people couple up with one another, though not everyone does. The speaker seems to be one of the people who breaks this mold by saying "but not me." This is a concept that he keeps constant throughout the entire poem. Besides the first line I was also drawn to the line that stands alone between the two stanzas of the poem. This line reads "then I awaken from my stupor." I do not think the meaning behind this line is nearly as significant as its placing. To me, it represents a turning point for the poem. Since it is placed between the two stanzeas of the poem it seems to bear a deep meaning for the poem. The speaker seems to make a clean realization; thus "I awaken from my stupor." Overall, I am a little confused by the poem's meaning. I really agree with the first stanza because the thought and direction seems to be clear. Though the second stanza seems to be a little less directed. I do like the overall meaning that the poem represents: some people do tend to beleive that they are alone even though the really aren't, but I think the poem is a little loose and the end and the meaning falls behind.

Katy Haines

Response to "Hello" a poem about rats!

The poem “Hello” by Naomi Shihab Nye was interesting to me for a few reasons. I liked the way it was presented…fairly easy read. You don’t have to do a lot of decoding or re-read each line for comprehension. Secondly, I think the poem is great because it really dissects and examines a situation. (Living with a rat) And in doing so, Nye pulls a lot of meaning out of her rat roommate.

Most importantly, I enjoyed the poem because it’s about a rat. Not that I’m much of a rat fan, but I like all of the things that just the mentioning of a rat in writing can imply. The rat works as a good symbol, and I am a symbolism fan.

First, I’d say it is safe to conclude that rats are usually associated with something negative. In cartoons, they are the villains, live in sewers, and steal. In real life, the word “rat” is used to describe someone who is sneaky or untrustworthy. In the poem, the rat steals peaches knowing whoever finds the peachy mess will scream. The rat only comes out in darkness, disguises itself as a candle in a drawer, hides in closets, and doesn’t show its face while seeming to know the narrator is there. So basically, through characterization and careful description, the poem goes along with the common idea that rats signify negativity. Simply put, rats equal bad.

In the second stanza, the poem begins to analyze the situation and ask questions about the rat. Where is this rat’s mother and father? Where is their nest? When was the rat born? I think the narrator is wondering if the rat was born in her home, and if it is the only one. However, through questioning, the narrator is also looking at the rat more objectively and possibly more sympathetically.

Perhaps she is thinking about the fact that the rat is just a rat, and is living instinctually, as any rat would live. The rat isn’t necessarily behaving the way it does out of spite, or to purposely anger and frighten her. It just needs food like any animal. Maybe she is starting to see herself as less of the rat’s victim. Maybe her home happens to be where this rat ended up. Considering the nature of and amount of rats in the world this situation is just chance, not a punishment of some type or a planned grudge. It’s just life, the way things turned out. Bad luck. Maybe the rat is innocent, and maybe she is too.

As suggested in the poem, the narrator has certainly let this rat get the better of her. She has wasted energy being afraid, and cursing it. She has let the rat put stress on her, and has let it drive her into insanity. She has even not entered specific rooms of her home in order to avoid it! This is no way to live, and in the third stanza the narrator shows this realization.

Of course it isn’t ideal to live with a rat. But also, of course we cannot avoid nature. So it is time to do something about. Accepting the “rats” in our lives is what it all comes down to. As the poem ends, “… the shores of morning loom up lined with little shadows, things we never wanted to be, or meet, and all the rats are waving hello.”

Lastly, it is interesting to me that the poem ends with the title. Being that this ending/title word is “hello,” I’d say it is very suggestive of the poem's main theme of “accepting and/or living with rats.” And that makes me wonder further, is the poem really about a rat, as a physical pointy-nosed rodent, at all? Probably not. In my opinion, there are many “rats” and we are always living with them.

-Rachel Alberico

Saturday, March 21, 2009

"A Friday at the End of August"

The poem “A Friday at the End of August” by James Harms is an interesting piece. I don’t even think that it is one of my favorites. However, there are several phrases that have a great deal of literary quality. I love the sound of “trill and sizzle” in the last line of the fourth stanza. “Trilling” and “sizzling” are two very different sounds, and I think it’s very artistic/creative to put them together that way—somehow it works. In the same line, “a fleck of voice,” is a very unique way to describe a voice. Another expression that piqued my interest was “wet music.” I was very curious/confused as to the meaning of this phrase. Is it some mysterious use of poetic license? My guess is that it refers to the music of “wetbacks.” I arrived at this conclusion based on the actual use of that phrase in the poem and the consistent references to Spanish and the migrant workers. If I’m right about the meaning of “wet music,” I will be a little disappointed—I prefer to think that it is some clever poetic expression rather than a reference to the racial slur. Such an interesting phrase certainly deserves a better purpose than that. I’m also incredibly curious why the author chose the phrase “solamente una vez, no más.” What significance does “only one time, no more” have at this point in the poem? Or is it simply one of the few Spanish phrases that the author remembers? Following the Spanish phrase, “the bones of language hung as always with laughter,” is a wonderful phrase. I like the notion of language and laughter being closely tied. “Bones” is also a great way to describe language because bones are part of the foundations of humans, just as language is a foundation for communication in society. Even though it’s not necessarily one of my favorite poems, I can still appreciate the beauty of some of the phrases in this poem.

Sarah Corra

Friday, March 20, 2009

Postcard Poetry

Postcard poetry is a fantastic concept—and I never would have thought of it myself. The poem from the handout named simply “POSTCARD,” is a great example of a postcard few people would ever have the guts to send. First of all, to just name it “POSTCARD,” makes me think that maybe the sender made a promise to send the recipient a postcard before having a disagreement with them, and naming it “POSTCARD” is the sender’s way of saying, “look, I sent you one. Happy now?” Also, to say that the sender is still “unsure of your worth as…a human being” is a brutal, biting statement. Vicious, even. And to say the same thing regarding their worth as a friend is pretty awful, too. Also, ending the poem with “You cocksucker,” is a bold, blatant insult that brings the sender’s point home. The whole thing, including the name of the poem, is written in all caps, which frequently is used as a way of yelling at someone via text. It also can just be any easy way to emphasize the importance of the statements being made (as if more emphasis is even necessary).
In addition to “POSTCARD,” I also enjoyed “Montezuma’s Revenge.” It has an amusing irony to it; there are also some nightmarish qualities to it as well. I’m not even sure I understand the poem. What does “natives” refer to in the first line? I think it sounds like savages or indigenous people because it also says “in my hometown,” which would make the speaker a native as well. I think the title is the best clue as to the meaning of the poem. We conquered them, now Montezuma is getting his revenge by invading “our Utopia” and cutting off our faces. It’s a very bizarre poem, and it almost sounds to me like a tourist’s worst nightmare, if you look at the idea of trying to make friends with the natives by letting them cut off your face.

Sarah Corra

True/False

I actually loved the "True/False" poem by Dean Young. As far as literary difficulty goes, it’s fairly simple: simple format (how can you get any simpler than numbering from 1-100?); small, common words; nothing overly complex or scientific; in fact, even a child could write a poem similar to this—if it weren’t for the underlying meanings of some of the phrases. “2. I want to break things.” Okay, sure, it could just be someone who is in a bad mood, but it could also be someone who has a lot of anger building up inside; or someone who is completely destructive.

Several of the lines also hint at psychological issues. Number 2 (breaking things) suggests suppressed anger. Both number six (washing hands six times a day isn’t excessive) and number fourteen (always skipping a belt loop) suggest an obsessive-compulsive tendency. Numbers 15 (terrible things have happened to me), 21 (my parents were cruel to me), 97 (I wet the bed) and 98 (I am sorry) all suggest being abused/traumatized as a child. The way the poem changes tone could even suggest schizophrenia (well, that and line 3 that specifies hearing voices). There are also numerous lines that are typical of a conspiracy theorist, or from a psychological perspective, paranoia.

I love the underlying complexity in this poem. I also like the nature of a true/false poem. Maybe I have too many secrets to hide, but I like the idea that I can write whatever I want—anything at all—in a poem, but still have the option to say that it could just be false. I like the idea of putting yourself out there by divulging deep, dark secrets, while still having a little comfort in the fact that your readers don’t know whether it’s true or false.

I really enjoyed this poem. Even if it’s ridiculously easy to imitate, I think it still takes time to create a poem that says so many things without coming right out and saying them.

Sarah Corra

Thursday, March 19, 2009

TRUE/FALSE

After reading True/False, I was a bit bewildered. At first, it just seems like a bizarre list of random things. It is really hard to understand what the author is getting at. However, at the same time I felt like the poem had a purpose that I was completely missing. This of course drove me crazy. It wasn’t until I read through it again and physically marked the seemingly more meaningful statements, or actually answered “true or false” to some of the questions that it started to make some sense.

Even if I’m wrong, which who really knows what any poem is about except the author, I feel like I may be on the right track. To me, the poem is about society’s tendency to constantly standardize everything. Most major issues are not black or white. Most controversial topics do have a great deal of gray area, and have many situational dependencies. Even so, it seems that people/ politicians/ leaders/ organizations strive to create laws and rules to hold special issues or stories at one extreme. To take a topic with a lot of “unknown” or a lot of variables surrounding it, and to simply decide true or false about it is Dean Young’s way of showing how ridiculous disregarding “the gray area” can be.

Some of the lines seem simple, and therefore are more confusing. Why would this be in the poem at all? Or why even a true/false question? For example, number 52 states “parking meters lie.” At first, you might put false. Then you think, if it’s false why is that line even on here? Then you wonder, maybe parking meters do lie? This and other lines like 52, make the poem seem like it is suggesting conspiracy. When something simple that you trust day in and day out (you don’t have a choice when it comes to parking) is questioned, you start to wonder about other more important things. The feelings of suspicion, betrayal, and paranoia that such questioning leaves you with can be quite powerful. In my opinion, Dean Young does a great job with this. He is teaching his readers to think!

With purpose in mind, each line raises a question and makes a statement about society. Some are more obvious than others. (Though I love analyzing this sort of thing, I can’t do all 100. I'd be banned from blog-town!)

Overall, the most important thing here is format.

The lines are numbered. There are 100 (magic number) lines. The title serves as direction. (This is crucial to the poem, too.) There are only two options, true or false. Black or white, right or wrong. The thing is, not one question can be answered with a definite true or false.

Dean Young is showing that you cannot possibly take an important topic or issue and fit it nicely into a little simple box. We should ask questions, consider all sides of a matter, and use the gray paints on our pallets more often. (Even when putting quarters into a meter!)

-Rachel Alberico

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Valentine

Valentine

I can see the hurricane tonight
sweeping across the town

Tell me when did the water surround me
deep inside waves of warmth
and hard beating hearts
and glittering beams

The smell of the pink sweats
flows down your throat
shivers as you whispered
the whirlpool of doves’ feathers
into my ears

I dreamt of
the bitter of your lips
so I planted you a rose
rooted from our palm prints

* Chan Wing Hong

Monday, March 2, 2009

Draw a little bird by Mary Ann Samyn

Draw a little bird by Mary Ann Samyn
Reading Mary Ann Samyn's poetry has been particularly interesting for me because I am currently in the Engl418 seminar with her. The class covers fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and while she is clearly well versed in all three, her forte is poetry and I am glad to be able to read some of her work. "Draw a little bird" especially jumped out at me. Reading it, I get the impression that the speaker is a bit older, reminiscing about 1979, when apparently the girls felt the pressure to impress so they brightened their cheeks with lipstick. But time has passed and the speaker, who so enjoyed her youth and seemingly standard life, feels that she has little to offer - only enough to fill one volume, and a small one at that. At the same time, she finds her simple life inspiring and wants to share it - for any price. Maybe I read it too simply, but I enjoyed it. Especially the line "Yes, I accept personal checks, word-of-mouth, token love." The speaker will share her knowledge with anyone willing to listen. "Blotched and botched" is also a pleasing line to the ear, although it makes me feel sympathy for the speaker. I find it interesting that of the two poems by Samyn in the packet, both end with "-" as if the speaker as been cut off in the middle of her sentence. I'm not sure if it's supposed to sound abrupt when read out loud or just look as though the speaker lost her voice unexpectedly, but I like the effect - it definitely makes me curious about what else there might be to the poem.
~Nicole Bartow

"Full of Knives"

I enjoyed Zachary Schomburg’s poem, “Full of Knives,” quite a bit. I thought that the list format in “Full of Knives” was very strange and interesting. I wonder if there is significance in the number of items—eighteen. Is it symbolic? I don’t think so, but sometimes it’s difficult to tell. I don’t really understand the reference to notes, starting in the first line “Notes are brittle around the blades.” Is it a way of documenting who/why/how he was stabbed in the beck? I think that it must be something along these lines because later in the poem it says that the notes, not the knives, are slowly killing him. I find the tone of this poem especially intriguing. The theme of “being stabbed in the back” is a theme that I associate with feelings of bitterness, anger, sorrow, frustration, and betrayal. However, throughout the poem, there is an ironic, almost humorous tone. The line “He has difficulties with metal detectors,” seems even more amusing after having read the entire poem. The humor is subtle, which is why it seems so fitting. More humorous lines were number twelve and number eighteen. I think my favorite part of the whole poem was the end, number eighteen. “He was obviously stabbed, brutally and repeatedly.” That line is fantastic! It’s such an obvious understatement. It feels significant that the doctor delivers the news to some anonymous person rather than a relative or a loved one. It clearly expresses the sentiment that the speaker doesn’t really belong, and that he has no one to care for him. Although, on that note, number seventeen, “He is difficult to hold when he cries,” is interesting. I think the notion that he is difficult to hold when he cries makes it less likely that anyone would even try.
Sarah Corra

James Harms's "February"

James Harms's poem "February" is strange in a way that makes reading it wonderful. A lot of his images in the poem are discernable but not quite within reach of full comprehension, which is something I strive for in my own poetry, albeit with nowhere near the success to which this strategy is employed here. The list of the things in Walt's pocket: A magnifying glass, two poker chips and a plastic dinosaur, show that Walt is probably a younger boy carrying around such unrelated things in his pocket. He then "fall's asleep mid-chew," and "leaves the rest of his bologna to the charity of winter," both of these parts that conclude the initial image I actually found myself laughing with as I read them. Anybody who "falls asleep mid-chew" is hilarious; for some reason the memories of someone on TV falling asleep and falling face first into a bowl of cereal popped into my head. Harms writes of flower petals "floating in vase water," which I thought was a beautiful image, somewhat reminiscent of the big green leaves that sit atop the glassy water of a pond in the south. Harms introduces a second character, Phoebe who is going through laundry. Again, Harms goes from something normal (naming the laundry being folded-- "blue sock, pretty dress, blue sock) to something just beyond reach: "every shirt a kind of hat." What does that mean? I am not quite sure but it makes sense and simply the sound of those words together just flows. And I found the ending to be the best part of all, the strangest and the least discernable: "And the light seems to sizzle/as it settles into shadows, at the edges of which something moves. Something always moves." I have no clue what is moving or what that motion may look like, but I don't think Harms is aiming for a concrete image, he is aiming for an almost dreamlike quality that expresses the boring drollness of a February spent inside.
--Michael McCune

One Train May Hide Another by Koch

This was a very interesting poem. I had listened to it before actually reading it, and by doing so had a better idea of the reasoning behind it. I love how Koch took a single image he saw in his past and concocted this wonderful poem. I like the structure and the repeated phrasing. It has such a perfect flow, it moves so easily from line to line. I also really enjoyed how he had a little bit of humor mixed in with his writing. A good example of this is the line; In a family one sister may conceal another, So, when you are courting, it's best to have them all in view. What an excellent line it added a great deal to the poem and it gives a nice little chuckle. He has a great talent for comparison, and imagery. Throughout this poem I saw and thought many things. Hew also covers so many varying topics, from lilacs to tombs. So obscure, yet so perfect and beautiful. He also shows a little about his own life when discussing him and his wife and how he says that one life may hide another life and now she is gone and I am here. He also does a great deal of name dropping. Which I never had any sort of problem with. To me it seems like by doing so it grounds the work in a certain way and also shows a little bit more of the authors interests.


Robert C. Carothers III

The Next Adventure

Eat now
in the fast food shop
on the aluminum edged table
where mother has created a delightful meal
father sits on his Chevy
thinking about more than most.

I left my shoe at the door
and walked
through the valley of the shadow of
Death is but the next adventure
open the door to new possibilities.

Don't Mess Up. Don't Fall Down.
Whatever you do
don't look up, the sky is falling.



Robert Carothers (and the class)

My view on modern poetry by Daniel Pilla

Upon reading the large packet of poems passed out during class, one common theme came to mind; they are not for me. I understand that poets of this day and age seek to break away from the poets of old, to be “original”, but I feel they have drifted too far. The stylistic choices made in these poems are not to my liking, for example, I despise when the thought of one line runs directly into the next. I am a firm believer in each line being able to stand on its own and possess the intended meaning. An example of this can be found in the poem “Song of the Abducted.” The author ends a line with “I am choking,” then starts the next paragraph with “on questions.” The initial “I am choking,” heightens the moment so much that upon reading “on questions” I was, to some extent, disappointed. Another issue I have with the poems at hand is the technique of simplicity being used to raise a larger issue. In today’s society this technique may prove more effective in reader comprehension, but I don’t believe it does the topic justice. What I am trying to say, is that when one is speaking of “Time,” one cannot do such a resounding topic justice, by comparing it to a banana. I understand that “Time” is a topic so over done that writers are seeking new comparisons, but as I have said before, they have strayed too far. I believe that writers should be searching for ways to improve upon the writing of old, not seeking originality, which is for the most part impossible. Those who do achieve originality are rarely accepted as great authors because it is so different from what we know. Many would say I am not open-minded, and to this I say that there is a reason that the poetry of old has lasted so long, because it is timeless and beautiful.

Daniel Pilla

My view on modern poetry

Upon reading the large packet of poems passed out during class, one common theme came to mind; they are not for me. I understand that poets of this day and age seek to break away from the poets of old, to be “original”, but I feel they have drifted too far. The stylistic choices made in these poems are not to my liking, for example, I despise when the thought of one line runs directly into the next. I am a firm believer in each line being able to stand on its own and possess the intended meaning. An example of this can be found in the poem “Song of the Abducted.” The author ends a line with “I am choking,” then starts the next paragraph with “on questions.” The initial “I am choking,” heightens the moment so much that upon reading “on questions” I was, to some extent, disappointed. Another issue I have with the poems at hand is the technique of simplicity being used to raise a larger issue. In today’s society this technique may prove more effective in reader comprehension, but I don’t believe it does the topic justice. What I am trying to say, is that when one is speaking of “Time,” one cannot do such a resounding topic justice, by comparing it to a banana. I understand that “Time” is a topic so over done that writers are seeking new comparisons, but as I have said before, they have strayed too far. I believe that writers should be searching for ways to improve upon the writing of old, not seeking originality, which is for the most part impossible. Those who do achieve originality are rarely accepted as great authors because it is so different from what we know. Many would say I am not open-minded, and to this I say that there is a reason that the poetry of old has lasted so long, because it is timeless and beautiful.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Reaction to Friday's Activity

Friday when we were asked to write about a specific place that we loved or hated, I thought for a few minutes about where to write about. I knew for my poem to be successful I had to try and create a poem that had an extremely good image that could be provided with it. My decision was to write about the beach that my family and friends would travel to while growing up; to Wildwood, New Jersey. I decided on Wildwood because I remember specific landmarks and restaurants that I would visit every time that I went down.

I had never attempted to write something like this because I usually try and write about a specific story and not about an area. At first, I found it to be challenging to try and find so many specific parts that had to be mentioned within the poem. However, once I decided to try and have some fun with it and stretch the truth as well as my imagination I really enjoyed writing my poem and felt that the ideas were easy to come up with. Instead of a regular stop sign I wrote about how the stop sing that we would pass on the way to Wildwood was covered in graffiti that consisted of various different colors. In addition, I attempted to think of the last possible thing that one would expect to see at the beach in the summer...any reference of winter came to mind. I thought something original was to have a sign in the middle of town at the "classic, crazy, old person's house" that said "yield to Santa and his reindeer." These two signs provide the reader with something extremely different, yet with a creative and easy to remember image.

I really enjoyed this activity for numerous reasons. Especially because it was able to provide me with a great flashback of the glories of summer as opposed to the snowy winter that we are in right now. In addition, I really enjoyed being able to write about a place like a beach and being able to put such vivid visuals into the poem. I hope to be able to have more assignments like this in the future.


--Perry Wertheimer

Dean Young. True/False

This poem has a very interesting structure. The title of the poem is True/False and, following from that, the poem is set up sort-of like an exam. Each of the one hundred lines are numbered, unlike any exam however there is no room for answers. The number in each line is followed by a statement or a phrase. Some lines are lines one would likely find on a job application: “I am good at following order.” Others are simple statements: “I use a number-two pencil.” Many of them are much more interesting, though. Lines like, “I am a Murder,” “The homeless are dangerous,” “Here’s 50 cents” or “I never had sex with an animal” raise interest in the poem and many questions about the poets thoughts at the time of writing it. The most interesting thing I found while reading it is how the poem seems to be asking the reader to answer the questions, true or false, and at the same time the reader must question what the poet’s answer to each line would be. The poem works very well because many of the lines seem to be letting the reader in on small beliefs which the poet may harbor yet is afraid to answer True too. Also they can call into question many beliefs that the reader of the poem may have. The poem flows nice as well. The lines vary in length from a single word to a short paragraph, but many lines are kept fairly short. This provides clever lines that are straight and to the point. This poem is a very interesting way for a poet to call to attention social woes and things weighing on his mind.

wes edmond.

Waiting for my foot to ring by Bob Hicok

By Sarah Portner

I really enjoyed reading this poem. I loved the imagery, and how you could see the different things the author was talking about, and how I had done some of the things that the author was talking about like; taking apart the tv and or can opener (I have never taken apart a tv, but my friend had an old can opener in her basement that we took apart. We couldn't get it back together.) or placing hamburger on your dog's nose and telling him he has to wait before he can eat it (my dog was never really good at this one.)
I liked the word order he used for a lot of his lines. Such as: "I was told about a poet who wrote a poem the day/his wife was put in a box and given to the ground/ like it was Christmas. The person telling me/ had on a green shirt on which trees of a different green/were imprinted, he thought the poet was sick/and I thought the poet had a mind that only lived/in his hands." I love that last part. The idea of having a mind that lives in your hands.
I like how there is a comparison between the author taking apart a can opener and or a tv and his father's surgery. How you can see the parts of his father laying on a table and the parts of the can opener. And how the author always forgets to a small piece to put back in and how they will be taking out a piece of his father's colon. Yet, the author was never deprived of soup or westerns, and in the same way he won't be deprived of his father either. It is an odd way of looking at someone going in for an operation and I really liked that about this piece, how it played with words and ideas.

Where You Go When She Sleeps

By Sarah Portner

I really liked the idea behind this piece. I like how the author, in the start of his poem, goes into such detail of how he has fallen for this girl and then compares it to a small boy falling into a silo of grain. It fascinated me that he would compare two things that are so drastically different from each other; love and death. How he has fallen so deeply in love with this woman, comparing her hair to that of sun, or metal, or grain, that he is trapped and cannot escape this love, nor does he want too. To a boy looking at the swirling golden flakes of grain, that he falls in, which leads to his death. This too, the small boy cannot escape. I thought it was brilliant that love and death could simultaneously be one in the same poem and mean two different things. "But a whirling of sunlight and water and air full of shining dust/That takes you, a dream that is not of you but will let you/Into itself if you love enough, and will not, will never let you go."