More on Poems

Poetry, the art of using language to express yourself. And they other people either get or they don't. For me I am in the not getting in category. I have a hard time pulling meaning from a poem, unless I'm reading poems by Langston Hughes. He has become my favorite writer. He using not only words, but rhymes and sound. We I read his first poem from our packet, entitled "Dream Boogie" I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it. I love that the poem sounds like it was wrote as a song, how he puts in all together in a upbeat way. When I read his poems I could actually understand what he was talking about. When I read "Parade" I wanted to stand up and walk along side the people. I felt like I was transported back to that moment in time. "Marching...Marching...Marching...noon till night." It is a powerful poem that draws its readers in. Now I'm also an education major so when I read "Children's Rhymes" I wanted to cry for that child. "What don't bug them white kids sure bugs me. we knows everybody ain't free." No child should ever have to feel that way. Another example is "What's written down for white folks ain't for us a-tall:Liberty and Justice-Huh-For All." Also when reading his poems his use of words like the a-tall again transport you back to the time when he was writing this. I would love to hear a recording of him reading his poems.

Thoughts about Poems

     Let's begin with the sonnets, the love poems, or so they say. The one's we discussed in class are a little different then the regular poems I read about love, although those one's usually start with roses are red. The Shakespeare poems are love poems, but there set in a time that I know little to nothing about. An example is when he says "Coral is far more redder than her lips' red." I liked the poem by Dim Lady that takes Shakespeare #130 poem and sets it to modern terms and examples that I can understand better. Like when it says "I don't know any Marliyn Monroes" I know who that is, or "Today's special at Red Lobster is redder than her kisser" I can image the food at Red Lobster because I have been there.
      Now moving on to the rest of the poem packet. The whole packet to me was confusing, I really don't understand poetry. Some of the most confusing one's for me were Susan Howe's poems, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, and The Plot against the Gaint. I could not even begin to read Susan's poem because I didn't know where it began, it looks like just a bunch words thrown together that don't match. Her poems were the most confusing for me. We discussed Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird in class and it helped me understand and see some new ways of looking at it, but it was still confusing. The passage that states
"He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach
Once, a fear pierced him
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbird"
I have no idea what any of that means. Also the entire poem of The Plot Aganist the Gaint makes no sense.
      Some positives from the poetry packet was the poem called Dream Boogie. After reading poem after poem that seemed depressing and confusing, this poem just seemed like an upift. It sounded fun and when I was reading it I wanted to sing the verses.
"Good morning, daddy!
Ain't you heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred?"
It was a nice reprise from dull and boring. Another poem I really enjoyed was called Parade. It started out like it was just talking about another regular parade with a grand marshall, 7 ladies, 7 gentlemen, cadillacs, and a band on foot. Then it changes to marching and you know that the poem is talking about the African Americans protest march. The poem is most then it seems but the words at the end, it takes on a new meaning and becomes powerful.
     Those were some of my thoughts on the poems from the poetry packet from class. 

A little about me

Hi, my name is Emily. I'm the oldest of three children, so I was the first to head off to College.I choose EMU, because of their teaching program. I want to become an elementary school teacher. My major is reading, so it is safe to say that I love to read. One of my missions in life is to get kids excited about reading, because I believe that it is very helpful in life and in expanding their creative sides. Another of my missions in life is to bring music into myy classroom as a teaching tool. I also workk with teens and children at my Church, so that is where I'm beganing to get some experience in working in a classroom. I'm proud to say that my sister is following in my footsteps by attending EMU also, but that is where the similarities end because she is going into nursing and I can't stand the sight of blood. In closing I believe that the children are our future and I want to be a part of making it better.