Nothing Gold Can Stay- Poetry Respone 27

Nothing Gold Can Stay- Robert Frost

I read this poem, and then re read it, and I came up with two theories as to what it might mean. My first theory- all good things come to an end. Through out the whole poem, as short as it might be, the good thing goes to something else. The gold never stays. Yet, this explanation didn't really do it for me. I thought that it didn't fully cover the poem's meaning. Although the things, like flower, the leaf, and the gold, all go away... it's is not necessarily a bad thing. I concluded that just because things change, it isn't a negative. Using the word "gold" and making the poem talk more then just leaves, but mean something more valuable. So while the value changes and developes through time,. it never looses meaning or worth. BOOM! owned.

The Guitarist Tunes Up- Poetry response 26

The Guitarist Tunes Up - Francis Darwin Cornford

With what attentive courtesy he bent
Over his instrument;
Not as a lordly conqueror who could
Command both wire and wood,
But as a man with a loved woman might,
Inquiring with delight
What slight essential things she had to say
Before they started, he and she, to play

This poem is really cool! I is one continuous stanza. It is even one whole sentence. The rhyme scheme is aabbccdd (can you write the rhyme scheme like that???). In class a lot of the musical kids were saying that they thought this poem was a relationship between man and his instrument, but I have played music for a long time too, and I think the poem could be about both the relationship between man and instrument and man and woman. The man, in the beginning is caring, and nurturing, and looking to interact with the instrument, not conquer it. He is getting ready to play the guitar, and instead of looking to just jump right in and do what ever he wants, he listens to the instrument, this literally could be like tuning, or just strumming. This is where I think the poem could relate to a man and woman relationship because it shows the tenderness he shows, and I think of a man listening to a woman, before he loves her, instead of trying to conquer her. I like that idea a lot :) The slight essential things that women have to say, that very often go over looked by a man searching for power, instead of a meshed together, beautifully played relationship.

Many red devils - Poem response 25

We did this poem in class today, and I really liked the imagry in it. I think that the poet was trying to get across the idea that writing from the heart, is difficult. It is so real that it is intimidating, and many times we can't find the correct words to tell what we want to say. Our ideas, or concepts that come from the heart (just like the little devils) and small and fragile. The wrong words could crush their idea. The pen could smash them. Get it??? Also I liked what someone said about how readers struggle in the ink reading the things from the heart, because it is sometimes hard to read something that is so raw from someone's heart. The structure of the poem was cool to me! I liked how the author made short lines, and just one stanza, because it kept the poem simple yet so descriptive, and visually appealing.

“At the Cemetery, Walnut Grove Plantation, South Carolina, 1989-poem response 24

I often like poems about historical events, and this poem was no exception. Lucille Clifton's language was what brought this poem to life. The main idea of the poem is to recognize that these slaves, at the Walnut Grove Plantation, were complete nobodies. They didn't even have any records of them. Clifton says that no one mentioned slaves. I might be reading too far into this one, but I kind of think that this idea that people just don't talk about slaves at this plantation, could relate with the fact that a a nation, we like to overlook, and ignore that slavery ever happened because it is such a blemish in out country's stature. It could be a small example on a larger scale. Clifton also tells that only 10 male slaves were documented (although there were many more), she challenges another idea that only men were listed. Why? Clifton is a very brave and honorable woman to stand up for two groups of people that throughout history have been fighting for equl rights as men, and furthermore, white men. I especially like at the end how Clifton repeats 'here lies," four times, just so that the idea of respecting these dead slaves is known. She is saying that had she known their names, she would have paid them the proper respect. This poem is sad, but cool, and I like how Clifton incorporated a much larger picture to just one tour she went on of just one plantation.

Not Waving But Drowning- Poem response 23

Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.

Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he's dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.

Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.

-Stevie Smith

After we analyzed this poem in class, I found that I really
liked it. The visual of the title is captivating.
Everyone has seen the classic scene of someone flailing
all over in the water that makes it look like they are waving
but really they are drowning. I like the 3 stanzas, and how
the last line, "I was too far out all y life
And not waving but drowning," completely comes back to the
first stanza and helps to tie the whole poem together. I
thought this poem was about a person who their whole
life had been living by their own rules, or "Larking"
all over, until what they liked actually made them die.
The person was drowning the whole time, and no body stopped
to actually help them, or ask if they need help. In class,
someone said that it is easier for us to just assume that
everyone is okay, and not actually take on the possibility
that the person isn't actually happy and reach out to help.
This poem is pretty cool :)

Sports??

Why do we play sports?
Why does one team win, and one lose?
Why is it called a sport anyway?
Where do sports come from?
How come they make us so happy, and then so sad?
What makes sports universal, like the Oympics?
-Insert question about sports here?-

The Final Buzzer

Goodbye to the squeaks on the hard wood,
to the whistle then, "On the line!"
and to the feeling of freedom,
bounded by desire and a gym.

Goodbye to the uniform,
35, purple, black and white,
worn proudly as a lion.

Goodbye to the ladies who shaped me,
to the feeling of unison, one
team, one pack, one den.

Goodbye to the metal rim, unforgiving, and
the net's sweet sound when I succeed. The 1,400
career points, 4 years worth.

Goodbye to the smell of dust and sweat,
the cool leather that feels so right in my hand.
The the taped ankles, jammed fingers,
poked eyes and bloody knees.

Goodbye to the traditions,
the tie dye, the Chinese food, the
bracelets we wove together... and the initiation.

Goodbye to the long hot summers at camp,
stuffy loud gyms, where I spent my
sacrificed time.

Goodbye to the community who loved the game,
to the hours of drills,
the frustration and the overcoming.

Goodbye to the announcer, "and senior guard..."
to the competition that drives me,
and the adrenaline that fuels me.

Goodbye to the peace I felt on the court,
to the belonging in a large school, and
to the tears and smiles of my teammates.

The final buzzer sounds, only to be replaced...

Hello to the tip off of college,
basketball over again.
A new venue, a new team, a new uniform, a new family,
and a new school to represent. Yet, the same sport,
and the same 8 year old girl, who fell in love with
the game.