Unveiling.

Unveiling

Linda Pastan

In the cemetery

a mile away

from where we used to live

my aunts and mother,

my father and uncles lie

in two long rows almost the way

they used to sit around

the long planked table

at family dinners,

and walking beside

the graves today, down

one straight path

and up the next,

I don't feel sad

for them,just left out a bit

as if they kept

from me the kind

of grown-up secret

they used to share

back then, something

I'm not quite ready yet

to learn.

As children we all had a view of the world, that it was almost perfect. Our brains were like sponges soaking in all the information that we could possibly handle. The 3rd to last line in the poem was the climactic point, by that I mean; "something I'm not quite ready yet to learn", it is so climactic because of the perspective I am looking at towards the poem. There is a song written by the Christian band "Mercy Me" called Homesick, it is all about how we are hungry to go home- but to our Heavenly home. When Pastan states, "I don't feel sad for them, just left out a bit as if they kept from me the kind of grown- up secret they used to share back then...", I took that as being the greatest secret of humanity- the secret beyond the grave. We at times feel so homesick for our heavenly home we remove the sadness from our life completely, we may miss them, but the truth of the matter is we strive to be where they are. The structure of the poem is set in a longated column which could symbolize the "long planked table" which in turn could very well be a symbol for the earthly way in which is still very much living in.

The title of the poem is always something I really like to analyze, mostly because many times after reading a poem that is when we fully understand the title of the poem itself- the title gives the poem an even HIGHER meaning. Unveiling could be taken as the unveiling of- death? life? heartache? or even earthly desires. Either way the unveiling is exposing something...

Poetry at 7:43 A.M.

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

William Butler Yeats

though leaves are many, the root is one;

Through all the lying days of my youth

I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun;

Now I may wither into the truth.

The understanding of this poem is primarily in the title, let me explain; I realize that normally a poem is understood when reading the poem ITSELF. This poem had the opposite effect on me I feel that I could have read the title and been fine! The poem confused me because of the structure of it, it seems that this is an unfinished thought. The only explination I have is that Yeats did this for the purpose that expands on this idea of "wisdom coming with time".

New quarter. New words.

Acquainted with the Night

Robert Frost

(1874-1963)

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

and dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sounds of feet

when far away an interrupted cry

came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;

and further still at an unearthly height

one luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

There is so much truth that is lying beneath the poem, in its ambiguity. The vague-ness of the poem allows the reader to interpret the night and it symbolism for that person specifically. I found that the night is exactly what it is, a lifetime of darkness- a depression if you will. "I have been one acquainted with the night" is strong in the repetitive factor and with the fact that everyone can relate to a time where they have been found in accordance with darkness. In the line, I have passed by the watchmen on his beat...", that reminds me of a story that the AP language class had to read relating to a watchmen . The watchmen was constantly hovering over making sure that the person could feel his gaze. The watchmen was merely the fears, struggles, and other feelings that kept us bottled up from our dreams. When I read that line I automatically thought of that story especially because it adds to the darkness that is encompassed within that certain imagery.

Overall, I really liked this poem! It was a good start to the 2nd quarter!

Goodbye 1st quarter :)

Still Memory

Mary Karr

The dream was so deep

the bed came unroped from its moorings,

drifted upstream till it found my old notch

in the house i grew up in,

then it locked in place.

A light in the hall-

my father in the doorway, not dead,

just got home from the graveyard shift

smelling of crude oil and solvent.

In the kitchen, Mother rummages through silver

while the boiled water poured

in the battered old drip pot

unleashes coffee's smoky odor.

Outside,the mimosa fronds, closed all night,

poen their narrow valleys for dew.

Around us, the town is just growing animate,

its pulleys and levers set in motion.

My house starts to throb in its old socket.

My twelve-year old sister steps fast

because the bathroom tiles

are cold and we have no heat other

than that what our bodies can carry.

My parents are not yet born each

into a small urn of ash.

My ten-year old hand reaches

for a pen to record it all

as would become long habit.

There are some memories that people will NEVER forget, and I could imagine that for Mary Karr she would never forget her journey through writing. At the end of the poem when she says, "My ten-year old hand reaches for a pen to record it all as would become long habit", I would imagine that this was one of those "Kodak memories" that can never be erased. Parts of the poem were a little dark for my liking. She tends to talk about her parents using cold words like "dead", I guess why i think those are cold is because growing up my parents always had us use the saying "passing away" because it sounds less abrupt.

This poem was a direct look into the life of Karr, with all the details even to the little things like dew that most of us wouldn't notice. Memories are those final looks into a past time, whether they are good or bad, those memories seem to stick with us for our lifetime. The first time I picked up a microphone or sang would be the equivalent (I feel) to her way of writing. While peoples passions are different, we all have the availability to let that passion come through... and what better way than through rummaging through our memories!

High School.

High School is like that never ending shuffle on my Ipod. Music is this never ending guidance, and it seems that we're in an eternal marriage. Music and I although we may stray sometimes,often, fall in love all over again. It has been that strength for me... In high school there are those days that you just roll out of bed seemingly unhappy- but there are the days that it make it worth while because  it just seems like a beautiful song. High school cannot really be related to me actually, and I guess for the pure fact that my one goal is to get OUT of this awkward time. Music is my release and it brings me back to the beauty of life and the goodness that can be withheld in it! Sad days are yet to come, like the sad songs, but the minute goes through the song and right there is the hope that there is happiness behind.

High school is like that never ending shuffle on my Ipod. I hope the music continues... but just away from high school.

Hollow Man

As much as I would love to write out the entire poem written by T.S Eliot, I simply think that it would be much longer then my blog- which would embarrass me. ha
At first while reading this poem I was filled with the deep darkness the tone was meaning to send forth, and as I rad it the third or forth time the more I liked it, I guess because in my confusion I began to see the wonderful complexity of the poem.
Eliot includes so many biblical allusions that are very relatable, because through my knowledge of the Bible and the little things I have heard/learned about the after life- this poem drew me in. The antecedent scenario really helped me when it came to why exactly there was such a darkness in the poem, after we learned that Eliot had suffered a breakdown I knew exactly why he wrote this poem. I believe that all of us have those moments where we just look at humanity and only see the darkness that seems to envelope it, we see how man kind has belittled and tormented others; and we wonder... how could those people have hearts?

After reading this poem I grew more fond of it because of our polar opposite ideas. I believe that even in the worst of circumstances we have to look at the good in man in order to get through that tough time. The Hollow Man tells of the darkest truth about man kind, so we have to take it from there and learn to prove Eliot wrong- man kind is not hollow with straw, rather, man kind is filled with a deep human passion.