My Thanksgiving Poem :)

Pie Oh My

Kileen Willis

My Mom is a cherry pie, full of delicious taste and fruitful wisdom.

My Dad is a sturdy pecan pie, he is strong on the outside but also is filled with a gooey inside.

Kelsie is a fluffy lemon meringue pie full of sweetness and goodness.

Dana is a rich chocolate mousse pie, bold and daring.

Jenna is a banana creme pie, filled with a delicious sweetness.

God is the whipped creme, brings us all together and is the most important part.

Without it, pie would just be... pie.

Even if you weren't my father...

I am sorry that I didn't write the poem on my blog, but I'm not feeling too good so I am trying my best to get at least a few words out about the poem I read. Even if you weren't my father was a beautiful touching poem, what makes it so beautiful is that it is about a person in every ones life that is of utter importance.. a father. When Sbarbaro writes in lines 1 through 3," Father, even if you weren't my father, were you an utter stranger, for your own self I'd still love you." I would hope that all of us could relate to that, because a fathers love for his child is so unfathomable that we are unable to even imagine until the point to which men become fathers. A mothers love is unknowing as-well, but they are very different.

Sbarbaro tries to give the readers a look into the triumphs and faults of her father, that he may lose his temper but the love for his child brought him back to earth. He could recognize the fear in her eyes and wanted to rid her of that, so with loving arms he held her against him so she could hear the strong beat of his heart and feel safe. I read a book called captivating last year and it is a beautiful uplifting book about the importance of the Father in a daughters life, the author was trying to also encourage the importance of the relationship with our Heavenly Father, the reminder of this book came about because through the actions of our Fathers- we as daughters - learn so many characteristics that will substantially make who we become. Daddy's are always there to comfort and bring safety, and they give that occasional "you look beautiful"remark that gives us a feeling that we are beautiful- but for reasons only the soul can show.
Even if you weren't my father is a wonderful poem because it isn't complex to understand, it is rather simple, and everyone (I would hope) can relate to this poem in one way or another.

Ethics

Ethics

Linda Pastan

In ethics class so many years ago

our teacher asked this question every fall:

if there were a fire in a museum

which would you save, a Rembrandt painting

or an old woman who hadn't many

years left anyhow?

 Restless on hard chairs caring little for pictures or old age

we'd opt one year for life, the next for art

and always half-heartedly. Sometimes

the woman borrowed my grandmother's face

leaving her usual kitchen to wander

some drafty, half- imagined museum.

One year, feeling clever, I replied

why not let the woman decide herself?

Linda, the teacher would report, eschews

the burden of responsibility.

This fall in a real museum I stand

 before a real Rembrandt, old woman,

or nearly so, myself. The colors

within this frame are darker than autumn

darker even than winter- the browns of the earth,

though earth's most radiant elements burn

 through the canvas. I know now that woman

and painting and season are almost one

and all beyond saving by children.

I find it very ironic that I happened to pick this poem to not only do my blog, but also to teach about being that it is the same author as the last poem I blogged about. Linda Pastan is a Jewish American poet, she obviously wrote unveiling and tends to write about very "dark" or seemingly dark subjects.

This poem "Ethics" seems to be surrounded by the simple question "what would you do?", she strives to answer one of the most difficult ethical questions. The beginning of the poem seems as if she is merely telling a story, then at the 10th line is where it transforms into a poetic style. The deep metaphors of "colors within this frame are darker than autumn even darker than winter..." seem to generate an over all "shadow" like feeling.

A guilty conscience seems to go with us where ever we are, and with that guilt comes an over sense of darkness that envelopes us. The ethical question of whether to save an old woman or a valuable painting seems to not have a right answer for people, those who choose a side may come to regret it, and that is where guilt comes into play. This poem is surrounding the question of, "what would you do?", but also adds to the idea that there will be a consequence for either action the person chooses. Pastan's writing rides on an edge of sadness, but with that brings a light of understanding within the poem itself.