Its a Wonderful Life.

As I break between the flowing tears that seem to be falling down my face after watching the movie, The Human Experience, I am filled with such a happiness I am unable to express.
The Human Experience was a film of two brothers and their journey through three different life experiences, the first being homeless in new york city, then visiting the lost children of peru, and finally visting a leper colony. Throughout all of their experiences they seem to find the meaning of humanity and the experiences that they possess.

Many times experiences define a person, and with those experiences we, as a people, have the opportunity to help those who are less forunate. The most touching part of the movie was the brothers ability to forgive their abusive father. THAT is the true human experience- our ability to love even when we feel as if we cannot, even when it seems as if unimaginable to forgive such horrific things.

Happiness relies on our humanity.

Fight for Life

When many think of a hero, they tend to think of those in shining silver armor ready to march on to a battlefield as if we were engaged in a medieval time warp. The fact of the matter is that there are the unseen and unfortunately UNAMED heroes of the present. The fight for life is one that has been difficult to even gain little steps towards success, being that abortion is on the rise and young mothers are aborting their child as late as 9 MONTHS.

This is my frustarating ongoing activity.

In the famous words of Dr. Suess, "a persons a person- no matter how small", I find it frightening that children all across our nation and elsewhere are being aborted as late as 9 months, basically the woman would have to give birth and then shortly after the "doctor" would kill the child. These children do not have a voice, so many others have gathered up the torch to be the voice of the unborn. Women do have a choice , that is a well known fact, but many fail to see that the child inside the womb fails to have a choice. Even though that child is just as much a human life they lack the capability to choose whether they live or die.

Martin Luther King Jr. said in his famous letter from Birmingham jail spoke about how every person is an extremist, but many have to choose what they will be extremists for- love or hate. That is the struggle in all man kind is to dig into our souls and find the strength to fight for love, fight for those who are unable to speak, and in turn fighting for Jesus Christ himself. 
The battle is on- and I will not stop- nor slow down.

Curiousity may or may not have killed the cat?

This poem about Curiosity was among one of my favorites that I have read this quarter, mostly because it came up with a metaphorical way to present an idea that having curiosity is a GOOD thing, not a bad one. In the third stanza the first line, "Curiosity will not cause us to die- only lack of it will." The poem is saying that granted those cats may have used up all 9 lives according to this need for curiosity, they lived life to the wonders that it possesses. The two groups of people that roam the earth are either the "dogs" or "cats", the dogs refuse to fall subject to curiosity and when they do that they fall to a fainted color of what the world holds true and dear. With curious minds we have been able to do wonderful things such as; land on the moon, create technology so small that the naked eye can't see it, change history by simply refusing to move to the back of the bus, and slowly change the outcome of poverty stricken people across the globe. Without curiosity we would all be old dogs just waiting for our lives to begin,  and personally ? I would rather live life curiously...

Defining the Grateful Gesture

This poem by Yvonne Sepia was describing a life with her mother that included the thought that her gratefulness was never enough for her mother. Her mother was always the victim, and with that she had it rough- or someone she knew. The poem was easily understood, and looedk into the cultural differences between generations. Being half mexican myself I know the trials that go into the differences with each generation- my grandmother still believes that looking at an ugly baby means that you will have an ugly baby as a result. Also, it means that many times we aren't as grateful as we should be. Granted that parents and grandparents grew up in a harder time, but who is to judge which time period is harder? Either way it is looked at- times have changed. They will continiously change so learning from previous generations is key. Sepia grew the entire poem from a single idea, an idea of gratefulness. She gave a look into her past and with that made the reader further understand this central idea.

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.