Poems

I am not to excited about the next few weeks.  It is very difficult for me to understand the meaning of most poems.  I am going to try to give my understanding of the next five poems and if anybody can help please fill free to do so.  After reading the list of poems that was given I chose the following to write about.

The first was "The Secretary Chant" by Marge Piercy. This poem describes a woman that has been a secretary for a long time. Over the years she was no longer see a herself, but as different office equipment.  I assume her boss never gives her praise for a job well done other wise she wouldn't feel like this.  It's sad to say but people don't think about other people just what they can do for them.  In the end the equipment seems to be getting old and tired. After a while if not taken care of it will break down and quit.

The next is "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden.  As I was reading this poem I remember my childhood and what our Sundays were like.  It was a day that the swhole family spent together and we would eat family dinners. Now that I'm an adult and have children of my own I try to have the same traditions for them.  In this poem it talks about the father always taking care of everything and working very hard. As a child you don't always remember to say Thank You for all the things your parents do, but when you become an adult you look back and realize all the hard work they did.

"Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins talks about how a reader should go about reading a poem. Start with taking you time and looking over it, getting the feel of it, letting it sink into your mind. It states about a mouse in a maze finding it was out. That is how a poem should be looked at. Just move your was through it and if you hit a dead end turn around and take a different approach. Easier said than done. But like a lot of us we beat it to death until we are so frustrated we couldn't understand it if it hit us in the head.

"Common Ground" by Judith Ortiz Cofer tells about life as you are growing up. When you are young you don't always feel like you understand your family. Like they are strangers to you. I think the blood is the journey you take throughout life to find yourself. As your body gets older changes start to occur and as you look in the mirror you see different things that remind you of your family. Then you see the Common Ground between you and your family that you thought you never had.

The last poem is "The Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy which is about the Titanic. In the beginning it talks about the Titanic sinking even though everybody said it wasn't possible. It was so beautiful and powerful that nothing could bring it down. Now after all these people died everybody else is quiet. The salamandrine fires still burn even after it sank and plays a sad funeral song in the process. The sea creaters see the mirrors that are suppose to show beauty, but now only show ugly creatures and darkness. I think the poem states that this was the Titanic's fate, God's will, to show that it wasn't unstoppable. The more the ship grew so did the iceburg waiting for their meeting. It says "alien they seemed to be" meaning they don't belong together and the "Spinner of Years" (God) said "Now" and everyone was reminded that there is a high power than humans.