Eating Poetry

By: Mark Strand

 

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.

There is no happiness like mine.

I have been eating poetry.

 

The librarian does not believe what she sees.

Her eyes are sad

And she walked with her hand in her dress.

 

The poems are gone.

The light is dim.

The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

 

Their eyeballs roll,

Their blond legs burn like brush.

The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

 

She does not understand.

When I get on my knees and lick her hand,

She screams.

 

I am a new man.

I snarl at her and bark.

I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

I like this poem because it is a fun poem.  In the beginning it is a mystery as to why the narrator is eating a poem, but by the end it is established that the narrator is actually a dog.  This explains the distress of the librarian as the dog is chewing a poem. Also, the idea that the dog is enjoying the poem is, in a way, comical and represents the life of a dog at ease.  Furthermore, it is like the dog likes poetry figuratively and physically.

40 Years Later

Wow, what a journey it has been.  At 57 years old I am currently retired and living in southern California.  I try to stay in shape by running on the beach every morning accompanied by  my golden retriever.  I have packed on a few pounds since the good old days when I had a quick metabolism but it was bound to happen.  Anyways, it was just last week that my grandchildren were visiting and I told them about the life I've had and how I reached success.  I have a caring, loving family with four grown children and five grandchildren so far.  I've kept in touch with friends and family and have a close-knit circle.  I have also traveled all around the world, and have been to every continent (except Antartica) and have seen the various cultures and how people live.  That was an amazing experience that changed my outlook on the world.  I was successful in my work and financially did alright, but that is not what matters most to me.  I have seen the world, and can now watch my children grow and prosper while watching the beautiful beach sunset every night. 

      

"Show don't tell"

The sleek, smooth sides surround the center and give it a modern style.  The water damage is evident on the screen and the problems get worse everyday.  The frustrations of it's quirkiness are bothersome but  I still cannot live without it.  It acts as a portal of communication and although I will get a new one soon I keep it with me wherever I go...

Short Stories

Looking more closely at your surroundings and appreciating them is a common theme in the two short stories, The Cathedral and Everyday Use.  In The Cathedral, the protagonist is a man who lives through the same routine everyday.  Then one day, a blind man, his wife's friend, comes to visit and stay with them and he opens him up to a whole new world.  While they were watching television the blind man asked him to draw a cathedral, because he was not able to describe it to him in words.  As they were drawing the blind man told him to close his eyes and still he continued to draw.  It was at this moment that he realized the importance of his surroundings.  A blind man was more aware of what he couldn't see than he was, and he could see.  It represents the importance of sight and the appreciation of our surroundings. 

Similarly in Everyday Use, it represents the importance of our heritage and culture and questions what it really is.  The story is about a young girl, Dee, who goes off to college and seems to find her African heritage.  She changed her clothes, her name and her beliefs.  When she comes back home, her family questions it and tries to follow along but it is too much.  For one thing she did not appreciate where they lived or what they had until she went through this radical change.  Her family sees a new person and it makes the reader think does heritage and culture come from family origins all the way back to our ancestors, or does it come from the place where you are raised.  

Inauguration

The election of Barack Obama and inauguration of the first U.S. African American president is certainly a historical event.  I thought the inauguration ceremony clearly represented the importance of the day and President Obama's speech was inspiring.  America has come a long way in the civil rights movement and with the election of Barack Obama, we have finally come over the prejudice and discrimination that so often represented the United States.  The music from legend, Aretha Franklin and the other musical performances were wonderful.  Also, the two million people that arrived to watch the inauguration and see the new President in the flesh, clearly represented the mood of the rest of the nation.  I did however, disagree with the decision to have a preacher speak at the ceremony.  We have finally united as a nation without the discrimination of race, religion or anything else and it is clear that church and state are to be separate.  This event, on January 20th, 2009, will go down in history.  I am excited to see what the new President will do and what will happen over the next four years.

Secrets secrets are no fun.  Secrets secrets hurt someone.  Secrets are bad and when I have a secret or hear a secret it is quite obvious.  I first avoid people who cannot know the secret, especially the person it is about.  I am not a good secret keeper so if I don't avoid the person of whom the secret is about, I will probably end up blurting it out.  I also feel really guilty if I have or know a bad secret.  The secret ends up being what I think most about and makes it difficult to concentrate and fall asleep.  In the end I usually tell the truth to someone and try to fix whatever the problem is.  Secrets exacerbate everything and can ruin friendships.  Secrets are no fun unless it is for a surprise party or gift.

New Year's Resolution

I make New Year's resolutions  every year, but never end up keeping it.  Sometimes I don't even make it through January, but I eventually fail every time.  This year my New Year's resolution is to not procrastinate.  I usually wait until the last minute to work on a project, or study for a test and I feel my work could be tens times better if I take more time to work.  Instead I rush through things the night before and pull out a decent grade, but with more time and concentration, I could do much better.  

To achieve this goal I am going to be more thorough about writing down my assignments.  Also, I am going to work on managing my time so I don't have to wait until the last minute to work on something.  This resolution needs to be a life change rather than something I promise to do and only end up doing the beginning of the year.