First Poem
Sunflowers
Long, stretching
petals
holding up strong.
Few droopy flowers
closing
from the outside
But they're all still
flowers
Sunflowers
Aging through life
Turning bright yellow
to dark shades
of orange and brown
Happy at first
but getting sorrow
Hanging on
Slipping
out
of life
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Reflection: To write my poem, I used the Sunflower
painting by Vincent Van Gogh to inspire me. I used mainly enjambment line
breaks to slow down the beat of the poem and to emphasize parts such as the
ending.
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Second Poem
Collection of Haikus
Still water
mountains in the back
Ready for a swim
Cable cars in the air
going in the mountains
Get me off!
Perched on wood
looking in the water
Hunting its prey
It's bright outside
glistening water
The sun's not out
Benches waiting to be
sat on
trees waiting to be climbed
Where is everyone?
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Reflection: To write my haikus, I read traditional
Japanese haikus and based it off of them. They were mostly about nature, so I
looked at pictures of animals and outdoor settings to inspire me. To also
emulate a Japanese haiku, I tried making surprise endings such as a question.
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Sonnet:
Life of a Lonely Girl
She
lived a life full of sorrow and pain
Running
away into a hole of lies
They
beat her 'til she was buried in shame
They
took over her life until she died
And
when she lived she never showed a smile
Telling
lies to everyone in her way
Keeping
it to herself was just her style
But
this made everyone else feel betrayed
Depressed,
sad, and lonely is all she felt
Having
no one to talk to made it worse
Regretting
not asking people for help
So
she feels like her life was just a curse
The
lonely girl who told lies is now gone
Except
her tragic story still lives on
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Reflection: To write my sonnet, I
analyzed the Shakespearean structured sonnet, “Another Sonnet for Stephan”
and used it as a mentor poem. My sonnet follows a traditional Shakespearean
sonnet with 10 syllables per line, 14 lines, iambic pentameter, and a rhyme
scheme of a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,f,g,g. I also tried to tell a story
throughout the poem.
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My
Heart Poem
Incident by Countee
Cullen
Once riding in
old Baltimore,
Heart-filled,
head-filled with glee,
I saw a
Baltimorean
Keep looking
straight at me.
Now I was eight
and very small,
And he was no
whit bigger,
And so I smiled,
but he poked out
His tongue and
called me, “Nigger.”
I saw the whole
of Baltimore,
From May until
December;
Of all the things
that happened there,
That’s all that I
remember.
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My Inspired Poem: Monster
Now I was eight and very small
And I was going to sleep
Just when I was closing my eyes
I remember seeing someone peep
I called my mom and yelled
"There's a monster under my
bed!"
But my mom just laughed
"Silly you there's nothing
there," she said
One year later,
I moved away
I got a new bed. But I know
I wasn't the only one that lay.
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Reflection: I tried to use the same
structure as Cullen did so I used the same stanza size, perspective, and rhyme
scheme. I also used an allusion to the poem by using one of the lines to
inspire me and start off my poem. Lastly, I wanted to imitate the central idea
that memories from your childhood can stay in your life, so I used the monster
part to mimic Cullen.
Reading
Response
A negative experience can be like a permanent nightmare
that we never forget. The poem, "Incident" by Countee Cullen shows
the experience of a person, in their perspective, being called a racial slur.
At a young age, Cullen was called a "nigger" and for the rest of her
life she continues to remember when she was called it in Baltimore, although
spending months there.
The typical 4-line stanza poem actually tells a story and shows
Cullen's experience and reflection. For instance, her 1st stanza introduced the
scene and starts the poem off with a very cheerful and gleeful mood.
Cullen writes, "Heart-filled, head-filled with glee," to set a joyful
tone for the rest of the poem. However, I could also foreshadow that something
would happen later on to develop something a little darker, thus the title
"Incident". The poem takes a turn and shows the mood of the poem
change. The 2nd stanza was mainly about when someone came up to her and used a
racial slur to address her. It threw her off guard and changed the mood of the
poem to surprising because it was a dreadful experience that came out of nowhere.
The 3rd stanza shows the author reflecting on her experience. Cullen writes,
"Of all the things that happened there/ That's all that I remember."
To show hope that is one event sticks in her mind. The poem develops the
central idea of how bad memories are the ones that stick in your head.
Some people judge you based on your color or other things such as
at first glance. However, they don't know anything about your background or
life, so they really can't judge. This happened to the narrator in the poem and
it shows what a terrifying experience being called at can be. This reminds me
of the recent controversy of catcalling. Some believe that they have a fit to
say something if a women is showing something because they have the freedom of
speech. However, others feel that catcalling is harassment especially because
they are offensive and sexual. Many women change their routes, behavior,
transportations, and or clothes so they won't have to deal with it. Being
called something because of your race can be very uncomfortable just like being
catcalled at. Therefore, I think using racial slurs to talk to a stranger on
the street is unjust and puts the victim in a very disturbing position.
Many may argue that they
have the freedom of speech in the thirst Amendment in the Constitution.
However, people may have the freedom of speech, but they don't have the right
to verbally harass someone on the street. Rather than taking advantage of this right
and using it in an offensive and or sexual way, people should give each other
compliments. People say catcalling is a compliment, but it is used in a very
sexual way. To avoid a negative incident like in the poem "Incident"
by Countee Cullen, people should give each other positive incidents.
