Reflection

I figured I would use this last blog as a chance to brainstorm for my essay that will accompany my portfolio at the end of the semester. I am happy with the way my first semester back in school went. It was a big change from my last couple years at the academy. I remember being there I always did the bare minimum to get by, I always waited until the very last minute to work on assignments, and never edited things before turning them in. This semester I was actually excited about school and managed to keep up with readings and work in all my classes! It was a good feelings, and it reminded me what it was like to be a good student.

As far as this class went I enjoyed it very much. It was a nice change of pace because all of my other classes were history classes. I also enjoyed the writing, it was kind of freeing. I also think it helped with my writing skills in general. I applied a lot of what I learned about writing with detail, and how to keep a reader interested to my history papers. I also enjoyed the poetry section of the course. I have never been very good at poetry, but I liked the fact that it gave me the opportunity to revisit the poem I wrote for Carolyn. While I was editing it I spent a night remembering her and it was a positive and therapeutic  experience for me. I never knew that writing could be so helpful within my own life and I plan to taking advantage of that in the future.

Workshop Poem

I just finished editing my workshop poem for the first time in over 3 years and it was more difficult than I thought. I did not think it would be easy, because it is close to my heart, but I was also slowed down by a migraine that just wouldn't quit! Anyway, I know that it needed to be polished because things were clear to me since I wrote it, but not so much to the reader. I don't think it was as obvious as I thought it was that it was a dream at first and that it was a phone ringing in the background. I wanted to sure up these details, and make the poem more descriptive, without losing the original emotion that it was written with. I read over it several times and took into the account the suggestions made by my professor, my peers, and my mother (who read it for the first time too). I usually have my mom read things before I turn them in if I can because she has been an english teacher since she graduated from college. After I re-read the poem several times I spent some time thinking about Carolyn and listening to some of her favorite songs to try and get in touch with the emotion that the original was written with. I will be interested to see if this revised version is more concrete and easier to understand, or if it comes across as too straight forward or more numb.

Hopefully it turns out better, but I'm sure there is still more that will come up during the workshop. I am excited to be working with this poem because I have always toyed with the idea of perfecting it. I was also pleased that I was able to read it in our small groups in class on Monday without getting too emotional. It was the first time I have read it aloud since I read it to Carolyn, and it was also the first time anyone other than her or I had seen it, other than being on this blog a couple weeks ago.

Workshop Poem

I have been struggling with which poem to use for workshop at the end of the semester. I want to use the poem that I wrote for Carrie, which I posted a few weeks back on here. The problem might be when it comes time to edit. I don't know is this poem is too close to me for me to be able to take criticism on it. I am worried I won't be able to change anything because while each line may not be perfect, it reminds me of her. I am willing to give it a shot, but I might have to have a back up poem. No one else had even read this poem other than Carrie and myself until I posted it in this blog. I don't mind people reading it, and I am excited about it because it has a lot of meaning to me. I am excited to see what kind of meaning this poem has when other read it. I just hope that I am able to work on it constructively during the editing process. It was written almost 3 years ago and I had never taken any classes in poetry writing before.

Inspiration for Writing Assignment 7

The house was abandoned probably over 15 years ago when a storm condemned it, and ever since it has been a favorite place of mine before, during, and after a lived in Marco Island, FL. We always used this house as a land mark. It is on the southern tip of an uninhabited island which meant we could to anything we wanted here. Often we would have bonfires, camp, or spend the weekend out here near the house. It was our favorite place because there was never anyone else around for miles. I can't remember a bad experience on this beach, and I have never been to that part of Florida without going out there to throw a party, or just go fishing. In later years the hose has been overtaken by the water and we can't go inside anymore, but it is still standing. I'm sure sooner or later it will fall down in a storm, but it will still always be one of my favorite places on earth.

Continued...

I neglected to write a response to the third poem from class on the 11th. The poem "New Snow" is very descriptive and seems to paint a picture for the reader with the words that the author chose. I get a clear feeling of the stillness of the wilderness after the snow has stopped falling. It seems that the immediate world is frozen in time, and is very peaceful. The only action we get in the poem was the sound of the carriage in the distance, but the fact that the narrator describes the sound so clearly, while being so far away from it only adds to the stillness of the scene. I like this poem as an example of the power of imagery. I can almost see the scene in my mind as a read the poem, and since no specific place was listed it takes me back to experiences in my own life. Perhaps the author intended this effect, which makes the poem applicable to each reader in their own way.

I look forward to trying my hand at the techniques I learned from reading these poems. I am enjoying writing poetry much more than prose because, for me, there is less analytical thought that goes into a poem, and more feeling.

Reading Responses

Since I missed class last week on April 11 I wanted to share my thoughts about the poems that were assigned as reading material for that class. First, Raymond Carver's poem about the photo of his father was touching. It almost feels like the narrator's father has just passed away and he is studying a picture of him. Since the poem refers to the father in the past tense (ex: All his life my father wanted to be bold) I get the sense he has passed. The narrator also expresses his regret that his father never passed on certain things to him as if it were too late now. I think the narrator is looking for something to be happy about in the wake of his father's death, but it having trouble finding it because it appears his father never became the man that he wished to be, and now he never will.

The poem written by Robert Hayden I get a sense of deep regret from the narrator, who wishes he had been more thankful and loving of his father when he was young. The author paints a picture of a tired, weathered man who works tirelessly to make the house warm for everyone else even on his days off, and no one ever thanked him for his work. It sounds like the father had become a bitter man by the time the narrator is recalling, yet he continued to work for others. It sounds like the narrator is still haunted today by how poorly he treated his father, and wishes he could go back and change how he was as a child.

Explanation

That poem was written a few years back for my fiance when she was sick in the hospital. She had just undergone a bone marrow transplant as well at chemo and she was stuck in an isolation room in the hospital on and off, sometimes for extended periods of time. I wrote this to her during a time when our relationship existed through the phone only for a couple months. It was a hard time for both of us, but this was meant to show how excited I got every time my phone rang and she was on the other end. Every reference to her was also capitalized because I was referring to one specific person, not a general idea of a person. I am sure it is not great, because I have never had any classes on poetry before, but it expressed one of the greatest emotions I have ever felt for anyone so I have always kept this poem. I even still go back and read it from time to time.