Final Post!

For my last and final post I chose to write about "After Tonight" by Gary Soto.  Though this poem may seem rather grim and quite saddening  there was a much different meaning that I picked up on as I read the poem.  The narrator describes different scenarios that involved some sort of wait or expectation of something or someone."You expect your daughter/to be at the door at any moment/And your husband to arrive/with the night.(Line 19-22)  These are simple everyday expectations of a mother/wife that she may never think those expectations could be gone in a blink of an eye.  Tomorrow isn't always guaranteed for anyone so why do we as people always expect everything and everyday to be the same.  We should always cherish the life that we have and the loved ones who are in it.  We should of course always expect the best from them but never expect that they are guaranteed to always be a part of our life.  This is the idea that I believe Soto was trying to make with this poem.  Never expect what you think should be certain because nothing is ever guaranteed in life or ever certain.

"We real cool" By Gwendolyn Brooks

Brooks herself has stated that when she wrote this poem she drew her inspiration from music and as you read the poem you are immediately thrown into a rhythm and beat.   Brooks drew from the environment she found herself in and the world around her.  Jazz was one of the most influential forms of music heard around the world.  Jazz was a creative art that in turn influenced others like Brooks to be creative in their works by drawing inspiration from simple things like a pool game or the actions of two men at a pool house.  This poem is a musical reality that uses real life people, and kids who thought they were real cool because they were doing everything they wanted.  They followed the beat of the drum and the sound of the sweet music that existed within their soul.  That is what Brooks was writing about.  She saw that people were real cool because they allowed inspiration to be a part of their life.  "We real cool" was indeed a real cool poem that brought creativity to the reader by the form of sound and music.

"Horses" by Ted Hughes

This particular poem begins and ends in darkness.  It's as if the world has frozen and become this horrible place where their is but one wrong belief.  All this talk of a grey world really represents Hughes views on the idea that the holiness and purity of faith and religion has been lost forever.  The horses that are seen and described in the poem are the only thing left that still holds the faith and purity that once existed.  It's as if Hughes still wanted to leave a piece of hope for the lonely world hoping that someone or something many see what the world has become; the world has become nothing but a lonely dark place where the idea of faith and religion is just that an idea that will never have true meaning if the people do not stop seeing it and not believing in it.  Though Hughes really no longer believed in the sanctity of having faith I believe that he wrote this poem as a form of hope.  Hope that someone somewhere could restore the belief that he and many others once had.  Hope that the one thing that was still pure had the power to restore the world from the lonely grey world that now surrounds everyone as they go through life.

"Sad Steps" Philip Larkin

"Sad Steps" immediately strikes me as a distant memory of the young days of the author's life.  A night sky filled with clouds and a clear moon can be interpreted as a memory of a young man surrounded by a group of friends.  It's as if the moon represents the happiness that the author felt as a young man and the clouds represent the distant days that once were.  The author seems to want to remember those beloved days so much only to reassure that they are still a part of him.  He’s older and his life has changed from what it once was.  He reminisces and yet he is reminded that those glorious days can never be forgotten but they will never come again.  The author then realizes that age and getting older is just a part of life and .though at times realizing it can be a sad, those cherished memories will always be a part of the author's life and his "Sad Steps" are no longer just "Sad Steps".  Those steps are now a cherished treasure of the life that has led the author to be whom and where he is as he remembers his young days.

"One Art" by Elizabeth Bishop

I chose to write about "One Art" because not only does it ring true, but loosing someone or something important is spoken of as a form of art.  Though I never would've considered looking at loss as a form of art, as I continued to read the poem I began to see how loss of something can become a sad and dangerous art that can be easily mastered.  When their is a loss of a loved one their is sadness, pain, and unfortunately as time goes on a person must go on with life and live without their loved one.  As stated in the poem "The art of losing is not hard to master" (Line 6)  When someone lets go of the most important opportunities in life or even their most important relationship their is regret but still life goes on and one must go on as well.  Again the statement "The art of losing is not hard to master" (Line 6) rings true.  Unfortunately mastering the art of loss isn't always the best thing and can become quite dangerous because losing becomes a part of someone and soon losing something important can seem like nothing.  One could  completely loose the feeling of regret and no longer wanting to lose the most important thing(s) in life.  Soon losing becomes so second  nature that one will never be able to learn what to do or how to get out of such a devastating mess.  Losing is the one art that all can master but the question is would anyone want to?

Dylan Thomas "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Death is an inevitable part of life but one's life and how they live it can be from one extreme to the next.  In Dylan Thomas poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night" there is a description of three different men.  The first is the wisest men of all.  The wise man knows from experience that life is not perfect and that no matter how hard he plans and tries it is always difficult to make a difference in the world we live in today.   He is very aware that things in life do not come easy and that he to will face a hard road as he approaches death.  The second man that is described in the poem is probably how many wish they could live their life.  This man is so happy and has a positive attitude because, even though he realizes that the end is near, he chooses to live life to the fullest knowing that the road he to will face will not be easy as he comes to meet his death.  The third and final man that is described in this poem is exactly what the first impression you get as you read the poem.  Though he also is living life to the fullest, he is doing it in a wild manner that unfortunately will cost him gravely as he to approaches the end of his life.  Though it is good to have fun as you live your life that doesn't mean you must only have fun and forget about caring for yourself and your health.  By the end of the poem all three men are tied into one because Thomas states in the end that though it is always good to be wise it is  never good  to forget to have fun and enjoy life, but it is also never good to not take care of yourself because as the end of your life comes near the road gets harder and you will not go gently as you die.

"The Perfect High" by Shel Silverstein

It's crazy to think that many people from past and present day turn to drugs to get this rush that they can never find in something positive.  It's as if a person that is addicted to such drugs are always searching for an escape that they never seem to find.  In " The Perfect High"  Gimmesome Roy is on a continuous search for the perfect drug that will lead him to the perfect escape that will help him forget.  He experiments with different drugs like PCP and Cocaine never realizing that in reality he is throwing his life away and only distancing himself from the actual perfect high that comes from experiencing life itself.  In reality this boy continues to go from drug to drug because he is never satisfied.  It doesn't matter how great he may feel when he is high the high never lasts and he can't seem to understand why.  In an odd way he did find the escape though it was not quite the escape he was looking for.  In jumping from drug to drug he slowly left the world around him and the beauty of life that once surrounded him.