Sunday, September 26, 2010

For A Duro

For a duro you got a night out of the wind.
(A duro was a five-peseta coin bearing
 Franco's profile, the hooked nose tipped
 upward as though he anlone recieved
 the breath of God. Back in '65
only he did recieve the breath of God.)
For a duro you could lie down in the hallway
of the Hotel Splendide in your Sunday suit,
sleep under the lights, and rise in time
to bless the Son's first coming. For a duro
you could have a coffee and a plain roll
that would shatter like glass. For a duro
you could have it all, the cars, the women,
the seven-course meal and a sea view,
with the waitress bending your check
to ask reverently, "More butter?" for a duro
I bought a pack of Antillanas gave one
to the only traveller in the deserted terminal,
a soldier in uniform. When he bowed
to receive a light I saw the milky nape,
unlined. He must still be there, waiting.
The hotel is gone, the building remains,
a pet hospital and animal refectory
overseen by Senior Esteban Ganz arrayed
for work this mornig in white coat,
dark tie, and soiled sneakers. Modestly
 he shows me three lobo pups, pintos,
saved from slaughter, the striped feral cats
pacing the big cage like tigers, the toucan
levelled by an unknown virus but now
alert and preening. Riotous colors:
reds, greens, and illuminated golds
suitable banners proclaiming inter-
galactic peace  the moment it arrives.

Philip Levine

This poem was very hard to relate to. I interpret it to be showing a time period in Spain or Mexico which was very dark. I researched what a duro was and the explanation was that of a surrency used when Spain joined the Latin Monetary Union in 1869. By the words in this poem it sounded like this time in history was very dark and poor. Levine says "for a duro you got a night out of the wind". When I think about this line I get the impression that not many people lived in luxury and lots were poor, almost like the Great Depression in America. The poem was also talking about an "animal refectory" I researched this term as well. The word refectory came to be defined as a dining hall in a church or monestary. There is a new meaning to the poem that has come to veiw, I believe now that the author is talking about politicians or leaders as animals- "the toucan levelled by an unknown virus but now alert and preening. Riotous collors: reds, greens, and illuminated golds." The use of the word riotous gave away a new meaning to me showing me what he thinks of the government and forms of leaders as animals with viruses spreading everywhere. Obviously this was a very dark time in history for Spain; filled with the poor and rebellious leaders.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Blackberries for Amelia

Blackberries for Amelia

Fringing the woods, the stone walls, and the lanes,
Old thickets everywhere have come alive,
Their new leaces reaching out in fans of five
From tangles overarched by this year's canes.

They have their flowers, too, it being June,
And here or there in brambled dark-and-light
Are small, five-petalled blooms of chalky white,
As random-clustered and as loosely strewn

As the far swtars, of which we now are told
That ever faster do they bolt away,
And that anight may come in which, some say,
We chall have only blackness to behold.

I have no time for any change so great,
But I shall see the August weather spur
Berries to ripen where the flowers were-
Dark berries, savage-sweet and worth the wait-

And there will come the moment to be quick
And save some from the birds, and I shall need
Two pails, old clothes in which to stain and bleed,
And a grandchild to talk with while we pick.

Richard Wilbur

                This poem was very relaxing for me. It was as if summer was set into motion again and all the worries of school, friendships, and stress were eliminated. When the author writes "I have no time for any change so great" I was struck into jealousy of how the life of this poem will always be the same the words always representing stressless summer days and summer nights.
               When I read this poem, at first, I imagined a child living in a place much like Colorado; the nature of the world always around. This child always living in harmony with their parents farm or garden of some sort exploring around and being in complete awe of the world around them. In the last line it states "And a grandchild to talk with while we pick." I realized that the poem was not about a child at all but about an elderly person who is probably retired. This elderly person always tending to their garden waiting for the days their grandchildren are out of school and are ready to come spend the summer in their beautiful garden.
               The elderly are waiting and making memories for years to come of all the great times their grandchildren and themselves spent outside. When I think of this it reminds me of how technology and media are destroying the traditions of the past and making a new. Things like computers, gameboys, xbox, and facebook are preventing children from experiencing the world and appreciating nature. New ages prevent beautiful things like this poem coming true...

Sunday, September 12, 2010

A Chinese Bowl

In this poem I did not really understand the significance of it I do not think because I am not related to the idea of junk being special or small tokens of things. I do not think junk is very special because I do not have many compilments of those types of things in my life so it was hard to relate to this poem. It was interesting though how the author used the different things to explain different importances in his life. For example, when the character asks a question to the reader that says, "what could I drink from you...that would renew my fallen life?" This quote really got to me and showed me how so many small instances in your life and small impressions other people put off affect you and other people. It proves the point that small insignifacant things in your life actually do make a huge impact.
Maybe I should try keeping small tokens...

Monday, September 6, 2010

Poetry Response 2

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein


There is a place where the sidewalk ends

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright,

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind.



Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.



Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.
 
 
I feel like this poem is very straight-forward. I feel like the author is just talking about the ways of life and walking through it like its a sidewalk on the side of the street. On the sidewalk in your life your have arrows as to where your parents and friends are pointing you to go like the children draw on the sidewalk. In your life you have sunny patches where the grass is greem and your life is beautiful. Also you have bad patches of rough times in your life just like how the poem says in stanza two, line two, "and the dark streets wind and bend". This poem is just making a point about your life and the travels a person goes through.