Pie Poem

Blueberry Pie

A pie seemed really hard to make
But we just preheated the oven and pressed "Bake."
Next, the delicate art of perfect crust:
We hoped the recipe was one we could trust.
Juicy berries with sugar and spice
Made filling that tasted tangy and nice.
We rolled out the crust and put berries inside
The stuck the pie in the oven, glowing with pride.
Golden brown and bubbling thickly,
The pie was done and had cooked quite quickly.
We started out amateurs and finished as pros
With a pie, Elise said, "as pretty as a rose."

Poetry Blog 5

I read "Acquainted with the Night," by Robert Frost, and thought that it was very eloquently written. It seems like an extended metaphor, but it's hard to decipher all the details, especially about the "luminary clock. And "...dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain." Basically I think the narrator is saying that he/she is familiar with sadness or bad times, and a lot of them, based on the details of the poem such as "I have walked out in rain--and back in rain," and "I have looked down the saddest city lane." It seems that the narrator feels like he or she is almost unnoticed in their unhappiness, or dark place so to speak, especially the line that says "But not to call me back or say good-by." On the other hand, the poem could be interpreted as simply an appreciation of the night: the narrator using details to say that they are familiar with the night, simply because they enjoy it, and the fact that at night one can go unnoticed. I also really like the ABA rhyme scheme of this poem. I like that it rhymes and has a rhythm to it, but also that it isn't in an expected pattern. I also like that it ends with an AA pattern in the last stanza: it gives a strong emphasis to the last line that is also the title of the poem, tying the ending back to the beginning.

Poetry Blog 4

This week I read "The Secret" by Denise Levertov. It initially reminded me of when teachers read something I write and get a deeper meaning out of it than I originally intended. I can never decide if what someone else gets out of my writing is something I said on purpose but subconciously, or if I shouldn't take credit for a simple coincidence. Although I am not much of a poet, I think this is the idea Levertov is trying to convey. Often when reading someone else's poetry, like what happens with my writing sometimes, I pick up on symbolism that I'm not sure is only symbolic to me, or if the author intentionally wrote it that way. I tend to overanalyze poems, so I'm really concious of this when reading poetry. I don't know who the mention of "two girls" is referring to in "The Secret," but I think Levertov is saying that they interpreted a poem she wrote in a different and possibly more insightful way than she even meant it to come across. They didn't tell her what "the secret of life" was though, so maybe the girls just enjoyed it and related it to their lives in a way Levertov hadn't thought of, and she is touched by the fact that her poetry can do that. She then says she's certain that "by now, more than a week/ later, they have forgotten/ the secret," possibly to mean they probably didn't think about the poem beyond reading it and analyzing it. (As we often do in Lit...) But she hopes they will discover it again by re-reading her poem, or even more generally, by reading more poetry. The secret could also be just relating poetry to your own life and finding joy in that, whether the author intended your interpretation or not. No matter what "the secret" is, "The Secret" is definitely an incentive to read more poetry, knowing there is a secret at all.

Poetry Response 3

I read Allastair Reid's poem "Curiosity." It is based on the cliche "curiosity killed the cat," which is traditionally meant to discourage curiousity, because exploring the unknown can often come at a price. However, Reid's take on this idea is a little different. Reid sees curiosity as a good thing; he suggests that there is no reason to live if you are not curious. His whole poem is an extended metaphor using the cat to represent the curious, and the dog to represent those who do not care to know what's outside of their back yard fence. Using these metaphors, Reid says that the boredom and repetition in day to day life will kill you if you are not curious, rather than curiosity, the alternative. Being curious is worth the risk because "only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all." Reid then goes on to describe the danger and consequences of curiosity: there is always a chance that you might suffer for it, but the curious accept this as a price to pay for having lived. As he puts it, "Let them be nine lived and contradictory,/ curious enough to change, prepared to pay/ the cat price, which is to die/ and die again, each ti
e with no less pain." Reid then reinforces the idea that this daring way of living is good by saying that being curious teaches you that dying, or suffering consequences, is what you must do to truly live and love and experience the world, and that the ignorant "dogs" will die without realizing that death is the consequence for having lived, so you might as well make the most of it. I like Reid's perspective of life.