Maryanne+Cheah+Poetry+Log

Checked 18 September 4/15-25 KBoyce Collection and commentary need to expand.
 * || Title || Poet || Description ||
 * 1 || Hand Shadows || Mary Cornish || Imaginative, while playing with words and imagery. I like the smooth transformation between each “character” ||
 * 2 || Some Clouds || Steve Kowit || Beautiful as it is depressing. The story of the loved one that was lost. Steve Kowit fabricated a lovely poem with perfect words to describe such difficult emotions ||
 * 3 || The Swan at Edgewater Park || Ruth L. Schwartz || Alliteration perfectly encompasses the speaker’s slightly annoyed tone. I like the metaphor that is reflected at the end. ||
 * 4 || The Space Heater || Sharon Olds || A warm poem with a heart-touching storyline. The speaker’s emotional feelings towards her father’s act was evident through the flashbacks and images. ||


 * || Title || Poet || Description ||
 * 1 || Hand Shadows || Mary Cornish || Imaginative, while playing with words and imagery. I like the smooth transformation between each “character” ||
 * 2 || Some Clouds || Steve Kowit || Beautiful as it is depressing. The story of the loved one that was lost. Steve Kowit fabricated a lovely poem with perfect words to describe such difficult emotions ||
 * 3 || The Swan at Edgewater Park || Ruth L. Schwartz || Alliteration perfectly encompasses the speaker’s slightly annoyed tone. I like the metaphor that is reflected at the end. ||
 * 4 || The Space Heater || Sharon Olds || A warm poem with a heart-touching storyline. The speaker’s emotional feelings towards her father’s act were evident through the flashbacks and images. ||
 * 5 || Impetus || Alison Stine || Reminds me of parables told in the bible, especially the one with the seeds growing on different soils. Imagery of the fruits and tastes reflect the loss of the speaker as the bitter tone resounds throughout the poem. Themes of selfishness and jealousy create a topic that I, as a reader can relate to. ||
 * 6 || Regarding Rain || Lucas Farrell || Overall the most structurally creative poem, with different sections for each “/Myth/”. The relatable topic of the misuse of resources creates more interest and curiosity to search for more depth in the poem. Language used to decide actions taken by these resources bring a strong edge to the poem as if the scenes were actually happening. ||
 * 7 || I’ll Remember This Autumn || Leonardo Sinisgalli || Beautiful poetry with relatable imagery of friends and family. I love how the poem was originally in Italian, it adds to the warmth and morale in the poem. The heavy personification creates a rich imagery for me to picture along with the deep storyline of “this autumn”. ||
 * 8 || Perfect Season || Elizabeth Poliner || This poem reminds me of a longer more descriptive version of I’ll Remember This Autumn, where there is a family oriented storyline. The reflection of tension between the game and the speaker’s questions makes the poem more interesting as I had to aspects to compare throughout the poem. ||
 * 9 || Silence in the City || Wayne Miller || Interesting structural play in the poem as well as using things that are found in bare rural areas like natural symbols to metaphorically create imagery of the city. Also I found the irony in the presence of sound in the poem while the poem is titled Silence in the City. ||
 * 10 || 7 || Niels Frank || The poem discusses a philosophical aspect of life, the world and our universe, which is a rare thing to come across in poems. However, the questioning and statements make the poem interesting to read, which made me think a lot about what was implied through my interpretation. It seemed as if Frank was talking about the world like a box, with inner and outer and being empty on the inside but full of life on the outside. ||
 * 11 || Little Arithmetic || Timothy O’Keefe || Interesting literary features used in the poem. One that I have seen little of is the use of repetition which O’Keefe uses predominantly. The title of the poem actually assists a lot with making sense of the poem in that the relationship is like an equation. ||
 * 12 || Margin of Error || Joyce Peseroff || By far the most quirky poem I have yet seen. The intended errors in the poem create this playful environment while discussing the world. ||
 * 13 || The Book of the Dead Man (Vertigo) || Marvin Bell || Beautiful two part poem. I loved the beginning of the poem which started with, giving a short sneak peek into the topic/s the poem covered. Part one was like an oxymoron, peacefully gloomy. As the dead man’s story was described, short cinematic images of each “clip” (line) could be pictured. Also, warm soft tones lightened the dreary mood of the poem (part 1). In the second part, the dead man is rejuvenated! Excitement and happier imagery is created, however the continuation of the usage of the soft tones depict serene memories, echoing the renewal of the dead man. ||
 * 14 || The Sleep Divison (excerpt) || Mina Ishikawa || I really like this poem in a way that it is has a volume to it, as if the words appearing in italics are whispers, like the rumours told in those lines, however when it goes back to a normal font, there is more detail. The start explained at the end really adds a cherry to the short sweet poem. Also, the idea of which such calmness can “float” about like oil on water, thick on clear, that is derived from chaos and lethargy is so profound, simple and natural that all of the work and stress just simply vanishes like the subjects in the poem. ||
 * 15 || Subsidence || Ida Stewart || The rich imagery and sounds bring about the memories of the home and what daily events were experienced. Questions asked like a naive girl, the subject transports into the past to visit her old home. I think the purpose of the poem, clearly stated at the top was a little let down since the beautiful poem could be thought of or imagined by the reader as anyone, however stating the clear objective of the poem was not very appealing to me as a reader. ||
 * 16 || They were Too Poor for Buttons || Ellie Evans || Nice short poem, about the wonderful things in life to an unfortunate person. However ideas of jealousy still hang around to poison the happiness. I like the listing in this poem of the items they own as if pulling them out of a wooden chest. ||
 * 17 || Bride of New Dawn || Laura Mullen || Again the idea of cycles and things always goes around. I didn’t like the massive chunk of text it represented itself in. As if the cycle cannot occur in the poem since it is blocking it off in comparison to a text that we are able to read the words. This speaker also uses listing as a literary feature. Also, I liked the grotesque facial imagery towards the end, highlighting the chaos of the event ||
 * 18 || Infant Father || William Wenthe || The structural organization of this poem allows the idea of fatherhood and innocence of youth to flow throughout the poem. I loved the three word listing in each stanza as well as the few questions asked which provoked the happy thoughts in my mind. I almost thought the child was going to have some sort of fatality towards the end, however the words imply otherwise. ||
 * 19 || Fado: Black Boat || Marilyn Hacker || Hacker paints a beautiful animated movie with the lights and characteristics of boats at sea. The structure of this poem is clever with repetition from beginning to end. Despite the small lights that appear, the mood of the poem is fairly gloomy and dark, but Hacker plays with the audience with actions and questions towards the audience. I think this poem is quite fun and clever. ||
 * 20 || The Promise || Ales Debeljak || After finding out this poem was translated, I wondered how differently I perceived the message compared to the original Slovenian piece. I though the structure of the piece, being one entire chunk without any spaces around the block of poetry was interesting and made it seem like a very full, thick tale, just like promises, or what you expect them to be. ||
 * 21 || A Partridge—A Pear Tree || Kate Potts || Nice poem composed of enjambments and little bits of alliteration. The title suggests some sort of Christmas or winter connection. Potts also plays with sweet and short images, and also adopts the first day, second day trend, like the Christmas song. ||
 * 22 || Blackouts || [|Margo Berdeshevsky] || Interesting play on structure towards the ideas suggested by title. Poignant and reflective of philosophical ideas. ||
 * 23 || Elegance || Fleda Brown || A sweet and pleasant poem about the thoughts, wants and misunderstandings of the speaker, who doesn't seem to be very alert about his/her surroundings. Full of similes and imagery. ||
 * 24 || Waimea-of-the-Dead || Garrett Hongo || A lengthy poem about a trip to Waimea and the speaker’s sons. Their actions seem somewhat sinister and bleak, however this is juxtaposed by the cheerful memories the speaker holds from the past. Could be considered a short story if the structure was different and had less enjambments and similes. ||
 * 25 || The Light-Grey Soil || [|Gjertrud Schnackenberg] || Very long poem about a disheartened lonely person. A lot more scientific terms than what would be expected from a poet. The storyline seems to be a metaphorical transition from rich soil to eroded soil. ||
 * 26 || Galilee || Quan Berry || Title brings to mind Christianity. Repetition of “all night” and the repetition of time emphasize a rhythmic chiming of the clock. Religious allusions add to the vivid imagery and environment. ||
 * 27 || Happiness || Elisabeth Frost || Delightful poem about the speaker appealing to an audience who isn’t listening. Shows how people can be so ignorant and obstinate about simple things. ||
 * 28 || Crazy Quilt || Tess Taylor || Repetitive and nostalgic. About a sister who learned how to make quilts. Transitions from salvage to destruction. ||
 * 29 || Bring me the sunflower || [|Eugenio Montale] || Short and lovely poem about the obscure and simplicity of certain objects. Enjambments used to show the movements of objects and juxtapositions of the two topics. Really like this poem and the ideas it encompasses. ||
 * 30 || The Rock in Mid-Lake Disappears and I Who Might || Jeanne Larson || A mixture of clashing descriptions and words organized into a headache causing, cluttered structure. Some allusions to Siddhartha, jumping from wealthy to pitiable imagery. ||
 * 31 || Required Fields || Paul Muldoon || This reminiscing approach to recalling memories of the time the speaker lived in a European country, as the poem consists of hints of French. Dramatic end about the harsh responsibilities they have to uphold and were “reduced” to. ||
 * 32 || Letter From a Mental Hospital || Kim Lozano || About the melancholy of being a lonely patient, always waiting for someone. Somewhat poignant and bitter as the speaker drifts away from the outside world when her “pen pal” stops replying her, and she is trapped forever. ||
 * 33 || My dad & sardines || Toi Derricotte || Slightly “crooked” poem, that gives an illusion of an innocent relationship between father and child, when the father passes away and the child is left with a five year can of sardines to remember his father by. However, the skewed memory of the child is exposed when he uses dark descriptions to remember his father by. ||
 * 34 || Ahihi Bay || Floyd Skloot || Imagery packed poem with a nice ambience of what is assumed to be “ahihi bay”. The imagery seems to be quite cheerful, however the shortness of the poem suggests the short memory in which it occupies the speakers mind. ||
 * 35 || Usk || Paul Henry || About getting back on track with life, uses river metaphors and other elements of nature to illustrate imagery of “sludging” through life, like sludging through mud. ||
 * 36 || Leaf Watching, for Landor || William Olsen || Rhyming adds to the tension and rhythm of poem to get the story going. Each stance is a short story following the structure: problem, more problem, outcome. ||
 * 37 || Counter-Amores 1.3 || Jennifer Clarvoe || Alliteration and repetition used to transcend strong emotions of anger and frustration, while addressing the audience as you. About a catastrophic event, touching on several uncomfortable topics, and blatantly talking about death and the dead without respect to show sarcastic connotations. ||
 * 38 || Below the Raven’s Nest || David Wagoner || Interesting and innovative structure which connects the descriptions of each type of person appearing in the poem to the speaker. The structure gives the poem a rhythm before each indented stanza as if the narrator stopped to turn a page, or is giving an introduction. Another poem about finding oneself through the stories of others. ||
 * 39 || How It Is || Anne Stevenson || Explores the natural cycle of people and lives, and/or experiences. Slightly narcissistic, but blatant and honest at the same time through the long clear sentences with slightly more spacing than other poems. ||
 * 40 || Lost || Adam Zagajewski || Short poem about things we are starting to take for granted or forget in life. Repetition of words and sounds is used to show the length of time it takes for such an item to start to disappear from human beings lives. ||
 * 41 || Aspirin and Shadow || Chris Forhan || Dark and dismal poem about a lonely person, on a journey by “myself”. Repetition of dark or dim images and gory imagery such as blood. The poem was short, which may emphasize the insignificance of the speaker’s life/journey. ||
 * 42 || The Crew Change || Don Share || Each stanza consisting of three lines, with little coherent rhythm to each stanza, shows the disconnection between the crew members. Also, the repetition of the first line and last line create an interesting hyperbole of whether or not it could be a reference to the poor and Bono helping the poor. ||
 * 43 || Seawall || Joshua Edwards || Particularly bubbly poem, with lots of cheerful imagery about the underwater environment. A lot of extended metaphors between nature and life and how memories should be cherished once they start to blur out like things do when they are placed underwater. ||
 * ||  ||   || 5 December 2011 47/45-75 ||