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A Ride in the Rain – by Blas Falconer
This piece by Blas Falconer is one I actually don’t particularly enjoy, or for that matter even completely understand what he is getting at, and it took me several times through to get to some sort of meaning which I could comprehend. After doing this I researched Falconer and discovered his background and this helped me understand why this piece was written this way. In this collection which he published alongside 45 other pieces, he writes intentionally to create a broad spectrum of interpretations for everybody to take it in for. This piece also follows a pantoum sequence which involves repeating lines which drive home important parts of the poem. To me though, this poem really represents the attachment of someone who you begin not to trust but slowly let into your life and when you let your guard down they end up doing you wrong. It is something which you originally suspect to be not right but for whatever reason whether it be confusion or a dark place you are in mentally you allow it and in the end you were right and should have listened to your gut feeling.
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I chose to respond to A Ride in the Rain. I enjoyed this poem because even though it had restrictions, and didn’t make much sense, the imagery still felt very vivid. I don’t really know what he means, but I can definitely feel how the dark clouds bellow, while you catch a ride with a strange man. It probably helped that iv’e been learning ‘Riders on the Storm’ by The Doors, which has very similar imagery in a lot of ways. I can sort of attach the meaning of that song to the poem, which helps wrap my brain about it. As far as the structure goes, I think it gave the reader something to grab onto, and kinda puzzle out while reading. Yes, the poem was darkly beautiful to me, but I also really enjoyed seeing how he was going to develop on the lines, and give them significance. Overall, I’d love to explore this form a bit more, although I doubt I would ever be able to write anything good with it.
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A Ride in the Rain
I enjoyed reading this poem. I felt like either it was way too deep for me to understand, or it was left without much detail on purpose. The poem left me with a lot of questions, why was he worried if the driver had a knife? Was he robbing the driver? Why did he have a knife up to his throat at the end? What does the reference to the sugarcane mean? I felt the structure was designed with repetition to try to drive home the important parts of the poem. I’d like to do more research on this author to see what his other poems are like. -
I chose to write about the poem Ghazal for White Hen Pantry by Jamila Woods. At first, I did not understand the meaning of the title. But after some research, I found out that a Ghazal was a form of poetry in Middle Eastern and Indian culture. Furthermore, I found out White Hen Pantry is a convenience store chain in the American Midwest and the North Eastern coast. This plays into the location, which I found out was a neighborhood called Beverly in Chicago. This neighborhood is predominantly white and the main character is a young black child. I can only assume this poem is about the author’s experiences in this town growing up. It addresses the low income of families in that area and the racism that has been rampant in the past. For example, the line about the unmarked car pulling up and forcing the narrator to confront the store owner for a slight inconvenience at best. The author then goes to say they learned that “Black sins cost much more than white ones.” The formatting of this poem also caught my attention. Two lines per stanza and the last line always had white describing something. This could be a way to show that because the neighborhood was mostly white, white culture pretty much was everywhere and as a black person, it was hard to get away from. The poem also does not use capitalization or punctuation. This could represent how the narrator is a young child at best and does not tend to care about this. Overall, I think this poem addresses the racial inequality of the time very well. The point of view combined with how the author wrote this poem really pushed the fact that the narrator did not feel at home in this area. They did not feel familiar despite living in the area.
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A Ride in the Rain – Blas Falconer
I really enjoyed this poem. I really enjoy the when authors or poets, end and start a story with the same line. It gives the piece a feeling of completeness and feels like the poem has a circular nature to it. I am really curious about the background of what the poem was written about, or where the author got the idea for the poem. Without this information, the poem posed more questions in the viewer than it answered. My interpretation is that the man the poem describes is a homeless man. This is why the narrator consistently points out that he has empty hands. This could mean that he is either begging for money or that he is without money. It would also make sense why the rain falls onto the man. The narrator may feel guilt for the man because he is able to live in his car while the man is on the street. I am honestly confused as to what the sugarcane and the machete mean in this story. I think that he has no knife, is there to show that the only “blade” he has is the metaphorical one that forms from bile in his throat. So the phrase “The driver has no knife. He has no knife, no” can be taken literally in this poem. While my interpretation may be wrong I find it to be an interesting one that helped me enjoy the story more. -
Rondeau After a Transatlantic Telephone Call
I really enjoyed reading Rondeau After a Transatlantic Telephone Call. I love the simplicity yet complexity that the author gives to this rondeau. After reading this poem I understand that it can be a bit hard to read because of the way format structures the poems lines. This makes it complex but the actual subject of the poem is very simple. It is a person whether a woman or a man describing how it feels to simply speak to one you love. With the title you can assume that they are separated by a great distance and are really only able to communicate via telephone. The complexity and the descriptiveness at which the author describes simply talking to this person is so beautiful but it is a very simple emotion. I love this person talks about how this love is so powerful that the very mundane things they feel such as the neighbors double bass thrums, hurts like a toothache. Even just speaking to this person makes them feel like a summer thought which seems to mean that they feel safe, secure at home and at peace. The ending drives this point home by saying I wish I could lie down in your arms and turn to you and say good night love it was good. This is a beautiful poem for me but I feel you can interpret it anyway you choose to but I really enjoyed it and I really enjoyed how it ended. -
Spring Break Sestina
The poem was a collection of supposed spring breaks with each stanza, except for the last stanza, written by each of the people in the authorship of the poem. This is an interesting work due to the teamwork of multiple people which is something that I don’t see too often in poetry. Each stanza of whoever has written their cryptic story, finds a spring break of gambling, alcohol, or relaxation. The first two or so stanzas were gripping in their increased reality. However, the poem takes a turn in the end of the second stanza where “downloaded” music became a staple and the third stanza are where dreams become the topic. This shifts back to an energetic stanza in four and in the fifth, there is a frustrated structuring devoid of any freedoms at all. Overall, the tone goes from energetic happiness for spring break to wasting away all the way back to school work towards the end. The very last–and very short stanza–clarifies that the beer delayed an impending fate of school, the eight ball was ignored to have fun travelling, and the trip to Florida was entirely a dream. The entire poem embodies the general feelings of spring break well while providing a story that is upended as useless in the face of school. -
In the poem, One Art, the author details how losing something so small or so big can only be a disaster if we make it a disaster. If we put in the effort of having dreams and or accomplishing those dreams then that would not be considered a disaster. If we lose something and then find it, whether it be days, months, or years later, it is not a disaster because eventually we find that which we lost. It all depends on our goals and expectations, and in that case, that is how we can determine whether losing is a disaster or not. Our accomplishments aren’t disasters, they are memories and checks off of our bucket lists in doing things that most could never imagine. That is not a disaster. Forgetting names could be a disaster because those names aren’t as important to you to remember, vice a name like, your father’s to remember. Forgetting a place could be a disaster possibly because the place was not interesting enough or possibly not even heard of before. It is always easy to forget someone or something. Owning land or possessions aren’t disasters because it came and it went, while it lasted, the happiness abided, but when the time came for passing, it wasn’t a sad moment because many memories came along with those possessions that could never be erased. It’s not hard to master the art of something, however, depending on time, the person, the thing, it may seem like the loss of that thing is a major dilemma, when in all actuality we may find ourselves over reacting, overlooking, and exaggerating the loss to maximum extremes. The way the author uses the word disaster repeatedly, shows an attachment to some kind of similar disaster the author has experienced within their past, which is why I believe the author emphasizes not to ponder on those things that are minute, but moreso to cherish those things that carry everlasting memories, that mean more, and that have feeling.
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A Ride in the Rain.
I read this poem six times through and still don’t quite understand what it going on. I understand that this is a good example of a Sonnet in its rhythm but the whole piece in all confused me a little. Why is the man going to get into a car with someone who has been drinking. And why are there machetes swinging. All in all I still liked the poem. There was good imagery throughout. It almost felt as if I could actually hear the rain falling on the roof of the car. The first half of the poem was very easy to understand and visualize but then it changed and actually made me think about it. I also interpreted this poem in a different way than most. I think that the man with the empty hands was a person walking back from working the fields all day and was offered a ride by a man who didn’t want him to walk in the rain. Although I could be completely wrong on this. Interesting poem.
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I read this poem a few times. I really do not understand it. I does not have the same sense of a Shakespeare poem or the depth of a Poe poem. I felt uncomfortable reading it for a couple of reasons. I did not understand the it was the first reason. The second reason was the poem reminded me of an image of an inmate having his throat sliced in a jail near my house. I did not get the poem.
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Rondeau After a Transatlantic Telephone Call
It took me a couple of times to read this poem since, admittedly, poetry isn’t my strong suit. However, after having combed through it a little more I came to appreciate how the author was able to capture the emotions one can feel in a phone call with a loved one. The most obvious clue about how precious of a phone call this is can be seen right in the title, with the word “Transatlantic” indicating that one of the participants in this phone call is literally an ocean away from the other. All the emotions that are expressed in this phone call are vividly described through everyday things such as “lather me like summer” when the thought of that person comes to mind. Even the littlest details are shown in the most vivid of ways throughout this whole poem.
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I read a ride in the rain a few times and each time through I was led further to belive the poem was about death. Perhaps the driver is death or the poem is the author’s experience with death. How the tone shifts lead me to believe there is a major change halfway through and that could represent his death and his journey to the other side. Perhaps I am reading too far into it, poetry often leaves me confused
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One Art – Elizabeth Bishop
Of the five poems, I feel the most kinship with One Art. This poem seems to make light of loss – on an increasing scale. In this short piece, the author talks us through the loss of keys, to the loss of lovers. There is a touch of humour as we are repeatedly reminded, “it’s no disaster”, and we are told to get used to it. I found this poem both comforting and irksome, as seemed to be the author’s intention.
I found the form of this poem interesting; the majority consists of three-line stanzas with an almost-rhyming first and third line. The author uses repetition of words and phrases, and we see both the line “The art of losing isn’t hard to master”, and the word “disaster” come back about four times each within the six stanza poem. It’s difficult to say whether the poet really intended the reader to draw deeper meaning, because the pairing of the tone and subject matter feels almost satirical. Overall, the tone is very light and witty. Although the subject is loss, the poet writes with a laid back tone. This is an interesting choice, and I like the effect of pairing such a tone with a subject that usually inspires panic or at least anxiety. Clearly, the author has experienced loss, but has chosen to view it as part of life, and encourages us to do the same. Or perhaps we’re witnessing the author’s own inner dialogue, as they attempt to accept the losses they have experienced. -
I read the poem Spring Break Sestina. This poem was written by more than one person, and takes the perspectives of 6 college students and what they did over their spring break. I was drawn to this poem in particular, as I am in my senior year of college, and my last spring break was revoked this semester. However, after reading this poem, maybe thats not such a bad thing. The words most frequently used are “wine/whine”, “beer”, “wave/waive”, “bleep”, “flash”, and “ball”, each used about 7 or 8 times, and at the end of a line for each new stanza. The choice of these words in particular encapsulates the feelings of spring break, wanting to go to the beach, drinking, cursing and having fun. I was also impressed at the ability to repeat alot of the same words, while changing the sentiments of the poem from beginning to end. While the feeling of being happy and free starts the poem off, the feeling of confusion and being tired and annoyed finishes the poem (much like being drunk). Wine turns to whining, beer no longer seems fun, waves of water become waves overwhelming sentiments, balls from games are now balls of repetition. You learn at the end of the poem that most of the experiences were lies, there were no beaches or waves, barely even alcohol. School has struck once again, and the statement of spring break being a break from anything is an illusion. I enjoyed this poem, because even if you can get away (to canada) over break, or if you stay at home to catch up on work, you’ll always be busy, and school assignments will always be waiting for you once your break is done.
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Rondeau After a Transatlantic Telephone Call by Marilyn Hacker.
After my first read of this poem I notice serval things stuck out to me. at first it was difficult to narrate out loud due to its broken up structure, where sentences are split up between lines to make the poem sound rhythmically broken. Where this rhythmic breaking occurs usually the first word on the next line is one syllable with a staccato-like punch. This makes the sentences seem more broken or interrupted. The poet uses very well written imagery for descriptions of physical sensations, like “cold wine prickling my gums,” and “thrums like a toothache.” This poem is fairly short in size with only 15 lines and a simple narrative of someone missing their lover while they are separated. For the narrator, being without their love is dreary and dull, and they speak fondly of their time spent on the phone together. Overall I enjoyed reading this poem. -
Spring Break Sestina
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Prior to reading this poem I had no idea was a sestina was. While I was reading it I noticed that there were a set of words that were repeated in some fashion in every stanza of the poem. After having completed the read I looked up the meaning of a sestina and found that in a traditional sestina there are six words that repeat in every stanza. In the Spring Break Sestina these words were: Wine/whine, beer, wave/waive, flash, bleep, and ball.
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I was intrigued with how the authors (as there are multiple) kept each stanza interesting by giving each word a slightly different context. Granted there aren’t many ways to use beer outside of its normal context, the authors still did a decent enough job in trying to keep it new and captivating. I enjoyed how the words wine and wave were, in a couple of instances, replaced with homophones such as whine and waive respectively. This supplement kept the traditional form of a sestina while also giving the lines an added and newer meaning.
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On the whole I enjoyed this piece. Outside of it being a new form of poetry that I hitherto have not heard of, I also liked how modern and relatable it was. The poems that I’ve read most of my life had to do with abstract concepts, were older than our country, or were about something as monochromatic, uninteresting, and unrelatable as a cactus in the desert. This, however, was different in the sense that it revolved around a topic most college students know inherently well — Spring break and partying. It’s a different type of work that proves that poetry doesn’t have to be “artificially old” and can be about contemporary topics and still sound equally, if not more, artsy and deep. -
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
This poem is unique as it takes the act of losing an item and turns it into an art in which one can easily master. In the first two stanzas, Bishop opens and closes with the same phrase “The art of losing isn’t hard to master” (Bishop) These two first paragraphs can be considered to be the opening of the poem, deviating from the usual one stanza that introduces the poems topic. In addition, throughout the poem, the denial of the idea of disaster is constantly repeated, however, each time it is led by a series of events that would be devastating to many people. However, the author contradicts the term disaster by stating that the joy that he had from the fleeting memories of each of these events overshadowed the sadness when they were lost. -
One Art by Elizabeth Bishop
The poem One Art has a very detached and simplistic setup, this gives the poem a simple way of looking at a loss.The title of the poem shouldn’t be overlooked, the two words “One Art” are meant to illustrate the purpose of the poem. The purpose is a way to remove the pain of loss by showing everything that we lose in everyday life. In the first stanza of the Poem Bishop states, “The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster”, this affirms that loss is part of the human condition and that we lose significant and insignificant things constantly, as a result, we should accept this as a natural part of life.
The second stanza introduces to common things we often lose keys and time. The third stanza builds emotional tension by broadening the scope of loss. The third stanza triggers images of names and places, things that are much more difficult to distance and remove yourself from.
The fourth and fifth stanzas shift towards the first person, the poem loses some of its rigid structure. The author draws from her own experiences causing a change in tone. -
One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop
The more I looked into the rhyming scheme and organization of this poem the more I enjoyed what the author created. On the first read though the repetitions of “master” and “destroy” were impactful words, repeating as they do. However, only once I highlighted each line with it’s friends in the rest of the poem did I understand how the author crafted it. Each line is perfectly crafted to fit into the pattern, yet doesn’t feel forced, even when the author rhymes “faster” with “last, or”. The complex rhyming and repetition of the initial stanza into the following lines allows for a wonderful intro, middle, and conclusion back where the poem started. I do think, however, that the author could have mixed up the “The art of losing isn’t hard to master.” lines like they did the lines ending in “disaster”, maybe only repeating the same exact line twice – at the start and the end. Overall, I felt this was the “best” poem, which is why I chose it to write about, but it’s also inspired me to eventually try a poem like this too, since I like the repeating nature of hitting the point home, yet fitting it into a nice rhyming poem.Colorful lines highlighted: https://i.imgur.com/6vmf3AR.png
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Reading this poem reminded me of my time in Vietnam. During the first part of the trip we went to Saigon, and it was pouring rain. There were leaks in the sewer systems and the bile was permeating the air, just like this story. I may be dumb since I do not see the deeper meaning in the story, but maybe there is no deeper meaning. Maybe the author just wanted to talk about a melancholy rainy night. That is what I am taking away from this story. We all need some time to just vent about the world, and poetry is a great place to do that.
As for the technicals of the poem, I really liked how it is formatted. There is a considerable amount of nice rhyming and loads of good visuals. I believe this is meant to be sung since it could be adapted to different tempos at ease. -
I chose to write about Blas Falconer’s “A Ride in the Rain” because its form really stood out to me. The way it restructures and reuses lines, and how it all comes together in the last stanza reminds me of musical climax. At first, I thought the words chosen were mostly incidental; that the focus the poem was on the form more than anything else. But after thinking about a little more, I noticed how the subject of the poem (which I interpret to be someone hitching a ride home in a storm after having too much to drink) is echoed in how the lines are arranged. On the verge of passing out, thoughts tend to circle like water around a drain. I’ll be sure to be on the lookout for more of these pantoums.
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Spring Break Sestina
Spring Break Sestina was one of the most interesting poems I have read because of the way it is structured. It is told by six different speakers, with different lines in each stanza ending with the same exact words. These words were beer/ball/wave/waive, wine/whine, flash/bleep. I thought it was really cool that there are six speakers, six lines in each stanza, and six repeated words in each one, which is exactly what a Sestina is – six stanzas of six lines each, followed by a three line envoi. The poem is about students on Spring Break, and regardless of the repetition of words, each one tells a different story about their experience. I found especially interesting the use of the word “bleep”, as it isn’t a word that I typically use in my everyday. Some speakers used it in a way that suggests covering up profanity, yet Alison used it to describe the sound it makes when a barcode is scanned. The separate experiences in this poem kept me intrigued, and the different context behind each same word was, to me, really clever. Overall, I really enjoyed Spring Break Sestina not only for the interesting structure, but also for its relatability. It isn’t the most abstract, or mind-stimulating poem I’ve read, but the uniqueness of it gives it character and serves for a very interesting read.
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