poetry

p. 811

homage to my hips

Lucille Clifton

All the ladies 40 and over (middle age) can appreciate this poem.  There comes a time in a woman's life when you are what you are.  Marriage, having babies, work, stress, they all take a toll on our bodies.  And where do you think it lands.  That's right on our hips.  We are woman that are confident in who we are and know what we want out of life.  If the rest of the world doesn't like it - oh well.  No matter what size are hips are they are magical and can put a spell on a man that he can't understand.  We use our hips to carry things, like children, laundry baskets etc.  We can shake them when we dance and maneuver our way in and out of anything.  They define our shape and make us desirable to men.  They show we are strong and confident.  Our hips make us unique.  Big, small, fat, skinny be proud of who you are and your hips.  

I really enjoyed this poem.  It hit home at my age.  I feel the same way.

poetry

p.786

Looking at Each Other

Muriel Rukeyser

Everyone that is married or has a sexual relationship can appreciate this poem.

I believe it is talking about two people in love married or not.  They have a special relationship.  They know each other well.  They have spent valuable time together.  They love each other.  They have been through good and bad times.  Experienced a lot together.  There is still passion in the relationship and they are still sexually aroused by each other.  To me it describes a couple that has been together for a number of years and are still very much in love and enjoy being together.   When making love they see each other with loving hearts and minds.  They are one.  They are in love.

poetry

p. 740

The Pulley

George Herbert

This poem starts out saying when God created man he poured on him a glass of blessings.  He gave him strength, beauty, wisdom and pleasure. But, when the glass was almost empty at the bottom was rest.  God held back rest because he knew someday man would tire of all the other blessings of life and come to him for rest.  Therefore, when our burdens are heavy we can hoist them up to God like using a pulley to help us move or carry the load. 

I believe all of us at sometime or another need rest from the heavy load and burdens of life.  God is there to lighten our load and give us rest.

poetry

p. 626
Hope
Lisel Mueller

What would the world be like without hope?  We hope everyday.  Without hope we would not have anything to look forward to.  We hope for a good life, a good education, job, marriage, family, etc. We hope to live to see the next minute, day, year.  We hope to be healthy and live a long life.  We hope to experience new and exciting things in life.  What would our world be like without hope?  This poem makes me want to look for hope in God and in humanity.  Hope is a wonderful thing.  Without it life would be very boring and depressing.

I think everyone should read this poem and see how lucky they are to have hope in their life.

poetry

P. 624
Schoolsville
Billy Collins

This is a humorous poem from the view of a teacher observing his former sudents.  They all basically still live in the town where they grew up.  He says the population ages but never graduates.  He describes how some of the students acted in class and at school in general.  He can't remember all their names in abc order, but can remember the things they did.  The A's stroll with the other A's. The D's are red neck and carefree.  It reminded me of the people I went to school with 27 years ago.  Today I see alot of them around and about.  I enjoy seeing what they have become.  You know- like the girl who thought she was the most popular, the most beautiful girl in school.  Stuck up you might say.  Now she is fat and ugly.  Or the boy that was the stud and is now bald and fat.  You can look back and see why they are in the place they are today.  Even working in elementary school teachers can tell what kind of person or what kind of life a kid will usually end having.  I would love to know where all my former classmates are today.  Some people never change.

I know all of us can appreciate this poem if we have been out of school for a few years.  I would hate to hear what some of my teachers think of me.

Poetry

When I hear the word poetry I usually think. Oh No!  This will require a lot of reasoning and thinking.  Reading between the lines kind of stuff.  I would not go out and buy a poetry book just for fun and enjoyment.  When reading poetry it depends on what kind of poetry it is and the author.  For example, work the poetry I read is for children.  It is easy for me to understand and interrupt.  To me most poetry is very hard to understand.  The author uses words I can not pronounce or cannot understand unless I research them or look up the meaning.  Then I usually still do not get the meaning of the poem.  If I have to read the poem over and over again just to try and understand what the author is trying to say I do not enjoy it.   Last semester in Eng. 111 we read a lot of poems written by Irish poets.  The poems dealt with the Irish Troubles and the impact the poets had on the war.  They were very hard to interrupt unless you did a lot of research on Ireland and the poets themselves.  Which we had to do and write a report on.  It was more like history class than English.  Poetry has never been one of my favorite things.  I do not have a creative bone in my body.  Writing anything is a struggle for me.  I had to write a poem about myself last semester.  Needless to say not great.  I have read the occasional poem I really enjoyed.  I type the bulletin for our church and use religious poems to fill in space.  I enjoy those very much.  As I stated early, it depends on the type of poem and the author when reading poems.  I really don't have a favorite author or poem.  I do not care to read poetry unless I have to.  It has never been something I enjoy.

I'ts almost Spring

Sunday, March 20 is the first day of Spring.  I love Spring.  Everything comes back to life and is so beautiful.  As soon as is starts getting warmer my husband and I pull out our hiking boots and backpacks.  We love to hike.  Last year we went to Crowders Mountain in Gastonia, NC.  It was a very hard climb, up, up, up.  But, we got to enjoy the beauty of nature all the way up.  Once we reached the top we could see as far as Charlotte.  We just walked around and enjoyed the view and the cool air.  Things look so much different when you are on top of a mountain.  There are several trials on Crowders Mountain, some easier than others, but each one is just as exhilarating as the other. 

We have hiked on Rona Mountain in Tennessee where we came across something very unusual.  Inside a fence that was game managed, were long haired goats.  They had long curly hair like a sheep, but they were goats.  There was a goat mailbox with info about them and you could adopt one. 

We hiked to the top of Cling man's Dome in Western North Carolina.  When we began the hike we were dressed in shorts and tennis shoes with light jackets.  It was a warm, sunny day.  When we reached the top, we were up so high it was snowing.  We texted our kids showing us in the snow.  They texted back, where in the world are you? 

We hiked up Mt. Mitchell also.  It was a long, hard climb, but well worth it.  It was gorgeous at the top.  But, while we were enjoying the view it began to sleet.  When we got back down. You guessed it.  Warm and sunny.

We have hiked up South Mountain several times.  It is only about 45 minutes from our house and is a good trip for a Sunday afternoon.  There is a great park, fishing, swimming, and other activities.  At the top of this mountain is a beautiful waterfall you could just stand and watch all day.

We have enjoyed hiking many mountains and hope to do so again this spring and summer.  But, the best part of hiking is being together in God's beautiful world and experiencing it's wonder and beauty.  I look forward to our adventures every year and hope we are both healthy enough to make the trips.  There are still a lot of mountains we have not conquered yet, but, hope to get to them eventually.

The Short Story I Liked the Least

The short story I liked the least of the 10, was "Cathedral".  I know blind people use their other senses to see.  I know they like to feel other people's faces.  I know the point of the story was to make us grateful for having the gift of sight.  But, I really could not understand how the blind man putting his hand on the man's doing the drawing could help him know what a cathedral looked like.  To me you would have to be a very good artist to draw a cathedral.  There is so much detail.  I think this would be something you would have to see to believe.  Or touch in person to visualize.  I just could not get into the story.   It did not keep me curious  to what would happen next. 

The Short Story I Liked Best

Of the ten short stories we read, "A Rose for Emily", was my favorite.  It remined me of the movie, Gone With The Wind.  The story talked about the graves of the Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.  It also said that Homer was a northener.  I tried to compare Emily with Scarlet O'Hara.  The story talks about Emily's house.  How it look rundown and not taken care of.  I imagine at some time it was beautiful and buzzing with Emily's family and servants.  Emily was proud of her family and her hertiage.  She tried to keep up the house and work but she grew older and lonely after her father died.  Now it was just her and the Negro servant.  I believe he could have been a slave and was loyal to the Grierson family for many years.  He must have felt obligated to Emily because her family was gone and she was alone.  After Emily's death he was finally free and went on his way.  In Gone With The Wind, Scarlet lost everything her family had after the Civil War.  Her servants were loyal to her and stayed with her.  Scarlet was a woman that was never satisifed with what she had.  She was wealthy and beautiful.  All the boys wanted to date her.  She always wanted more. She wanted things she could not have.  She didn't know what she truly had until it was gone.  Emily wanted things she never had before.  She wanted someone to love and who loved her back.  She wanted companionship.  She wanted to be respected and noticed by her neighbors and so called friends.  She was determined to be happy.  Scarlet could get any man she wanted.  Emily, had to kill one to get him.  Emily died sad and lonely, while Scarlet told herself, tommorrow is another day.

The Horse Dealer's Daughter

Mabel
27 yrs. old
rather short
sullen-looking
not very good-looking according to her brothers- face that looked like a bulldog
ignored brothers
took care of house and family
unhappy
lonely
misses having money and servants
loved and misses her mother whom is dead
father remarried and left them with nothing
wants to get married and have money again
tired of being poor
hopeless
withdrawn
depressed
persistent
wants a better life
thinks of suicide
went to church and lived in the memory of her mother
loved her father and depended upon him and felt secure in him until he remarried
now he was dead and left them in hopeless debt
she suffered badly during the period of poverty
she felt the end had come but she would still follow her own way
she held the keys to her life
she was mindless and presistant - thinking of no one but herself
using the Dr. as her way out

Joe
oldest brother - 33 yrs. old
broad and handsome in a hot, flushed way
black moustache
shallow and restless eyes
Knew the life they had was about to come to an end
Sad
engaged to a woman who's father would give him a job - would marry and go into harness
felt his life was done for now - he would have to listen to his wife
knew he would not be in charge anymore
cowboy
smokes pipe
rough
tired

Fred Henry
middle brother 
erect, clean-limbed, alert
unconcerned
master horse trainer
not a master of life situations
well-tempered
Did not like to be controlled
blue eyes

Malcolm
youngest
fresh jaunty nose
22 yrs. old

Jack Ferguson
Young Doctor
medium height
rather long and pale face
tired eyes
spoke huskily
slight Scotch accent
had a cold
concerned about patients
friends with the Pervin family
treating rough people excited him
mere hired assistant
slave to the countryside
loved Mabel Pervin - but did not want to - he did not realize it
wanted to save her
could not express his feelings easily

"The Curse"

In the story "The Curse", Mitchell wants to help a young lady being raped by five men in a bar.  He knows he is out numbered and does nothing.  Later he feels guilty and ashamed.  His family and friends tell him there wasn't anything he could do, not to feel bad.  When he returns to work he sees and hears the event over and over again in his head.  Then he feels her curse all over his body.  He is so obsessed with this feeling he just wants to kneel on the floor and except his punishment. 

In the movie Crash, Matt Dillon is a cop who risks his own life to save a woman in a wreck who's car is upside down with her trapped inside.  Gas is leaking everywhere and the no one is there to help yet.  He does not even hesitate to crawl in the car with her and try to free her.  She recognizes him from and unpleasant traffic stop earlier.   She refuses to let him help her.  He tells her the situation and conveniences her to let him help.    He finally gets her free and pulls her from the car just in time. 

Differences in the two men
Mitchell wanted to help but was afraid. He knew he would probably get hurt also.
The cop did not hesitate to help save a life.  He risked his life for another. 
Mitchell was a kind and caring.
The cop was arrogant and a racist.

Similarities in the two men
They both were ashamed of what they did.
Mitchell for not helping the girl.
The cop for how he treated the lady earlier.
They both had jobs that deal with the public.
They both felt cursed for what they had done.
They both feel they need to apologize.

"The Black Cat"

Spirit of Perverseness - to me it is sort of like revenge.  Doing or saying something to someone you know is morally wrong, but you do it anyway because, at the time it feels good. 

Proverbs 15:4   says "a gentle tongue is a tree of life; but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

There were several times I said or did things to others that I thought were payback and the other person deserved it.  The one that sticks out in my mind most is when I was in 9th grade.  My mom and I never saw eye-to-eye about anything.  We were always arguing.  I was the oldest of 3 kids and thought I knew everything.  I wanted to date a boy in the 12th grade.  Three years older than me.  She did not approve because of his age and his family background. But, finally allowed him to come to our house some.  I, like all teenage girls thought I was in love and could not live without this boy. She got a little more lenient and I wanted more and more privileges.  When she said I could not car date, he gave up and found someone else.  Of course I hated her.  I did not have the relationship with my mom that allowed me to feel like I could confide in her about personal things.  I wrote a lot of my feelings in a diary, which she found and read.  I included how much I hated her.  It really hurt her feelings.  But, at the time I did not care how she felt.  I was just mad that I didn't get my way.  After that I destroyed the diary.  We never had that close mother-daughter relationship.  I married very young and my husband often jokes that it was my way of getting out of the house and making my own decisions.   Every teenager at some time in their life says, "I can't wait until I'm eighteen and can be my own boss.  I guess I took it literally.  Since then I have matured alot and have three kids of my own.  I have seen them go through problems with girls and dating.  I can understand that she was trying to protect me from making a mistake with older boys.  Mom and I are still not close enough that I confide in her about personal things, but we do get along now.  I never did really hate her, I guess it was just a teenage thing. 

At the time I thought I was justified in feeling the way I did about my mom.  Now I see how silly I was and that I would never speak or treat my mom like that now. 

When she read the diary and knew how I felt.  It was sort of like, that's what you get for treating me that way.

I don't think people are bad or evil when the spirit of perverseness comes over them.  I think it is just human nature to want revenge or to make someone who has hurt you, hurt just as much.

But, I would never think of killing an animal or a person, not matter what they did.
A bug or a mouse, maybe.

"Blue Winds Dancing"

I work at an elementary school as a teacher assistant.  Over the course of 14yrs.  I have experienced many different and unique children.  I tell myself every new school year that I'm not going to get attached to one certain child, but, if never fails, I do.  Describing people, things, or places is not one of my strong points.  Creativeness is very hard for me.  But, here goes.  One year while working in 3rd grade a new girl moved in.  Her name was Taylor.  She was an average little girl, sort of tall and slim in statuer.  She had sandy-blond hair that was long and striaght.  She always wore it pulled back in a high ponytail.  If she would let it down it would probably hang past her waist.  She had very pettie facial features.  Tiny little nose, curved chin and an always smiling, friendly, face.  She had the sweetest personality.  She got along with all the other children and was always polite.  Taylor did not wear the lastest fashion in clothes, but, they were always neat and clean.  One feature that I did not get to see very often was Taylor's eyes. You see Taylor could not see very well.  She was born with an eye deseise.  Even though she could see somewhat, she was labeled leagally blind.    She wore glasses with lenses so thick they looked like the bottoms of those old glass coca cola bottles.  These glasses help Taylor see enough to get around independently, even though she could only see a few feet in front of her.  If I hadn't met and known Taylor, I would have never known she had this disability.  She walked up and down the hall, went to lunch, played on the playground, did her homework, could read above grade level and write, as well as the other children in her class.  All of her papers had to be enlarged as much as possible. It took her a little longer to complete the task, but she was determined to finish each one.  I remember the day Taylor received a special machine that magnified her papers and books.  It sat on her desk and she learned to use it quickly.  She was so happy and grateful.  The other children treated her as if she was one of them and helped her in anyway they could.  Taylor never complained or used her disability as a crutch.  She was very independent and determined.  She was always willing to try and never said I can't.  That was about 10yrs. ago.  Taylor is probably a beautiful young lady now.  I would love to see her again and see how far she has come.  There is always one child each year that touches my heart.  It's like having 20 more children of my own.  I love each and everyone of them, despite their flaws and problems they are all wonderful children and just wanted to be loved.   

"Luck"

I guess  you could say I am a very unlucky person.  I have never found a four-leaf clover, won at bingo, a raffle or drawing and certainly, even though I have entered, been fortunate to win the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes.  Therefore, I can say I really do not believe in "luck".  I believe that everything happens for a reason.  If I live through something like a car accident, and I have had my share.  I thank God for being with me and keeping me safe, not luck.  God had control of everyone's life and he decides what happens and does not happen to us.  Being lucky is something I can not recall ever happening to me.  I always say, "I never win anything".  Sorry, I'm just not "lucky".

marriage and relationships

Why do the women in the two stories act as they do?
I think both women are secretly glad that their husbands are dead.  But, they cannot reveal their true feelings.  If Minnie lets others know how she really feels they will figure out she killed her husband, so, she is upset and very withdrawn.  Everyone including Louise's sister assumes she is happy with her marriage and loves her husband.  She is expected to be upset when hearing of his death.  Both women seemed to be unhappy in their marriages and knew they were free from a life they did not want.  They could visualize their new futures.

What are the differences between the two women?
Minnie in "A Jury of Her Peers", is a woman that left a life of song and happiness only to be trapped in an unhappy marriage with a very possessive man that does not really care about her.  She is treated almost like a slave in her own home.  She lives in a house with no luxuries at all.  Not even a telephone.  She probably works very hard everyday and is expected to clean, cook, and do what she is told.  She misses her old life and tries to compensate with what she has.  Minnie is sad and lonely.  There are no family or friends to talk to.   When she finds something she likes or cares about it is taken away.  I get the feeling she is physically and verbally abused by her husband. Minnie kills her husband and ends up in jail.

Louise in "The Story of an Hour", is a woman that is in ill health due to a bad heart.  She is fragile and needs to be taken care of.  She lives in a nice house with luxuries. She has a somewhat comfortable life.  She has family and friends that care about her.  Her husband seems to love her, but , she has fallen out of love with him for some reason.  She probably is not able to work or go out much.  He husband works a lot and is away from home often.  She is lonely and wants more out of life.  You cannot tell she is unhappy by the way she acts.  She wants to be free from her marriage.  When Louise finds out her husband is not dead she has a heart attack and dies.

The two women's similarities.
Both women are in unhappy marriages.  They are both sad and lonely.  They want more out of life.  Both of their husbands are dead.  They both are happy their husbands are dead and know that it is best if they keep their thoughts to themselves.  Both of their lives have changed dramatically. 

Differences between the men. 
John in "A Jury of Her Peers", is controlling and possessive,  he is not loving and kind to his wife.  He does not want to share her with anyone else.  He does not want her to have anything that makes her happy.  He is old fashioned and thinks women are not his equal and should not be treated as so.  He has no respect for his wife.  He is mean to her and treats her like a slave.

Brently in "The Story of an Hour", is caring and loving toward his wife.  He knows she is sick and wants to care for her.  He works hard to provide for her.  He thinks she loves him too.  He has friends and family that care about him and his wife.  But, maybe he doesn't realize that she is not happy.  He thinks their marriage is strong and she cannot live without him.  He tries to be a good husband.

Husband Similarities 
They both have no idea their wives are unhappy or maybe they do and are dealing with it the only way they know how.  I think the two men are very different.