Poem Reflections

The first poem I read was called Permit, by Raffaello Baldini. I found this poem to be really interesting, the first line; Because with all those leaves really caught my attention. It made me wonder where were the leaves, why or even how were they in the way. The details this writer used really inspired me to include more details in my writing assignments. I really liked the details because they actually allowed me to create an image in my head. For an example, "it's all covered with weeds, nettles, it's awful, you call this a garden?" Allows me to create an image of a garden thats mostly dirt, and in this garden there are several weeds, some of them are even som tall that they are going over the fence. Then he talks about having only one bathroom with five people on it. The way he describe's things is excellent. Imagery is very important and his descriptions are so well that we can actually picture what the garden, or bathroom might look like.

The second poem I read was called A Small Dragon by Brian Patten. I found this poem to be too short, however it also conatined great descriptions. Brian say's: "it's damp and green leaves are still reflecting in it's eyes." I found this to be really interesting because he didn't just say he could see leaves in his eyes, he described the color and he even stated that they were moist. This is good because details are a really important part of stories. However you want to try and remember not to use too many details but to make sure you have enough. In my opinion damp and green were two very good word choices for a description of leaves. I woul consider this to be a Ballad poem because it has four line stanzaz and the poem happens at a very quick pace. First he finds the dragon, thn he feeds it and then it makes a nest.

The third poem I read was called Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. So far I consider this poem to be the best of the three that I read today. In my opinion this poem is very strong and meaningful. The author is actually able to get across what she's trying to say. First she talks about going down in history, then she uses bitter and twisted to describe the lies that peolpe might say about her. You can tell that there's a lot of confidence in this poem by the way she describes herself walking like oil in her living room and the way she says she dances like diamonds are on her thighs. I also really enjoyed the way not all of the lines rhyme but some of them do, it made the poem have a very nice flow. You can also tell that she's a very strong person because she talks about killing with hatefullness and shooting her with words but in the end she is still able to rise. Overall I think this was an excellent poem, it was simple and the author was able to get her poem across.

The fourth poem I read was called Maimonides on What Is Meant by "Vision" by Benjamin Paloff. Im sorry to say this, but I really did not like this poem. The first sentence "Nothing ever comes true" made me not even want to read it because it basically discourages children or even older people to believe. The only thing I thought was good was the fact that he compared problems dissapearing to money burning away. I think the first sentence should be changed so that readers are more interested rather than discouraged.