Giving Thanks

As we gather round the table

my brother the big cheese

my mom the sweet potato

my dad at the head

with the turkey.

We break the bread

and give thanks.

Another year brings

Joy as well as sorrow

but we are thankful

for we are still together

and strong.

Each day is a journey

together is the way

each day i am thankful

for each new day

is a day closer

my family becomes.

-by Me!!!

The Coming of Wisdom with Time

through leaves are many, the root is one:
Through all the lying days of my youth
I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun:
Now I may wither into the truth.
- William Butler Yeats

This poem reminds me of the changing seasons. Manily the changing of seasons from fall to winter. I have noticed that as the leaves change and slowly fall off the trees and the flowers stop blooming and the snow falls then springtime comes and the never ending cycle repeats itself. As this never ending cycle continues to repeat itself and the years go swiftly by we as people becomes wiser- well most of us do anyway. I believe this poem symbolizes this growth of wisdom as the seasons change.

A Study of Reading Habits

When getting my nose in a book
cured most things short of school,
to know I could still keep cool,
and deal out the old right hook
to dirty dogs twice my size.

Later, with inch-thick specs,
Evil was just my lark:
me and my cloak and fangs
had ripping times in the dark
the women I clubbed with sex!
I broke them up like meringues.

Don't read much now: the dude
who lets the girl down before
the hero arrives, the chap
who's yellow and keeps the store,
seem far too familiar. Get stewed:
books are a load of crap.
-Philip Larkin

I believe that this poet use to enjoy reading, but felt like books have let him down. This poem talks about the many different things that happen in books. It later seems that the poet has felt that books have let him down or may turn out to be too predictable, which makes him think that "books are a load of crap." I on the other hand love books. I spend my free time reading. I love how just picking up a book, I am suddenly transported to another road going through the same struggles as the character in my book is. I can not relate to the way that this poet feels toward books, since I feel the complete opposite, but its my hopes that someday he will change his mind, and really start to enjoy books, like I have and will continue to do. :)

On Reading Poems to a Senior Class At South High

Before
I opened my mouth
I noticed them sitting there
as orderly as frozen fish
in a package.

Slowly water began to fill the room
though I did not notice it
till it reached
my ears

and then I heard the sounds
of fish in an aquarium
and I knew that though I had
tried to drown them
with my words
that they had only opened up
like gills for them
and let me in.

Together we swam around the room
like thirty tails whacking words
till the bell rang
puncturing
a hole in the door

where we all leaked out

They went to another class
I suppose and I home

where Queen Elizabeth
my cat met me
and licked my fins
till they were hands again.
- D.C. Berry


While reading this poem I realized that Berry was comparing fish to his students. In the first stanza he talks about how he notices them sitting there as orderly as frozen fish and I pictured a classroom full of students who are all sitting forward, quiet and listening to the teacher. (even though that doesnt happen very often) The 2nd stanza says "slowly water began to fill the room though I did not notice it till it reached my ears." reading that I thought about how loud a classroom gets as more students fill the room. To me this poem seems like an allusion to how a teacher views their classroom and students, as well as what goes on during their day. It is a really good poem and it isn't as sad or dark as the other poems. ;)