the Days that are the Nights

I have seen the days that are the nights,

So bare and dry and stealthy,

Grabbing at the times before

When the open closes up;

Glare of lonely

Eyes on afternoons watch out

Before I come to catch.

I follow the dark out of the corners

Asphalt black clouds

Extending away from the heart

Veins of smoke and

Poison powder drop

As the door slams and light runs away.

I wish I could run with light

Leaving lonely place and time,

Holding on to letting go

Visiting where the blue runs free

Seeing the world in

Its glorious days of clarity.

I know my job must be done

Though effortless it is not

The night is my waitress,

the shadows my kitchen, and

The chef I become.

In the dark of day with sun

Burning like fires in memory

I walk and talk and despair

I whisper into broken hearts

I break them twice in two

I chase away good dreams and

Let my own loose to pursue

Tired eyes not my own

shaken awake no more asleep

In minds of cornered shock.

I have seen the nights that are the days

So full and clear and free,

In which I wish I could join

And give what is not given

Glare of wondering

Easy breezes on afternoons

Where I will not catch.

Response to "anyone lived in a pretty how town"

      I read "anyone lived in a pretty how town" by e.e. cummings. This was a very interesting poem, with a lot of poetic elements included. There was a lot of alliteration; in most every line it was used. For example, in the fourth line, "he sang his didn't he danced his did" most all of the words start with "h" or with "d". Alliteration was the main poetic tool used in this poem. Because of how much alliteration was used, there was a lot of repetition. Sometimes, he would repeat the same words in a line, and other times he would repeat whole lines. He would also repeat things but change them slightly, for example saying "spring summer autumn winter" then in a later verse changing it to "autumn winter spring summer". Furthermore, there was some assonance. A line in the second verse "cared for anyone not at all" is primarily "a" and "o" sounds. However, there was something unusual that I saw in several of the verses. Usually, there is not much punctuation in poems, but in this one there were several parentheses, so I was slightly confused as to their purpose. This poem was very unique.
     At first, I had no idea what this poem was talking about, but after reading it a second time I think I am starting to get it. Most of what he talks about is in cycles, such as the seasons or the weather. He also talks about people, and in a way people cycle too. I think that e.e. cummings is trying to say that everyone grows and changes, and that before we know it we will be gone and there will be new people in our place. Everything is temporary, just like the seasons. In the beginning of the poem there are adults, and then it talks about their children growing up, and then it talks about death. It ends with new beginnings. Though this poem sounds a little crazy when you read it, I really liked it.

Haiku

In Season 

Petals clenched tight shut

Sun rays coax a whisper of 

Open flower days

In Nature

Tangled wisps of grass

Forgotten plants grow apart

Dead leaves not alive

In General

Sinking ship bogged down

Jumping rope with crazy winds

The plane flies away

Colorful and Abstract

Pride is rose red balloons,

Indignation is cheese puff orange,

Betrayal is banana yellow tires screeching.

Contempt is mud green paint globs,

Happiness is river blue afternoons,

Admiration is smile purple fireworks.

Fear is asphalt black corners,

Sadness is stone grey bricks,

Anticipation is crystal white clouds of emptiness.

Response to "The Dream Called Life"

     I read "The Dream Called Life" by Pedro Calderon de la Barca.When I read it, I imagined someone going through their fantasy land. In the beginning it talks about being acknowledged as a king with a castle, but then it changes and the fantasy breaks, as dreams do. After that, the author is talking about how fickle and unrealistic dreams are, because waking up is inevitable. The story was sad, but at the same time it was nice because the poet was realizing the truth and seeing things with a new clarity.
      There were many poetic elements used in this poem. There was a very unique rhyme scheme, with some lines not rhyming at all and others rhyming with the next line. There was a lot of assonance with the vowel sounds in the middle of the lines, things such as repeating the "a" sound saying "palace that was all" or the "i" sound with "this in which". There was also some alliteration, saying "Dreamer or doer" and "Confounds and clouds". There was a great repetition of the words "waking" and "wake" as well as of "dreaming". I think it is very fitting that he used those words so often, because those are the main ideas in this poem. There is the waking side and the dreaming side fighting for power.
     There were several lines in this poem that I really liked. For example, when he said "Who make believe to listen; but anon" because I liked the way he said that people just pretend to be listening, when really they are ignoring you and putting you off. I liked when he said "Walking as one who knows he soon may wake" because it gave me this image of tiptoeing around, waiting for the impending end of your time. I enjoyed the last line "When dreaming, with the night, shall pass away.". It summed up the poem in a few words; dreams can only survive as long as the night does, and that is not long enough.

Response to "Preludes"

      I read "Preludes" by T.S. Elliot, and I really enjoyed the words he used and the way it sounded. He portrayed a universal calm and gentle clarity. I think that he was talking about the early morning and the night, turning back into morning again. However, he didn't talk about the day. The author's language often would have the idea of emptiness, yet infinite people or things at the same time, or a movement from one to the other. For example, in the first stanza, he says "of withered leaves about your feet/And newspapers from vacant lots" but in the second stanza he says "One thinks of all the hands/that are raising dingy shades/In a thousand furnished rooms". From that I saw an empty outside yet a universal action going on within. The author also started by talking about a general empty street, and then in the third stanza he started talking in terms of "you". He had regular rhymes at the ends of some lines and some assonance, although not much assonance I could find. Things such as "bed's edge" or "street hardly". He used some alliteration, saying "certain certainties". This poem seemed to flow really nicely with its rhythm; it was easy to read and feel its movement. Also, he personified times and things such as morning or the street. There were certain descriptive lines I really liked. When he said "You dozed, and watched the night revealing/The thousand sordid images/Of which your soul was constituted". He created a person made of their memories and images, and I think there is a certain truth to that. I liked "His soul stretched tight across the skies". I saw a clear blue sky with the fading image of a person's face, like that one person was infinite in themselves. At the same time, they were lost in the sky.

Land vs. Water

Land	vs.	Water
North America	vs.	Ocean
USA	vs.	Atlantic
Northeast	vs.	Great Lakes
Southeast	vs.	Gulf of Mexico
Maryland	vs.	Chesapeake Bay
Florida	vs.	Lake Okeechobee
Utah	vs.	Great Salt Lake
California	vs.	Pacific
Southern California	vs.	Salton Sea
Northern California	vs.	San Francisco Bay
Very Northern California	vs.	Trinity Lake
Humboldt	vs.	Humboldt Bay
Trinidad	vs.	Trinidad Bay
State Beach	vs.	Pacific Waves
Sand	vs.	Ocean
Rock Particles	vs.	Rain Droplets
Silicon Dioxide	vs.	H2O
Molecules	vs.	Molecules
Land	vs.	Water

Things I Like

To stay up late, 

only to wake up later

Soft pillows, 

softer blankets

Bright sunshine,

brighter day

Pretty flowers,

prettier garden

Shouting loud,

then screaming louder

Jumping high, 

flying higher

Long books,

longer stories

Losing badly,

then

Winning worse

Falling on my face, 

Laughing, 

and getting

Right back up.