poem 6

I Think I Killed Hammer Time

“Stop! Hammer time!”

The foreman called my way.

I turned to the crazed housewife

And said “I’m sorry I can’t stay.

My boss says we have to build your deck

Or else we won’t get paid”.

She replies, “I know you want money,

But don’t you wanna get laid?”

She reaches for my belt and I block her as I say,

“You can’t touch this”.

She said,” Every time you see me that Hammer’s just so hype”.

I said,” Ma’am that’s not true. You’re really not my type.”

I move to the door as she emits a cat-like hiss.

I say,” Get me outta here! You can’t touch this!”

poem 5

The Last Word of Each Line

As I watched the waves rolling to the shore I  

Was hit with the notion that we all have

So much to say in this world. If a writer’s

Pen can capture the beauty of the building block

Of human essence and

Its imperfections, what can I

Do to further preserve things that don’t

Scratch the surface of what we know,

But tickles the ties of humanity. What

Can I do to reproduce their message to

Those that would rather read than write?

Critical 5

Race is one of the themes Terrance Hayes addresses in “Lighthead”. To do this he uses (at least) two different perspectives. In his poem “A House is Not a Home” he addresses race from his perspective as an African American. In the poem he wants to be able to describe the life of African Americans by explaining the sound of black culture. In the poem Hayes says, “More than anything, I want to work at the African-American Acoustic and Audiological Insurance Institute so that I can record the rumors and raucous rhythms of my people, our jangled history, the slander in out sugar, the ardor in our anger, a subcategory of which probably includes the sound particular to one returning to his feet after a friend has knocked him down”. In regards to “the rumors and raucous rhythms of my people” Hayes is referring to wanting to express things specific to African American culture. When Hayes talks about “one returning to his feet after a friend has knocked him down” he is referring to the difficulties African Americans have faced trying to overcome the discrimination created hundreds of years ago by slavery. The “friend returning to his feet” is the black community trying to push past the stereotypes and discrimination white people have placed upon them.

Hayes also refers to Luthor Vandross in this poem. Vandross is a deceased African American R&B singer. Using Vandross as the only historical figure in the poem further shows that Hayes is writing from the perspective of the black community.

Terrance Hayes’ poem “Tankhead” shows that the theme of race from a different point of view. This poem is about a World War II general named General Patton. This shows a different side of race because a large part of WWII involved Hitler’s persecution of the Jews, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although General Patton is an American it is clear he does not share the American idea that all races should be equal. Hayes says, “’We can no more understand a Russian than a Chinese or a Japanese, and from what I have seen of them. I have no particular desire to understand them except to ascertain how much lead or iron it takes to kills them.’ Patton liked to say. People of all creeds are welcome here of course.” Patton believes that all people in Asia are the same regardless of their country of origin. He only cares about being able to kill them in the war. Patton does not appear to agree with the fact that all races are welcome in the US.

Also in “Tankhead”, in reference to Patton, Hayes says, “He called Robert E. Lee Jesus.” Robert E. Lee was on the Confederate side of the Civil War which supported slavery. This shows that Hayes is using Patton to show the ignorance of racism. Hayes further displays that Patton is used to show the stupidity of racism when he says, “Patton measured everything according to the shaft of his weapon. His word for penis was tank.” This line shows Hayes’ dislike of Patton because the poem is titled “Tankhead”, which is like saying penis/dick head, which seems insulting.

poem 4

Peter Pan Syndrome

When Peter told me to take his hand

And follow him to Never Neverland

I obeyed without question;

Putting my heart in his possession.

We painted each other in liquor kisses

And indulged ourselves in romantic blisses.

We take pleasure in our time together

As we flaunted our affections in the warm, summer weather.

His cigarette kisses pin me to the door.

Like fairy dust, they life my feet off the floor.

There is electricity in this humid air

As I stand hypnotized in his sapphire stare.

Yet I pause. There is a wrinkle in perfection.

Something is flawed in my partner selection.

At 26 Peter isn’t old, but he’s odd

For he cocoons himself in a youthful façade.

While his white and blue Mohawk show nice contrasting

A receding hairline will keep that from lasting.

He and the Lost Boys make a merry mob

But I’d much prefer he’d get a long-term job.

Like water trickles from a hand that is cupped,

Youth is leaving. But he won’t grow up.

revised critical 2

In “Easter 1916” Yeats is expressing his feelings on the Irish rebellion that took place. He is impressed by the bravery of the Irish while fighting the British, and feels that this type of war is necessary. In his poem Yeats repeats the line “A terrible beauty is born”. He is referring to the rebellion. It is terrible because there is so much fighting and death. However there is beauty in the Irish fighting for their freedom from the British. Yeats says that sacrifice can cause long term negativity. He says “Too long a sacrifice Can make a stone of the Heart”. He is saying that when people sacrifice for long periods of time they become continuously miserable. Overall Yeats has pride in his Irish people and recognizes that their sacrifices have burdened them.

Isaac Rosenberg describes the dark side of war in “Dead Man’s Stump”. This is very different from Yeats’ “Easter 1916”. Firstly Rosenberg uses a lot of imagery to describe the horrors of war. In the first stanza he talks about the unfortunate state of limbers. The limbers (which according to the dictionary on Microsoft Word are vehicles for transporting large guns) are rusty and sitting on a shattered track. He goes on in the second stanza to describe how the wheels are running over the bodies of the dead. This shows a big difference in the way Yeats and Rosenberg look at war. Yeats believed that war was (as previously mentioned) “A terrible beauty…” while Rosenberg only describes the destruction war can cause.  

critical 4

In “Poetry as Memorable Speech” Auden expresses that poetry should be memorable. He believes that poetry needs to evoke emotion in the reader. In regards to poetry Auden says, “…it must move our emotions, or excite our intellect, for only that which is moving or exciting is memorable, and the stimulus is the incantation we must surrender, as we do when talking to an intimate friend.” He believes that an important part of poetry is expressing emotion in writing. When someone is talking to a close friend they use a lot of feeling in the way they phrase what they say. Auden thinks that poets should take a similar mindset when writing poetry. Auden also believes poetry does not need to be about important things in life. He explains this when he says, “The test of a poet is the frequency and diversity of the occasions on which we remember his poetry.” This shows that he believes that poetry can be about anything.

In “An Arundel Tomb” Philip Larkin uses a lot of memorable speech that increases its level of enjoyment as well as its ambiguity. In the first line in the third stanza Larkin says, “They would not think to lie so long.” This line makes the poem more memorable and adds to its ambiguity because of the word “lie”. It could allude to the fact that the couple did not expect to die so young, so they weren’t expecting to be lying in the tomb for as long as they have been. It also hints at a lie because the tomb demonstrates everlasting love, which was not the memory the couple wanted to leave behind in death. Another way Larkin uses memorable speech in his poetry is in the final stanza. He says, “Time has transfigured them into Untruth.” At the end of the poem we learn that he is referring to love as this untruth. Usually poetry makes love something positive or negative, but it is never an “untruth”. This makes the poem more memorable because it’s not something the reader would expect, so it stands out. Another reason this line is memorable is because, while he clearly isn’t referring to love as truthful, he isn’t saying it’s a lie either. By referring to love as not being a completely truthful thing he is making the reader think about that line more.

In the same stanza Larkin says, “Our almost-instinct almost true: What will survive us is love.” Like the first line in this stanza this line refers to love as something that is not entirely true. In addition to that, this line alludes to human flaws. The word “almost” reminds us that humanity can never achieve perfection, and that nothing human is lasting. This could explain why Larkin believes love is “almost true”. Love is something (as far as we know) that only humans experience, so it makes sense that he would say that it wouldn’t last forever. On the other hand this shows the beauty the human spirit contains. Having humanity’s “almost truth” being that love lasts forever shows the good in people. It shows that we strive for peace and harmony in life. The emotion of this line depends on the mindset of the reader. If they’re happy or have a positive outlook on love they would think the line is positive. However, someone who is unhappy or doesn’t have a positive outlook on love would think the line is negative. Personally, I think the line is somewhat hopeful. Larkin has “What will survive us is love” alone on the last line of the whole poem. It makes me think that Larkin wanted the reader to remember that. By making that part stand alone he is making it seem that, although love might not be everlasting, it is still beautiful.

It is also important to note that this poem is about walking by a tomb. It is not about a dramatic, life-changing event. Larkin has taking a moment that is completely ordinary and turned it into something that can make people think.

critical 3

In The Figure A Poem Makes Frost describes the importance of different methods in poetry. He offers suggestions for poets too. For example Frost explains the importance of abstract in poetry. He also describes the “wildness” of poetry. Frost believes that poems should have their own sense of wildness. He describes that, although it is important for a poem to have that wildness, it needs to thoroughly explain its subject. Frost says, “Just as the first mystery was how a poem could have a tune in such a straightness as mere, so the second mystery is how a poem can have wildness as at the same time a subject that shall be fulfilled “. In D.H. Lawrence’s Tortoise Shout Lawrence lets the story of the tortoises’ getting busy develop as he is making his point. He describes their “Far, far of, far scream” before pondering “Why were we crucified into sex?”. Frost also describes the importance of sound in a poem.  He believes it is just as important at the punctuation in the poem. Frost states, “The sound is the gold in the ore”.  Lawrence uses sound in his Tortoise Shout. He uses lots of words to describe the sounds of the tortoise such as “A scream, A yell, A shout…”. He describes the sound of the tortoises as “Worse than the cry of the new-born”. Frost also expresses the importance of surprise in poetry. He believes that the reader experiences what they writer is experiencing. He says, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader”. Frost believes that a reader learns through the eyes of the writer. Readers experience the subjects of the poem from how the writer portrays it.