City Eclogue Part 2

The second half of City Eclogue was somewhat easier to understand, though not by much. I could follow the themes of the poems though which is an improvement over the first half.

Ornithologies is the scientific name for the study of birds, which makes sense since all the poems make references to birds of some sort. In the first poem in the section, Urban Nature, he says it is specifically "not the dead of no bird sing" and he also mentions the "hawk's kiosks". The topic then skips two poems to come back in Open/Back Up when he mentions "the auspice" which I was proud to have noticed considering my inability to understand poetry very well. In Monk's Bird Book it mentions morning doves and talks extensively about owls and their “soft, silent feathers”. I suppose this section of poetry was a bit easier to understand than the first two sections of the book, though not by much. The random spaces and blank pages are still causing me strife and I’m glad that we should be moving on.

One poem I found interesting from the second half of City Eclogue was Simple As One Two. It was a bit easier for me to understand than the some of the other poems for which I was thankful. I like that he asks why should someone have to play sick from work just to get some time to himself? I had to take a couple days off over the course of my years in high school just because I felt like I needed a day for me. Of course, I had to pretend to be sick or I would’ve gotten in trouble. I really think that there is no reason why you have to act sick just to get a day off from work or school a few days a year. And even when you play sick from work or school, you can’t go anywhere because you can’t be seen by coworkers or by your parents.

As riveting as I found City Eclogue, no sarcasm I promise, I’m glad that I don’t have to look at Mr. Ed’s version of poetry anymore but I can definitely say its been a good experience. I may have barely understood most of the poems, and I may still not understand Mr. Ed’s logic in how he spaces out his poems, but I can say that he’s definitely unique. In some poems there would be two lines and then the thought wouldn’t be completed until the next stanza. As opposed to the first half of the book, there was some punctuation which helped with my comprehension of the poems a bit I suppose. It was definitely an adventure reading City Eclogue, but like all adventures there’s always an end. Thank God.

City Eclogue Part 1

The City of Eclogue has been causing me some strife. I tried re-reading some of the poems but I still can't make any sense out of them. I tried pausing at different places and reading with a different rhythm but it didn't help any. I don't know if it's my non-ability to read between the lines, or if other people were having the same problem, but these are probably some of the most confusing poems I've ever seen.

One of the poems I did somewhat understand was Seqouia Sempervirens, the first line says "We are about what, a squirrel's size is to a tree, to this tree." I think this is comparing a squirrel to a tree like we are to the world. My interpretation is that he's trying to tell us that we aren't nearly as important on the greater scale of things. Basically, he's telling us that we shouldn't think the world revolves around us because we're not nearly as important as we believe ourselves to be.

Another line that I kind of understood is on page 56 where it says "he woke in a fight for his life in that he went at the alarm clock as if to kill." It made me think of this morning when I actually fell out of bed when my alarm clock went off. I had been reaching for it with one hand and protecting my face with the other. I had been having a bad dream at the time, so I suppose it was kind of like my fear of something in my subconscious was being passed on to something in the waking world.

I'm really hoping to get a better grasp in the second part of City of Eclogue, and I'm sort of looking forward to reading it in a backwards way.

Post for 09/16/13

     Harryette Mullen's sonnet in the poetry packet made me laugh but it also made me question myself. If taken the wrong way the poem could be seen as an insult instead of a love poem. That's probably the way I would take it if a guy had read this poem to me. As I think more on it I can see that it is more about being in love with someone who may seem ordinary to most but is special anyway to the person speaking the poem. "And in some minty-fresh mouthwashes there is more sweetness than in the garlic breeze my main squeeze wheezes." Something like that would definitely bug me for a while even if it was a joke, as I am very self conscious.
     Shakespeare's sonnet about love always growing and changing opened up a whole new thought trail for me. I always thought that a person's love for another could always grow, but I never saw any reason not to say, "I love you most" when someone I care for is around. I really like the line "to give full growth to that which still doth grow" because it helped me fully express my thoughts about it. Now that I've read this poem I believe that this is extremely accurate and I see why Shakespeare is such an amazing poet in people's eyes.
     "If I had a year off, I'd write a novel." When I read this for the first time I actually started laughing. I couldn't believe that Cameron had written something that I had told my mom only a few months ago. She had asked me what I planned to do for college and I told her that I was considering taking a year off from school and writing a novel. I ended up getting talked out of that plan as it turns out, though I think it was for the better. I do hope to write a novel one day, and I really hope I get published. It's always been a dream of mine.

Introducing the Starship Ranger Brittany Connelly

Hi everyone, my name's Brittany. ^-^ Don't ever let my extreme randomness or seemingly annoyance with you keep you from talking to me because I do actually want to talk to you, I'm just extremely shy and socially awkward. Oh, and if you don't understand any references I make, assume they are from a Team Starkid musical, because I think they're totally awesome and I wanted to be unique. ^-^ My favorite colors are light and dark purple or dark purple and lime green, and if I were an animal I would be a panda. I have two little sisters and a little brother who is diagnosed with autism. I am the oldest child in my family and the oldest grandchild on my mother's side, and I am the first to have gone to college in my immediate family. I play video games quite a bit, mostly CoD games and a bit of Halo Reach and 4 all on Xbox 360. I've been called a pool shark because I can shoot with both hands equally well once I get used to the table; my friend's dad hates playing pool with me because of this, which my friend finds hilarious. I don't really play pool much though, so no one should have to worry about my 'pool shark' tendencies. My current fandoms are Supernatural, Harry Potter, MLP, The Host, SHINee, the House of Night, The Vampire Diaries, Degrassi, and Marvel's superhero movies. Fandoms that as of this moment I have no interest in that others seem to enjoy are Doctor Who, Sherlock, and The Hunger Games. I'm not saying that I dislike them, I just have a lot on my plate that I need to watch and read already so I don't want to get obsessed with anything else. I'm not sure what else to say, so I think I'll just end it here. Have an awesome day! ^-^