City Eclogue part 2 response

In the second half of City Eclogue, the first poem I read was Open. I believe that this poem is about the housing segregation that was going on before and during the Civil Rights Movement. Sometimes, if there were areas that Caucasians did not want to live in and the government did not want African Americans to live in, they would tear down the houses. The narrator of Open was speaking on the fact that before the houses were torn down, the area seemed to be full of life and that it used to be very tight living quarters. But now that the houses along with the other people are gone, all he sees is an open sadness as generations of families have disappeared.

The next poem that I found interesting was Simple As One Two. It was a lot easier for me to understand unlike most of the other poems in this book. I like the fact that he asks why should someone have to play sick from work just to get some time to himself ? Why is our society so obsessed with money that we are willing to work ourselves to death and why is taking a day off just because you need it a crime? There should be no reason why you have too act sick just to get a day off from work every now and then. And even when you play sick from work, you cannot go anywhere because you cannot take the risk of being seen by any coworkers. The speaker states that even the dumbest of animals knows when self preservation is needed. I think he is saying that humans do not know this limit.

Overall, the City Eclogue is a very good book. There were a lot of poems that confused me and were hard to read. However, it was very interesting to see a different view of the city life other than mine. As a person that has lived in a city in which there are abandoned buildings and was part of the Civil Rights Movement, I never really saw the poetic side of all the damage and neglect I see. I normally see the problems as something to either get away from or fix. If anything this book has taught me to not always look at the negative but the positive as well. 

City Eclogue Part 1 Response

When I first started to read City Eclogue, it was very hard to read and understand. There were a few poems that I was lost and confused about. For example, the poem City Eclogue: Words for It, I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about. I think he may be referring to how in the city we try to combine nature and urban life but in the end it turns out to be different than what anyone expected. You have the birds and the beautiful flowers and then you have the smell of garbage and car exhaust that human waste produces. I also believe that he is talking about how we try to set boundaries on pollution like “No Littering” or cleanliness committees as a way to help keep the Earth clean but at the same time we try to use the health of the Earth as a way to hide the bigger sins that we commit.

 While reading, I soon reached a poem called Sit In What City We’re In. This is one of the few poems that I can understand out of this book. It starts off with “ Someone may want to know one day how many steps we took to cross our street, to know there were hundreds in one city streets in one direction and as many as could fit between the land’s contours crossing lines.” This reminds me of a group of people who live together in the city and it may not be by choice. The speaker is referring to the future as far as I can tell and he wonders whether or not anyone may ask why these people are stuck living together in this part of the city. As I read more of the poem, I realize that this poem is about the housing segregation that African Americans faced before and during the Civil Rights Movement. In part two of this poem, he talks about how African Americans were looked at as something wrong and something that doesn’t belong in this world and how some African Americans would wish that they were a part of a different culture because they thought they would have a better chance at life.

Overall, I would say that this book is pretty good, even though at times it was very hard to understand. Reading the first half of this book gave me a taste of what to expect when it comes to the second half.  While reading this book, I realized that this writer has a different writing style that I am not used to. Most poets you can tell what they are going to write about and how the poem is going to end. Ed Roberson, however, is a completely different story. Many of his poems were very hard to follow. I hardly could tell what the subject of some of the poems were or what was going on.

Poetry Packet Response

Out of all the poems in this packet, sonnet 116 is one of my favorites. It says the truth about love and what happens when things fall apart. Nobody thinks about the pain that a lover feels after a break up. Most people believe that once a relationship is over that the feelings disappear.  Sonnet 116 states the truth about love, it isn’t all buttercups and sunshine and it doesn’t always fade with time. You can fall in love with someone today and never have a chance with that person. Even as days, months, and years go by, you can still love that person to the day you die and nothing can change that.

My second favorite sonnet is sonnet 128. I love how this sonnet expresses the lust and need to be with a person that you are interested in romantically. Taking the place of inanimate objects that the object of your affection often comes in contact with, like a sweater that they wear or a certain shirt that they wear, is often how lovers think. Wanting to be the buttons on their shirts or the zipper to their pants ” Do I envy those jacks, that nimble leap To kiss the tender inward of thy hand” the lust of wanting to be close to that person, to feel their body against yours, to be apart of that person, to be connected, that is the ultimate goal. Even if you are not with that person, you want to feel connected with that person.

My  third favorite sonnet is sonnet 130. This poem is the embodiment of loving someone no matter who they are or what they look like. In sonnet 130, he says that his lady may not have the reddest lips or the brightest eyes but he still loves her. She may not have the sweetest breath or the softest hair but he still wants to be with her. This sonnet also says a lot about standards that people may have for the people that they love. Some men like skinny women, some like thick women and some like curvy women.  Some women like skinny men, some like men with a little muscle, some like men with a lot of muscle. There is such a variety of people in the world that perfection is impossible to find. However, in sonnet 130, he knows that she is not perfect but he still loves her. This sonnet also says a lot about accepting people for who they are . He/she may not be perfect, but they are worthy of love.

Hello

Hello, my name is Briana Smith. I am a sophomore at Eastern Michigan University. This blog is for my Creative Writing class.