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Poetry Through the Ages for June
In the blocks below, please find your weekly poems written by me. There are two components to each poem: The poem I wrote as a child (I started writing poetry when I was 11) and an analogy of the lines and word use, using my current and adult understanding of poetic devices and how my lines conveyed the message using devices and styles I learned as an adult. If you have any questions or concerns about the poems, please reach out to me!
Week One:
The Final Fall—2004. Age 15
The people that are still alive,
Screaming for their lost loved ones,
Wishing they were dead,
Fall.
Analogy:
The people that are still alive,—
Who is alive? Those pumped full of adrenaline? This line can mean many things, but given the toxic content, there is an assumption that some survived while others didn’t. If the poet knows those who are still alive and chooses to write of their fate and not the fate of those who didn’t, whose responsibility is it to tell the story of those who are still alive? Usually, stories are written about those who have passed already but wouldn’t this be the meaning and purpose of this poem? Why would the poet write about people who can tell their own stories, as they are “still alive”, and the assumption that they are people. What is a person? Are all persons people, or are there a select few who have this title and could be the cause of the “people” who are “still alive” and those who aren't in this line. How would the poet know these people are still alive? Does the poet know them personally, or was the poet told of their life by means of communication or telepathy? Where does this telepathy come from? Aren’t all pieces of poetry a form of telepathy? The ability to read the reader’s mind and decide what they need based on how and why they chose this poem to read? What if they didn’t have a choice to read this poem and it was forced on them like a black and white piece of paper of their own choosing, based on the company they keep? How would the poet know the others are dead? Is life and death the only option in this case? What could be another mode of existence? The adrenaline of those who are still alive in the final fall, that is.
Screaming for their lost loved ones,—
Are all of the lost “loved ones” people who were loved? Loved by who? The poet or you, the reader? How would you, the reader, know those in this poem who did in the previous line? The truth is you don’t but you could think of your own loved ones who were lost and now you, the reader, is the one who screams. The lost loved ones could have been screaming as they were lost, but how would you or the poet know? Were either of you there when they were lost? In this context, does lost mean dead or simply lost to the world in general and no longer accessible to those who don’t know how to listen to them? What happens when the screams fall on deaf ears? Does this mean no one could hear them or were people there and just didn’t care enough to listen to what was going on around them? What happens when their loved ones can hear them but can’t do anything about it? Does this mean their love (which is supposed to protect us from emotional damage and screams) in the night doesn’t make a difference? Could it be the poet who is screaming for their lost loved ones and listening for signs of life where they once found silence? How would you, the reader, know the difference? If you were screaming, how would the poet know? Would you tell them before they wrote the poem so they could have a means to put you on the page for other readers, or would you want your pain to be a private affair between the poet and these lines on the page that hold meaning because we say it does?
Wishing they were dead,—
Wishing who was dead? The poet, their muses, or you, the reader? Another option could be: The loving family discussed in an earlier line wishing they were dead for the sake of the poet. If the poet feels responsible for their feelings and these feelings are tied to the feeling of falling, as is the nature of this poem, and this responsibility could feel like a burden the poet might not be able to acknowledge or handle on their own, hence the need to fall into nothing, or to fall into something they can crawl out of when the time is right. On the other hand, the poet could wish their muses were dead so they could have something and someone to write about. A live muse is useful, but a dead one helps with the feeling of mystery and adds to the somberness of any poem. What’s the point of having a fun, lively muse and topic when the poet can write a tragic backstory of the one that got away? Is it the muse who wishes they were dead so they could be of use for the poet?
Fall.—
Based on my analogies above, how would you analyze this line?
What do you think? Do you agree with my understanding and symbolism? I’d love to know!
Please use this [ link ] to the optional forum to start a discussion about the poem. Alternatively, you can use any of the email links from the contact [ page ].
Week Two:
Feigned Innocence—2004. Age 15
Children crying for their parents to return,
They did not see the figure that came down,
Not realizing the children were not innocent.
Not knowing what will become of them.
Analogy:
Children crying for their parents to return,—
Whose children are these? Are they your children, waiting for your return from this poetic universe that stole you away for these few lines and moments of peace? How would you know these are your children? Would it matter if they are crying if they aren’t your children? With this line, do you think the poet meant ‘children’ as in biological children as in age or people who are your age, as the reader, but have a childlike demeanor because of past experiences? Why are the children crying, though? Do they miss their parents because they have been away from them for some time or has the poetic universe been cruel to them and they need a way out? If this is the case for people with childlike tendencies, who are their parents? Are these their biological parents or others around them who feel protective over them based on their life experiences? Would it make a difference in this poetic universe where the children are crying regardless? The question of why these children are crying is still a mystery, though, or maybe there isn’t a reason at all. Sometimes crying is just necessary.
They did not see the figure that came down,—
A figure that descends in any piece of writing is usually a religious figure, but in the context of this poem, the person that descends most likely won’t be a religious figure. It could be a parent to come save the children from their harsh poetic universe, or it could be another person who has ill intentions for these children. Without their parents, who will save them? Will it be you, reader? Will you save these children by reading until the end of the poem and finding what happens in the rest of the story? Also, who is this “they”? Is it the children or the parents (who came to save the children after they cried out), or are “they” something completely different? What do you, the reader, think would happen if an unwanted figure came down into a field of children? Would the children be scared because this could be a stranger, or would they search for anything they can cling to for hope? Without their parents, wouldn’t they latch onto anything for protection? What happens if they are what the poetic universe is afraid of? The reassuring being is often the most scary.
Not realizing the children were not innocent.—
How would an unsuspecting being know a group of children are dangerous? In a way, children are more dangerous than adults because many of them don’t have the social skills to navigate right from wrong. Who would have told this group of children that killing insects, plants, and people are wrong? Would they have known instinctively? Whose instincts would these children have followed if they had been left alone generation after generation and no one was there to teach them what to be afraid of? Has the poet explicitly stated that these children had been left alone to fend for themselves in this poetic universe, or did you, the reader, come to this conclusion on your own? How did you, the reader, come to this conclusion? Was it the title of the poem or the subsequent lines afterwards that drew you to this conclusion? What if the children were with their parents the whole time and none of them realized they were a part of the same poetic universe? If the descending person didn’t know the children might be dangerous, would they have assumed safety? What can a group of children do to an unsuspecting visitor, granted the non-biological children are just as dangerous: They gave up their path in the real world and chose to enter into the poetic universe, which means they can teach the real children the violence they weren’t allowed to act out while outside the poetic universe, away from the parents who were supposed to protect them.
Not knowing what will become of them.—
Based on my analogies above, how would you analyze this line?
What do you think? Do you agree with my understanding and symbolism? I’d love to know!
Please use this [ link ] to the optional forum to start a discussion about the poem. Alternatively, you can use any of the email links from the contact [ page ].