Emily's+Poetry+Log+(March)

Favorite Line(s): "You stand, a tower for the near,/refuge to those far off." || Favorite Line(s): "even though his mother blanks him,/carries on" || Favorite Line(s): "the ribs' symmetrical fretwork,/the pendant branches/of phalanges, the serpentine torc" || Favorite Line(s): "when the winter-warped window would not lift" || Favorite Line(s): I partake of the sun./And the stone." ||
 * || **Date** || **Title** || **Poet** || **Comments** ||
 * 91 || March 2, 2012 || [|Where Will I Find You] || Yehuda Halevi (Translated by Peter Cole) || In the poem "Where Will I Find You," the speaker ponders where he may find God. The speaker asks many questions throughout the poem, instigating a tone of curiosity and an atmosphere of mystery as one considers the locations in which God may reside. The speaker suggests that God exists in not only heaven, but also within our planet, having "lain above the Ark...yet live in the highest heavens." The speaker conveys that God is not contained, but omnipresent in his own kingdom and with the "men [he] made from dust and clay." The speaker expresses incredulity and amazement at God, that he would be willing to walk on earth with lowly men. Finally, the speaker utters a word of praise for God, emphasizing God's greatness.
 * 92 || March 5, 2012 || [|Early Learning] || Richard Meier || In the poem "Early Learning," the speaker describes a boy's thoughts in a scene from childhood. The scene illustrates the degree of jealousy that exists within the child and the yearning to be at the center of attention. Although the boy is said to have "had his go," he is not willing to stand to the side and watch his sister "be the one being chased....and reassembled by mum's embrace." By standing idly on the side watching his sister laugh, it seems that the boy feels excluded and unloved, even though he had previously experienced what he is currently watching. The boy's yearning for attention is emphasized when he "proceeds to squeal and scamper/pretending he's being chased as well." Although his mother "blanks him," he keeps running, continuing to let his mother chase him instead of his sister. The boy only stops and feels calm when he is embraced by his mother, showing his desire for his mother's attention towards him.
 * 93 || March 5, 2012 || [|The Sailor Who Fell from the Rigging] || Sheenagh Pugh || In the poem by Sheenagh Pugh, the speaker provides a detailed description of "The Sailor Who Fell from the Rigging," painting a picture of the sailor's body in the naval hospital. The speaker describes the sailor with the roughness of the sea and of sailing to emphasize the sailor's characteristics, although the sailor seems to be portrayed more as a pirate than an ordinary sailor. For example, the speaker describes the sailor as having "scarred bones" and "eye-sockets empty bezels for aquamarine or jet." Furthermore, the speaker incorporates descriptors reflecting pirate-like sea adventures such as hidden treasures and serpents into the appearance of the sailor's body.
 * 94 || March 10, 2012 || [|Looking Back] || James Crews || In the poem "Looking Back," the speaker reminisces on his past, and the time he spent with his wife. The speaker describes his romantic life with imagery involving shattered glass, suggestive of pain rather than joy. At the same time, the speaker suggests that his wife was able to ameliorate the sharpness and the pain of the glass, describing her pure and delicate nature in contrast to the roughness of broken glass. The speaker also alludes to the biblical story of Lot and his wife as they run from a burning city, when his wife turns into a pillar of salt by disobeying God and looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah.
 * 95 || March 17, 2012 || **[|Dispatches from an Unfinished World]** || Rebecca Lindenberg || In the poem "Dispatches from an Unfinished World," the stanzas are separated to create a fragmented poem that reflects its title. The speaker seems to be conveying flashes of the "unfinished world" that, when pieced together, actually do create a full image. This image is one of the speaker's romantic attraction to her correspondent, who is relaying these flashes of the unfinished world to her. It is conveyed that while the speaker is attracted to her correspondent, he remains distant and "will not let [her] love him," similar to the way the unfinished world is distant and inaccessible to the speaker.