Anthologies

Introduction The following poems discuss the theme of appreciation in relationships, and the acknowledgement of these emotions. As I grow older and more mature, I realized that these are two important values in my life. Something I really believe in is that you have to get outside of yourself to see yourself. It’s confusing, but it means that if you look to yourself to understand your emotions, or you won’t find anything. You get outside of yourself and then you look at yourself dealing with your surroundings, instead of being inside yourself reacting to your surroundings. Once I learned this, I tried to apply it into my everyday life and I learned, and am still learning, how to be more thankful for the things around me. These poems mirror the growth that I am trying to achieve in my life.

The poems in my mind that demonstrate the value of a relationships are Our House, Summer Day Memories, Blueberry Pie, The Orange, and To a Daughter Leaving Home.

All of these poems showcase a certain relationship, whether that be with a daughter, a grandmother, a significant other, or even a friend. I chose these poems because they all make the readers think and reflect on their own lives and think about their relationships. I know for me when I read the To a Daughter Leaving Home poem, I thought about what my parents think of my sister leaving the house, and what I would think if I had a daughter who was leaving.

Introduction Why I write Poetry, I Know, A Piece of Furniture, and The Mask were all poems that acknowledge emotion. My favorite types of poems are poems that make you think, and they dont place the answer clearly infront of you. All of these poems overlay different emotions that are almost like puzzles. When you go through the poem you are piecing the puzzle together because you are constantly getting new emotions. For me, I chose these poems because they made put more effor into my anthologies. The poems made you look deeper underneath the words. You could find so many grammaticalstructures that made the poem a poem, but you can never find the true meaning by just looking at the words.

I think that this anthology activity made me clear a path for what my “style� for poetry was. I think all of the concepts I have learned in my life contributed to the choosing of these poems and they really helped me understand what kind of writing I am drawn to.

I am the One Who I am the one who Looks deeper into a meaning I am the one who Enjoys a genuine appreciation for all things I am the one who Can know when she is trying her hardest and when she is lying to herself I am the one who Enjoys reading poetry, but can write it I am the one who Smiles at the smallest thing.

I am the one who Doesn't like change, but has to conform to it.

I am the one who Is tired even without doing anything.

I am the one who Wont stop laughing once I start.

I am the one who is always anxious but is courageous when she has to be.

I am the one who Is true to herself.

Table of Contense

The Orange............................................ 1&2 Why I Write Poetry............................... 3&4 I Know......................................................5&6 To a Daughter Leaving Home..............7&8 Blueberry Pie.........................................9&10 Summer Day Memories.......................11&12 Our House.............................................13&14 Messy Room..........................................15&16 A Piece of Furniture.............................17&18 The Mask.............................................19& 20

The Orange At lunchtime I bought a huge orange— The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave— They got quarters and I got a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy, As ordinary things often do Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment. It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all the jobs on my list And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I'm glad I exist.

C mentary This poem caught my eye because I related to this poem, and saw beauty in it. The main idea of this poem is to show gratitude for the simple things in life. Personally in my life I have learned to love the little things through nature. It is almost like I have opened up my eyes to more beautiful things that were there the entire time. It’s almost the side effect of becoming more mature.

The author makes the sentences roll off of your tongue so that they are smooth and even. If you take a look at the words that are written you would see that there aren’t any rigid or bitter words used. This is an example of when a there are no letter stops. This makes the poem more gentle and fragile as you read it.

The words at the end says “I love you. I'm glad I exist”. You don’t really realize it’s a love letter at the beginning of the poem. At first there is a sense of someone walking through their day and telling the readers how they felt. But at the end it presents itself as a love letter. There is also a sense of the “roses are red violets are blue” rhythm to it, making it like a love letter. This slow pace has the effect of the reader's understanding and processing the words that are on the paper. This is also an attribute to the love letter because love and gratitude shouldn’t be expressed in a quick manner. Instead it should take its time to show itself and be present to the person. The rhythm is also used like a lullaby rhyme making the poem calming and could put a baby to sleep.

The author uses the words to set the scene of what her day was and why she is grateful for it. But, she doesn't always use complete sentences to show the reader what happened throughout her day.

Instead she uses a few words, that don’t even contain a verb, followed by a period. This is important because it makes the poem simpler and she doesn't dwell on a certain part about her day. Each part was equally loved by the character.

Why I Write Poetry By: Kaitlyn Gilles

I was born with words in my mouth, choking on Y’s and N’s and Q’s.

And whenever I part my lips I become Winnie the Pooh, with a pot of sticky words.

I become a well-loved yarn doll who has seen three centuries memories braided together with strand of woven letters I become a candle, lighting a room with images bright as a peacock’s feathers.

I become a volcano, spewing my letters as hot syrupy words that harden into poems.

I become the sky after a storm, dusting my pale letters to reveal a vibrant sunset of words.

I write poetry so that when I am old and crooked with twisted lips and rippled skin, I may tell my great grandchildren that I have feasted with grizzlies,

been loved by hials. placed beads of fire in my eyes and shone through the darkest night I will tell them that people have climbed my crusted body to peer into the crater of my soul and that I have watched over the entire world at once.

And they will smile and like with shining eyes.

Comentary In reading this poem I realized how difficult it was . I could never make the words enticing or make the topic something to read about. I think that this poem is an amazing reflection of the author's talent with words.

In this poem there are many uses of figurative language. One of which, was similes. An example of a simile used in the poem is “lighting a room with images bright as a peacock’s feathers.” This simile adds a deeper description of the bright images. The metaphors add an insight to what the author would use to describe what she thinks in her head. Meaning the author makes connections with everyday objects or words to relate to her readers. Another use of figurative language in the poem is metaphors. For example the poem says “I become a candle, lighting a room with images bright as a peacock’s feathers”. The author uses metaphors for relaying an object’s use. So, she takes what she becomes while writing a poem, and she takes the use of that object and she places herself into becoming that object. This allows the readers to further understand what she is becoming because, like the similes, the metaphors use commonly known objects to describe her topic. When the metaphors were used, there was repetition with the words “I become” for the first four stanzas. This got the words in the reader's head to the point where it was almost like a mantra.

Another feature of the poem is the author’s tone. When I read the title of the poem, I immediately thought this poem was going to be an emotional recap of the author's life showing why she writes poetry. I am mostly drawn to those types of poems so I was excited when I first read this poem. I soon found it was the author expressing this topic through a series of descriptive metaphors showing what the author becomes. Her tone is so narrow that it seems to be a little emotional at certain points.

This has the effect of drawing the reader out because you never knew exactly what she was going to say.

I Know

By: David Clarke I’ve never felt the warm caress of a kiss I’ve never felt the soft touch of a hand in mine And I’ve never had sweet nothings whispered in my ear But even so, I have learned love It is unconditional comfort It is a hope that continues on through despair

And in times of need it never stops giving I have learned of love, and have longed for it

Comentary This poem was showed to me by a friend who was also looking for poems to write about. I personally felt a connection to this poem because as an adolescent, you are looking for love, you want to be love, you want to love someone, but you don’t fully know what love is yet.

This conflict is what is expressed thought this entire poem This poem is organized into sixteen lines. Every other line has an indentation which continues the thought of the line before it. Having the indentations let the readers add a pause between the lines making it more dramatic. The lines are short which makes reader slow its reading down throughout the poem. The fact that there are no end stops, or periods, makes the poem more fluid when you read it. In the first three lines, there is repetition , which is the repeating of a word or phrase, at the beginning of each. The first three lines all start with “I’ve never”. This pattern lets the reader get information about the character in the poem. The repeating words “I’ve never” make the reader feel a little sorry for the character because he hasn’t experienced these different aspects that come with love. Along with repetition there is irregular use of syllables which leads to different structures of stressed words. This makes the poem looser and not have a direct structure like poems often do.

There is also a lot of irony present in this poem. The title of the poem is “I Know” when really, the author doesn't know what love is. He knows of love, but he doesn't know what love is. I think that is a main point in adolescents lives because we see movies and we read books that show us examples of love, but we never fully develop an idea of what love is.

Maybe this is the case because we all define it differently and it can’t be expressed through a book or movie. But there will come a day where the pieces all fall into place, and we come to terms with our own definition.

To a Daughter Leaving Home By: Linda Pastan

for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up, while you grew smaller, more breakable with distance, pumping, pumping for your life, screaming with laughter, the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye.

When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels, my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park, I kept waiting

Comentary I found this poem last year when our teacher was giving us different examples of poems to write about. I feel the connection to this poem through high school. Like the mom, I am leaving the familiar and going into uncharted waters. But, I am also gaining a new experience. That is exactly what the mom undergoes in this poem.

One of the reasons I liked this poem so much was because you can really feel the sadness that the mother is feeling for her child. The way the mother describes how her daughter is growing up right in front of her and is leaving, makes the reader understand the mother's sorrow.

The whole poem is metaphor representing the daughter growing up. One of the main lines that shows the mother’s struggle is when she says “I kept waiting for the thud of your crash as I sprinted to catch up”. This shows that the mother is not ready for her daughter to grow. Riding a bike is a big milestone is a child’s life. The mom was ready to be by her side when her daughter would fall, but she succeeded which meant that the she was succeeding on her own. The mother also said that she was sprinting to catch up to her. It seemed like she wasn’t part of her child’s goal, and the goal only included her succeeding to ride the bike. The mom has to catch up because this was the first time she was not needed right there next to her. While she is loosing the full attention of her daughter, she is gaining a daughter who has experienced a part of freedom.

There is also a simile used to explain some of the sadness the mother is facing. She says, “the hair flapping behind you like a handkerchief waving goodbye”. This quote shows the the mother takes her riding off without her as a way of saying goodbye. In the poem you can see that The textual layout of the poem really contributes to how the poem is meant to be read. First, the lines are very short which makes you read the poem in a fluid motion.Along with this, the poem is a run on thought, meaning that there are no end stops to stop your reading. The poem is almost said in one fluid breath.

Blueberry Pie It was blueberry pie and the crust was rolled and folded and flaked and baked and the heat of the summer day blended with the heat of the oven and grandma as pink as a sunset kissed my cheek with her soft wet cheeks and the pie spattered blue ooze on the oven floor and there was only blueberry air and she peeked in the oven and it was cooking and grandma said "good it will be ready soon" and she took a spoon in one hand and me in the other and we opened the oven door once more and the hot winds slapped my face and grandma scraped the viscous blue and handed me the spoon and the burning blue kissed my lips and we smiled blue all day.

By: Nancy Gorrell

Comentary I was first drawn to this poem because of it’s title. I really like pie!

I can relate to this because when I was about four, my family and I went to Nova Scotia and we picked blueberries and then put it in a pie. I got ticks and I was so angry. This is one of the best family memories my family has, and this poem reminded me of it.

The aspect that most stuck out to me was the construction of the poem itself. First there is no endstops in any part of the poem.

This has the effect of the reader just running through the lines. In a different way, it seems like the narrator is so excited for the pie that she is talking fast and is just running on and on about every detail about the pie. I found this part very comforting. It also was a whole poem about describing the surrounding, the people, and the pie. This helps the reader form a picture inside of their head.

For me, it is the picture of a white kitchen with yellow checkered curtains and it’s facing the backyard which is full of trees surrounding the house. It shows the image of the bond between grandma and granddaughter.

The tone of the author also shows a lot about the poem. The tone of the poem is from a comforted point of view. You can tell that when the author was putting the poem together it was a memory from the heart. You can tell that while she was writing it she was experiencing the smell of the pie, the texture of her grandmother's kiss, and the taste of the pie. I think that this is one of the reasons I liked it the most. I feel as if this poem is simple, but it comes from a genuine point of view that many can relate to.

Summer Day Memories By: Kristen Propst

In the bright blue sky on a warm afternoon, Climbing up rough trees.

As you grab for my hand it fits in mine.

Playing in your treehouse up in the sky, Way up there feeling the cool breeze against my blonde hair.

Feeling free no worries at all.

Remembering those days when we were inseparable.

My grandpa asks me if we are married yet.

“No, I am too young,” I would reply.

What a silly old man!

Changing weather didn’t stop us, The cool crisp air which made us shiver Made no difference as we played in the snow.

Building snowmen and digging tunnels was our plan for the day.

Walking inside, the smell of hot chocolate filled the room, As we took little sips to warm us up.

Watching cartoons. Playing superheroes .

Pretending that we were pirates.

But, one sad day I moved away.

And now I miss those days up in the tree house.

Comentary This poem really does take me back to the summers when I was young. I use to have this neighbor that I spent almost every day with. Our families would go to the beach together and our sister’s we best friends so our families were very close. Soon we both grew up in different ways and that was almost like moving away from each other.

One of the main parts of this poem I found both interesting and confusing, was the poems praising. At the beginning of the poem the character says “In the bright blue sky on a warm afternoon, Climbing up rough trees. As you grab for my hand it fits in mine.” This almost seems like she is narrating the present. But, as you read more you see that this poem is the recollection of a memory. The end of the poem says that the character misses these moments. Even though she never talks about her life in the present, you can tell that it might not be the best for her right now.

I find the tone of the poem to be one of satisfaction in the sadness of the arising memory. I feel like the author portrayed that to the character. I almost see the character being about 14 years old and then being reminded of a certain smell, object, or other sensation that brought her back to that point in her life.

It’s almost like the memory was pushed away, but then brought up by this.

I'll light the fire, you put the flowers in the vase that you bought today.

Staring at the fire for hours and hours while I listen to you Play your love songs all night long for me, only for me.

Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good.

Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated by the Sunshine through them, fiery gems for you, only for you.

Our house is a very, very fine house with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, Now everything is easy cause of you and our la, la, la..

Our house is a very, very fine house with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, Now everything is easy cause of you and our I'll light the fire, you put the flowers in the vase that you bought today.

Our House By: Crosby, Stillis and Nash

Comentary When I was younger, and even today, my dad would play his music that he had collected along the years. Now the songs that are made comfort me and make me feel at home. This song is one song that he plays and it’s come to be my favorite song. I always think of my family when this song is played because as a family we had to go through some very rough times, but now it seems like everything is easy.

This song draws an image of a picture perfect house. The house is a nice house with two cats in the yard. By this you see it as being a materialistic song explaining their amount of possessions, but it turns out to be just the opposite. The next line says “Life use to be so hard” this makes the listener feel that maybe compared to what life was before to these people, their house isn’t what we would call luxury, but it makes them happy. They are also doing these simple tasks like lighting a fire or placing flowers in a vase that they bought, but you can tell that they are so thankful to do these simple tasks. This is the contrast between the materialistic items and the relationship between the two people in the song.

Along with drawing an image, it also has elements of a love song. It says that everything is easy because “you” in the song. The singer explains their house, but it’s not about the house necessarily. You can see that even in the title it’s not the house that makes the song, but the fact that the person it sharing it with someone he cares about.

Another interesting piece of the song is the use of language. A house is a pile of wood and drywall. The house doesn't make a certain place a home, it’s the people you are with. In the song, they describe every aspect of a home, but they actually never use the word home. It’s almost like they wanted the listeners to figure it out for themselves.

I think that the tone in this piece of music is relief from the writer. It seems like there was so much trouble breathing before the song, and now it’s like he’s exhaling all of his troubles. I feel like this makes the reader get an insight to the relief and the happiness that this couple is facing with their new life.

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Messy Room n i e t s r e v l i S l e By: Sh

Comentary This poem caught my eye while I was on a website called poem hunter. I can relate to this poem because I often have a messy room and I never seem to take the full responsibility for it. It always seems to be that I never was the one who created the mess. There is always excuses. Along with the character at the end of the poem, I too cut myself more slack then I would if it was someone else’s room.

This meter in the poem is an Iambic trimeter, which is a weak stress followed by a strong stress and has three feet to a line. By this meter the rhythm of the poem is manipulated to work through a steady beat. For example in the sentence “His underwear is hanging on the lamp.” the first word “His” is a weak stress. Then the next word “underwear” has a strong stress on “under” and a weak on “wear” making the rest of the line also have an iambic meter. Rhyme is also continuously used in the poem as well. The rhyme works as the first line not rhyming with anything and the third line not rhyming with any other word as well. But, the second and fourth line rhyme with each other. This pattern is used through the poem The poem is also an unfolding of a thought. The character with the messy room is laying out the room for the reader which gives the reader a visual to follow. When the character is drawing the picture for the reader, certain elements of comedy are present. For example “His workbook is wedged in the window normally one would not wedge a workbook in a window. This causing a funny image to arise in the reader's head. Another example was when he starts piecing it together, like when he said “A lizard named Ed is asleep in his bed” how did he know that the lizards name was Ed? Probably because he knew it was his room! Often poems have the use of metaphors which make you look deeper into the poem for a new meaning. But, in this poem you really have to look deeper into the meaning. The fact that the character doesn't take responsibility for his own room and says that “whosever room it is should be ashamed” represents a problem that all people have. As humans it’s hard for us to judge ourselves for wrongdoings, but it is so much easier to judge someone else for what they did wrong.

Move me. Dust me if You care to.

Hide me in a corner.

Show me off for all to See. I am the comfort zone.

Appreciated for What I am worth. Invisible

A

For what I am useless.

Kick me. Polish Me when company

PIECE

Comes. Scratch me, But ignore the eternal Scar. I am all arms And legs. Feel nothing.See Nothing. Do nothing.

I absorb dirt. But I

FURNITURE

Am sturdy. Sit on Me if you will. I am Quite sure I can survive Beneath you

OF

Comentary I can connect to this poem in a way that is indirect to what the actual poem is saying. I think that this poem can also be used to describe how someone is feeling as well. Sometimes, we are just a piece of furniture, and accessories, to others and then we lose our worth, get sit on and also get put beneath them. This hasn’t happened to me a lot, but there are some people who do experience this a lot.

One of characteristics of this poem is the use of short lines and endstops. These characteristics work together to form a confusing structure that you don't understand when you first read the poem. This then allows you to re-read the poem letting you understand the reference of the “furniture”. The end stops and short lines also make it hard for you to piece the full sentences together, making your reading staggered in between words. This has the effect of making the poem sound off when you read it allowed.

Another part that I found very interesting was the use of indirect-repetition. All the line before the last four lines all state how the furniture piece is beneath the person. Then in the last line it says “Quite sure I can survive Beneath you”. I thought that this was very interesting because you finally get that the “furniture piece” is not angry, it’s tired. It’s like he has been beaten down so many times that he is just accepting the idea. I found this really interesting because you don’t get the attitude to the poem until the end.

The Mask I look in the mirror at the beginning of each day, and ask myself what mask should I place on my face today.

No not the sad one it's too revealing, I don't want to show the world my true feelings.

For the mask that you can see camouflages the true me.

It's my public face that I remove each night, when I bare my soul the mirrors light.

It's the one meant for only my eyes to see it speaks of all my history.

It tells of my youth and girlish ways, my adolescents and my young womans dreams.

It tells of good times of which I had my share of love lost and pain so hard to bear.

So I choose my mask so carefully, to cover the face that was given to me, the one that was meant for only my eyes to see.

By: Charlene Valladares

Comentary I found this poem through a website called family friend poems. I think this poem is one that any person can relate to. I know that when I get sad I don’t want to overbear my friends with my emotions so I try to hide and conceal them from people.

I personally feel like it shows the real nature of what people do. I know that for me, I think that you have to put on different “hats” for different people. Meaning, that you filter your own personality to match someone else’s. A hat is a accessory that adds on to what you already have, but a mask will conceal yourself. At a certain point when you conceal yourself too much you don’t even remember who you are anymore.

There is rhyme within the sentences. For example the poem says “No not the sad one it's too revealing, I don't want to show the world my true feelings.” This add the sounds that almost repeat in a depressing manner. In that way the word reveling has a strong stress on the syllable “ve”, this makes the “ing” sound go lower and sound weaker.

This lets the reader understand the sad nature of the poem through that rhyme. The rhyme does not carry out through the entire poem however. I view this as the character putting on different mask as she is writing the poem.

Like my last poem this poem has a continuous metaphor. The mask does not mean a literal mask. It represents the emotional wall that everyone puts up. The mask never changes what you already has, but it covers up the things you don't want to be present. One of the lines written says “It's my public face that I remove each night, when I bare my soul the mirrors light.” It is almost as if we all as humans are wearing our masks as our bodies because we can never tell our soul from the outside. We can fake our outward appearance making it seem like we are thinking one thing, but is actually thinking another.