Ballad by Sonia Sanchez

The poem, “Ballad” by Sonia Sanchez is beautifully written. The main focus of the piece is a woman debating on the proper age of wisdom and love. It feels as if it is a war on one woman being too old and another too young to fully comprehend the meaning and the emotions being the word love. The young woman is told she is too young to understand. Yet while the older woman understands, she is told she is too old to experience love again. A line that caught my attention was, “once. What does it matter when or who, I knew of love. I fixed my body under his and went to sleep in love.” The woman is telling the young person that she has experienced this love, so how can she not fully understand it. The emotions and diction in this piece is amazing, showing her views and feelings on actually experiencing love as it unfolds.

Dreams by Langston Hughes

I have read this poem plenty of times. The poem, “Dreams” by Langston Hughes is so cleverly written where it can be read by a child or an adult searching for inspiration and hope. He tells the reader to hold on to their dreams as if it is the pure essence and joy the person will have in their lifetimes. He believes that if a person doesn’t possess any dreams or aspirations of any sort, they are living in what he calls life as, “Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow.” Dreams add color to life and the poet is pushing people to hold on to dreams, no matter if they are impossible or not. This poem has inspired me to follow my dream of writing endlessly.

“Incident” by Amiri Baraka

This poem is wonderful and I love the psychological thriller like theme to it. The poem, “Incident” by Amiri Baraka leaves people wondering and mesmerized following each line without a breath. His poem is a mystery being unraveled yet still having one’s guessing what the truth it. The rhythm of the poem is fast, non stopping and one feels like they are watching the scene unfold between the murderous killer and its victim. The narrator describes in great detail the shooting of the victim and how it damages him. The narrator clues in that the victim held a dark soul, “But he died in darkness darker than his soul.” This hints that the victim might have been involved in some sort of scandal that resulted in his death. The killer was mentioned to have stayed to watch the victim die from loss of blood which shows the menacing and horrible mind of the killer. The narrator leaves the reader guessing and wondering the history and the motive behind such a scene.

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

I have always loved this poem, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. I referred to this poem plenty of times in my life with different situations. The narrator is forced to face a dilemma of two roads he approaches. He must choose between the two, each resembling a different life’s path. He tries to determine the results of taking each path yet he is unable to and is forced to choose one. The narrator describes one of the roads as “grassy and wanted wear” which means he was claiming that road was less traveled. After contemplating each road and understanding he cannot return to his present situation, he chooses the harder and more difficult road to take, the one “less traveled by”. He decides to take the route which is more challenging and acceptable in his eyes then the easy way out in which other people take.

Metaphors by Sylvia Plath

After reading the poem, “Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath, I was amazed by such skill that Plath possesses. This poem has to do with the topic of pregnancy. She starts off by claiming that she is writing a riddle that needs to be solved. She then uses each line as a clue and a metaphor to figure out the secret. She describes the appearance of being pregnant. She also talks about the responsibility and the effects of the choices being made from having a child. Plath discusses the financial effect on being pregnant, the emotions and the feelings. Her poem holds humor and understanding from anyone who understands what it’s like from being pregnant with child.

Song by Allan Ginsberg

After reading the poem, “Song” by Allan Ginsberg, I was left thinking more deeply about the essence of love and the philosophy of it. He writes about the importance of love in people’s eyes in society as well as how it shapes our lives. The poet starts talking of love as if it was a burden, preventing us from living our lives completely. People are searching for this powerful feeling through dreams, daily days of living, as if it was the fountain of youth. He talks about love as if it was a “weight” in which we carry, he also writes as if it is the cure for such poison as well. People’s search for love can be overwhelming and bringing us down, but the cure for such sadness is to lean on love for support, “we carry the weight wearily, and so must rest in the arms of love.” The narrator wants to feel acceptance and a sense of wholeness in their body and the only way that seems to be possible is to find love.

“The Secret” by Denise Levertov

The poem, “The Secret” by Denise Levertov reminds me of poetry in general. I can picture a group of friends sitting around and each reading this one poem. As one reads a poem, one can interpret its meaning in a whole new light. Yet it seems to me, each friend reads the poem and discovers a connection within them. Somehow, the lines reach out to each reader. However, as you read this poem you start to wonder if the poem was already written or if the friends each wrote a line creating their own poems filled with secrets within. Years later, the friends can read the poem discovering a time that gripped them with a sense of wonder.