"We Never Know" Blog

After reading the poem, "We Never Know" by Yusef Komunyakaa, I cursed myself for never reading it before. The imagery is powerful and it seems this poem can behold many meanings to it. The character in this poem seems to be dreaming perhaps of a wonderful illusion. The tall blade of grass may resemble a forgotten memory while the character is envisioning it happening. The narrator tries to go to the character of focus and grab his attention yet is stopped by, "a blue halo of flies" which may represent the character's concentration from being disturbed? The poem is a bit confusing at first I do admit. Yet the crumbled photograph mentioned in the poem is very interesting. Again I believe the photograph might mean a memory that the character is holding on to. Since he was holding it in his fingers while dancing, you can assume that he refuses to let go of the past, something is stopping him from moving on. Yet towards the end you realize the character has been killed during the war, his last vision was probably the photograph and what picture was embedded within it. The grass claimed his attention and nature took him. The narrator fell in love with the illusion on what the dead man was experiencing as if he was taken to a different world while the sounds of mortars and guns faded from him.

"The Desolate Field" by WIlliam Carlos Williams, Blog Wk 1

After reading the poem, “The Desolate Field” by William Carlos Williams, I found myself sitting on my chair breathless. I have read through the other poems, yet this one seemed to grab me somehow. The imagery was pronounced and fascinating yet it seemed to delve even deeper. The first two lines leaves one guessing as the author talks about how the sky seems like an illusion. He finds himself unsure of its existence. If you ever walked down the street and felt a wave of amazement as you stared at the leaves falling or the opening of a sunrise you would understand the emotions pulling at this piece. I feel as if the poet is searching for some sort of sign to appear to lead him into the right direction. I can feel his uncertainty and pain with reality. To just exist yet not knowing why you were placed here or what destiny has in store for you. He talks about a nozzle searching the ground. Sometimes people just find themselves so caught up with scientific details on what happened or why it happened, where as life is passing by without any recognition or gratitude. He’s searching for answers, to feel whole again yet wherever he turns he finds himself as he says, “desolate” with nowhere to go. Yet sometimes when things fall apart before you, when all seems to crumble to the ground, a small aspect catches your eye. This aspect can be anything, a smile or the feeling that things just might get better, that this life IS worth it. The poet then feels the need not to search for the answers but rather to experience them. The poet wants to feel some sense of belonging and realizes just because love is not in front of him does not mean all hope is lost. Rather it means that far ahead love is waiting to be cherished and experienced to its fullest extent. A sense of bewilderment is possessed deep into his heart and if one reads these lines they can almost feel the same. At first I believed this was a depressing piece yet after reading it two times I realized it takes the reader from a sense of despair and brings the reader up to a new light, to a sense of hope.