Poetry Precis #5 - "The Poet" by Tom Wayman

Tom Wayman, in his poem, "The Poet," opens the reader’s eyes into the life of a poet by using no rhyme scheme, keeping each line short, alliteration, repetition of negative words like, “cannot,” and, “does not,” and writes in a serious tone. The poem describes a poet with a special personality and truly opens the eyes of the reader to the inside of a poet’s life. In the first stanza, Wayman explains that a poet, “May speak much but makes little sense,” which is true to the reader. Readers will understand this more than anything. A poet enjoys to write and often writes their feelings, but when they write, it makes little sense to the reader because they do not necessarily have the same thought processes of the poet. Towards the end of the poem, Wayman describes how poets may be well-versed with words, but there is a downside to that: they are not well learned in other areas such as, “retaining such things as addition and subtraction facts..” Throughout the poem, the author creates a humorous, yet serious tone to help the reader understand a poet like a poet not understanding the simplicity of an object, or being able to categorize their surroundings, or not being able to understand, “what he reads... what he hears.” All of these happen to be the characteristics of a poet, whether we realize it or not. To end off with, Wayman says that a poet, “may recognize a word one day and not the next,” meaning that sometimes even poets struggle with understanding different meanings behind words. I feel like this describes the thought process of a poet. One day he may write down feelings, but the next day not understand the meaning behind his own writings because he is not feeling the same way he did the day before. Through a serious tone, Wayman brings the life of a poet to the reader’s eyes.

Poetry Precis #4 - "At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border" by William E. Stafford

William E. Stafford, in his poem, “At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border,” uses a serious tone and an off-line rhyme to show the reader the importance of a place, even if we think that since nothing significant has occurred there, it is of little importance to us. In the first stanza, Stafford, uses negatives, “this is the field where the battle did not happen, where the unknown soldier did not die” to show the reader that although nothing of historical significance took place here, that is no reason to disregard a certain area of land. He continues to write, “...no monument stands, and the only heroic thing is the sky.” Here, Stafford is making a point of saying that since no acts of heroism, or even the opposite, warlike acts (acts of hatred), have not taken place; therefore, there is no reason for a monument to be standing here. He seems to be angered by the fact that a monument stands in places of war, when, “Birds fly here without any sound,” this area of land is peaceful- representing peace and not war. Should we not be pro-peace? Why are there not any monuments in fields where no wars took place, no battle was fought and peace was represented by an open field? Stafford’s serious tone shows the reader where society is at fault and what they are missing out on. Society should not constantly be focusing on places of war, rather of peace.

Poetry Precis #3 - "Do You Have Any Advice for those of us Just Starting Out?" by Ron Koertge

In Ron Koertge’s poem, “Do You Have Any Advice for those of us Just Starting Out?,” by using playful imagery he tries to relate the writing to the reader and show the importance of not staying within one environment while learning how to write, and rather get up and explore the outdoors for ideas. In the first stanza he writes, “Leave your house or apartment. Go out into the world.” The first advice that the writer gives, is to leave from your normal environment and venture out into the world around you. Do not stay in the box, rather think outside the box. He recommends bringing along a notebook, but a “cheap one is best,” and with it on the, “front a kitten or a spaceship.” This relates most to the reader, because we all go school supplies shopping and pass by the kitten or spaceship notebook in the aisle at Target or Office Depot, but rarely do young adults reach for the notebooks with the childlike covers. Here, Koertge begins using childlike imagery to create a playful and imaginative atmosphere; mood. A child symbolizes an imaginative and open-minded being since children are beginning to learn about the world and have not experienced anything for themselves yet; therefore, their minds are open to anything and they are constantly imagining and coming up with new ideas. The next place that Koertge mentions something in accordance to a child is in the fourth stanza when he says, “the perfect place in a library is near an aisle where a child a year or two old is playing...” Koertge goes as far to say, that when exploring and learning, you should surround yourself with children while they are playing to see the way they act and react to the objects they play with. The author compares the reader to the child. The reader needs to “play,” or interact with the outside world and really get a feel of it. The child will often, “pull books from the bottom shelf... Red book on black, gray book on brown, he builds a tower.” This refers to the reader. Start gathering outside information and form your own ideas and keep building upon them, like the child. But, “when the tower falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody in the world frowns and says, “Shhhh.” This shows the surrounding people’s disapproval, “the world frowns,” on those who act in childlike manners, or go outside the norms of the natural society. Even though, all odds will be against you, be like the child and, “then start again.” Most of the time, when we fail, we do not dare to repeat our mistake and are afraid to try again, but a child will keep rebuilding the same tower over and over until it finally stands tall, without falling; therefore, be like the child. The advice Koertge is trying to relay over to the reader is, when starting out, go open-minded into the world and do not be afraid of your work failing or not succeeding, because once you venture out, there are always more ideas out there. Through the use of childlike imagery, Koertge shows the reader the importance of using our minds and being open to trying over and endless ideas.

Poetry Precis #2 - "Fight" by Laurel Blossom

In “Fight” by Laurel Blossom, she uses imagery to express the fact that although sometimes opposites may attract, in this case, they do not. To begin her point she says, “You pack an umbrella, #30 sun goo, And a red flannel shirt. That’s not what I do.” She states straight out right away a difference. Her other is packing clothing for freezing temperatures, while she is not. She continues to write, “The temperature’s trying to pass fifty-five. I’m freezing but at least I’m alive.” Next, she continues to state significant differences between the two, digging in the garden rather than swimming in the pool, wearing cotton over wearing wool, and, “You’re always hot. I’m usually cool.” With each difference stated, the two grow farther and farther apart from compatibility.  The second to last difference she says, “You want to get married. I want to be free.” This seems to be the breaking point. In a relationship, you have to be on the same level of agreement for where you are at in your relationship, but here they are far from it. Lastly, she ends with, “You don’t seem to mind that we disagree. And that is the difference between you and me.” When the other half does not realize the fault in the relationship and seems to disregard it, then there is a problem. Through imagery, Blossom is able to show how the two are not compatible for each other and would not work well together.

Poetry Precis #1 - "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins

In Billy Collins’ poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” the use of overstated metaphors emphasizes the importance of  reading poetry with an open mind and the importance of uncovering a poem’s true meaning. In the first stanza, when the author writes, “I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light,” he wants his readers to look at the poem from a different angle, with light shining through, revealing its true colors, “like a colored slide.” Or, he continues to write, “press an ear against its’ hive,” really open up your ears. You cannot just read a poem quietly to yourself. To completely understand a poem, you must read it aloud so you can understand not just the structure, but the meter and the rhythm. Collin’s continues, in the second stanza to explain through metaphors the difficulty of navigating through a poem. He writes that they should, “walk inside poem’s room and feel the walls for a light switch.” Within a dark room, multiple thoughts consume our minds. We are worried, unsure, lost, feeling misguided, so too, while reading a poem we may feel unsure of the meaning or lost within the lines, but we continue to search for that light switch. Next, “waterski across the surface of the poem,” to get the jist of what the meaning might be. As Collins continues to use imagery and metaphors, he paints clear images in the reader’s mind of what reading a poem may be like. At times hard and confusing, but others, fun and amusing. Finally, Collins explains how readers actually view poems. They want to, “tie the poem to a chair with a rope and torture a confession out of it,” but they do not realise that analyzing and understanding a poem takes time. Collins’ use of the techniques of imagery and metaphors, helps portray how he feels analyzing the true meaning of a poem. He feels it is important and it takes time, patience, a larger understanding and an open mind to completely unveil the meaning of a poem.