"Desperado"

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

You been out ridin' fences for so long now

Oh, you're a hard one, I know that you got your reasons

These things that are pleasin' you, Can hurt you somehow

Don't you draw the queen of diamonds, boy

She'll beat you if she's able

You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet

Now it seems to me, some fine things

Have been laid upon your table

But you only want the ones that you can't get

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger

Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home

And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'

Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Don't your feet get cold in the winter time?

The sky won't snow and the sun won't shine

It's hard to tell the night time from the day

You're losin' all your highs and lows

Ain't it funny how the feeling goes

Away?

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

Come down from your fences, open the gate

It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you

You better let somebody love you, before it's too late

-       You demonstrates use of apostrophe

-       queen of diamonds, queen of hearts shows use symbols

-       Rhyme scheme: A-B-C-B  (Refrain: A-B-C-D-B-C as written)

-       pain and  hunger are driving, prison is walking shows personification

-       sky won’t snow and sun won’t shine shows alliteration

-       rainin’ and rainbow are symbols

Hold on...

A Recipe for Success

Greet friends with a smile

Let them know they’re the best

Write a note to your teacher

At the bottom of your test

Tell your momma “I love you”

Before you go to bed

And thank your dad for all he does

To make sure that you are fed

Thank God before you eat

For providing you with food

Thank the one who cooked it up

To add some spirit to their mood

Brush your teeth with Crest each day

And don’t forget to floss

It keeps away the tooth decay

And maintains that shiny gloss

Realize each day you have

Is yet an opportunity

To make the world a better place

 - Or your community.

Analysis of One Art

In the Villanelle poem One Art by Elizabeth Bishop, the author goes to great lengths to convince herself and us that losing things is really not such a problem, and that this can be easily overcome of one only practices this as an “art”.  In the final analysis, however, it becomes clear that the loss of some things, such as dear friends or lovers, are in fact disasters, and Bishop uses the unique form of the villanelle  coupled with examples of increasing value to make her point in a subtle way.

            The form of the villanelle means that the final paragraph uses a pattern of rhyme of ABAA, which in this case means the words gesture, master and disaster reinforce one another.  More importantly, the use of the words master and disaster are repeated from the five tercets that precede the final stanza, which creates a very strong impact when the poem is read.  The concept that Bishop wants to get across is that we must master this disaster of loss, and each of the tercets reinforce this idea even though the things that are lost become increasingly precious.

            The language that Bishop has chosen also helps to create irony between the first 15 lines and the final 4 lines of the poem.  As the poem begins, the focus seems to be on items of no consequence like door keys or perhaps a wasted hour surfing the web.  As the poem progresses, however, we feel that the items that are being lost are increasing in value, and by the last tercet, Bishop even refers to the odd loss of “some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent”. In the closing stanza, however, Bishop finally admits that no matter how hard she tries to convince herself that losing her friend (or lover) is no big deal, that simply isn’t the case. This is demonstrated in the final lines where she writes that "the art of losing’s not too hard to master though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster".  In this line, the word “too” now precedes “hard to master” for the first time for extra effect, and Bishop even insert the words “Write it” into the poem as though that’s the only way to convince herself of her argument.

            Elizabeth Bishop does a wonderful job initially of trying to convince us that losing things is really not a disaster, but through the use of this unique poetic form and reinforcement in the end she convinces us of just the opposite – at least for some very special people.

Onomatowhata?

I sing like the canary

For a literary term

Like a frog I might croak!

There’s so many to learn

One I can scream

is “onomatopoeia”

I cackle to myself,

Sounds like “on a pot I pee – yea”

From the howl of the wolf

To the woof of a dog

To the hisss of the snake

To the oink of the hog

This figure of speech

Can be a wonderful tool

Makes noises jump out

So the words become cool!

It creates an image

And your brain gives it form

So that “screech” that you read

Becomes an owl with real charm

A “Dear Facebook” Letter

by Heather Grace Stewart

Dear Facebook:
It’s over.
This time it’s for good.
Cool! A Fan Page for
Boyz n da Hood!

Dear Facebook:
I’m taking
a cyber-vacation.
(Just let me check
that notification.)

Like a moth to the flame,
it’s always the same.
Leaving’s not easy;
weekly won’t do.
You’re using me;
I’m using you.

Dear Facebook:
Deletion.
I think that it’s best.
(Why do I have to
submit a request?)

Dear Facebook:
Not fair!
Guilt’s not very nice.
“Your friends will miss you”
made me think twice.

Like a moth to the flame,
it’s always the same.
Leaving’s not easy;
weekly won’t do.
You’re using me;
I’m using you.

Dear Facebook:
I’m sorry.
You win this fight.
Twitter meant nothing!
It was one night!

I’m socially blind—
it’s like an abyss—
no viral videos;
no urban myths.

Dear Facebook:
You’ve got me.
We’ll never be done.
I’d miss all my friends­—
and Bieber(RealOne).

I looked at a lot of different poems about the internet, Twitter, social media and Facebook, and liked this one a lot.  I know I've personally wasted a lot of time on Facebook, IM, and Texting.  I don't "tweet" and I don't "blog" normally, but they would only make it worse.  I think this poem is pretty cool because it is a great allusion to a very modern topic which connects with just about every student in the U.S.  in one way or another. Not everbody "Facebooks", but nearly everybody has a cel, computer or some way of instantly connecting.  Like this poem says, the whole process is addicting and you can spend hours and not even know it, and in the end it really doesn't accomplish a whole lot - but it still impacts people from virtually every age, even my grandmother Facebooks nearly every day.