Husbands and Wives; By, Miriam Hershenson
Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle Page 59
Category: Most Beautiful
Husbands and wives
With children between them
Sit in the subway;
So I have seen them.
One word only
From station to station;
So much to talk for
So close a relation.
Why would you select this poem for this category?
I selected this poem for this category because the poem is explaining how families can be so close to each other in general and when families are together they relate a since of beautifulness.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I feel that families are meant to be together and not spread apart.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines are the last two lines in the second stanza, so much to talk for, so close to relation.
Don't worry son, you're in the care of the mental health professionals; By Martin Espada
City of Coughing and Dead Radiators
Category: Most humorous
I am the man
Who spends all day
Searching
With a flashlight
Under the bed
For the shoes he's already
wearing
Why would you select this poem for this category?
I selected this poem for this category because the poem gives a funny vibe, by concluding the stanza by saying the man kind of has lost his mind.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I feel that this happens to people all the time like they go searching for something and they forgot what they were looking for.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines are the whole stanza I think its funny and people can relate to the situation, I mean it seems to happen to many people.
The Toolmaker Unemployed; By: Martin Espada
City of Coughing and Dead Radiators
Category: Most Emotional
The toolmaker
s sixty years old
unemployed
since the letter
from his boss
at the machine shop
He carries
a cooler of soda
everywhere
so as not to carry
a flask of whiskey.
During the hours
of his shift,
he is building a barn
with borrowed lumber
or hacking at trees
in the yard.
The family watches
and listens to talk
of a bullet
in the forehead
maybe himself
maybe for the man
holding the second mortgage.
sometimes
he stares down
into his wallet
Why would you select this poem for this category?
I selected this poem for this category because the poem gives me an emotional vibe at the end when the author talks about the second mortgage.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I feel this situation is happening to everyone right now, everyone is working very hard and there homes are just losing value. I feel that also right now in our nation that people don't have work so they have to charge credit to survive and even then that's making their fiances even worse.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines are the whole second stanza, he carries a cooler of soda everywhere so as not to carry a flask of whiskey I like these lines because it shows that he would rather drink water/ soda then alcohol.
Fidel in Ohio; By: Martin Espada
City of Coughing and Dead Radiators
Category: Most Shocking
The bus driver tore my ticket
and gestured at the tabloid
spread across the steering wheel.
The headline:
FIDEL CASTRO DEAD
REPLACED BY IDENTICAL DOUBLE
Below, two photographs of Fidel,
one with cigar, one without.
"The resemblance is amazing,"
the driver said,
and I agreed.
Why would you select this poem for this category?
I selected this poem for this category because the poem gives me a shocking emotion when I read it and how I think its trying to explain how the bus driver things the man is Fidel's identical double.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I feel shocked and left as if the mystery was never solved.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines are the first two lines, The bus driver tore my ticket and gestured at the tabloid, I like those two lines because its as if the bus driver wanted the man to know about the situation.
Dss Dream; By: Martin Espada
City of Coughing and Dead Radiators
Category: Most Interesting
I dreamed
The Department of Social Services
came to the door and said
"We understand
you have a baby,
a goat, and a pig living here
in a two-room apartment
this is illegal.
We have to take the baby away, unless you eat the goat."
"The pig's OK?" I asked.
"The pig's OK," They said.
Why would you select this poem for this category?
I selected this poem for this category because the poem the poem kind of leaves me hanging at the end as if I don't know if they took the baby away or not, but we do know that the pig is okay.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I feel like theres something missing, that the poet isn't telling us.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines are the first three lines in the first stanza, because it shows the background of the dream and shows that the poet is dreaming the event and its not happening in real life.
Where the Sidewalk Ends; By: Shel Silverstein
Category: Most Thought Provoking
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
I selected this poem for this category because it inspires a lot of feeling in me.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem I see an image of a sidewalk standing for life as a symbol.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines one and seven because it makes the most sense to me and the language is relevant to the poem.
If You Forget Me; By Pablo Neruda
Category: Most inspiring I want you to know
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine
one thing.
You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.
Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.
If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.
If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.
But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine
I selected this poem for this category because it has inspired me to not cry over any relationship in my life.
What do you feel or image when you read this poem?
When I read this poem, it explains relationships in an indirect way.
What are your favorite lines?
My favorite lines 17-19 because they are more bold and simplistic of all of the other lines. I could relate about past relationships when I read this poem.
