A Prayer for the Turkey

I give thanks to you, delicious Turkey,
For You fill tummy
With Your yummy meat.

Mixing you with my mashed potatoes
is all I ask to be on my table.
No gravy to spoil the natural taste.

While all my family thanks each other,
I thank you, my wonderful turkey:
You make Thanksgiving great.

Those winter Sundays by Robert Hayden

Those winter Sundays is a very visual poem. I can see the narrator’s father waking up by himself, and starting the house fire to warm the rest of the house. According to the narrator, no one in the house ever thanked him:  it was the norm, he would always start the fire. Just as we don’t think to thank our parents for the simple things they do for their children.

Because the Robert Hayden wrote the poem, it insinuates that he feels remorse for not thanking his father for always starting the fire. Maybe he is the one who needs the start the fire in his home now and no one in his home thanks him for the simple tasks he does. 

A Study of Reading Habits by Philip Larkin

A Study of Reading Habits takes the reader into the reading life of the narrator. He used to love reading:   it took him into a world where he could be what he wasn’t in real life. “To know I could still keep cool, and deal out the old right hook to dirty dogs twice my size. “ This idea reminds me of the “Rugrats”, when the babies go to the library for the first time and find themselves in multiple worlds through different books. Maybe I like this poem so much because I wish that books could take me to another world, an exciting one.

In the end, the narrator admits he does not read much anymore. Based on his explanation, it seems as though he has read many books with the same theme:  “The dude who lets the girl down before the hero arrives, the chap who’s yellow and keeps the store, seem far too familiar.” Books no longer take him into a new world – only to an old one that he doesn’t wish to continue visiting.

I thank you god by e e cummings

This poem makes me feel like we don’t remember to thank God enough – like we only talk to Him when we need His help, and never just to say thank you. In I thank you god, E. e. Cummings says, “i thank YOU God for this amazing day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky.” The capitalization of only “You” and “God” is very significant. Notice how “i” is not capitalized. E. e. Cummings did not want to capitalize himself, but he wanted to capitalize God. This shows that he puts God before himself, and thinks God deserves to be respected instead of him. I am confused about the capitalization of the title though. Cummings only capitalizes “I” and not “God”. I don’t know why he would do this when he does it differently in the passage itself.

I think this is a reminder to thank God for the simplest things which are not truly that simple. The fact that we can live today is because of Him, and we should remember to thank Him for it.

Unveiling by Linda Pastan

This poem really surprised me. The third word, “cemetery,” gave me the impression that the theme was going to be depressing and a sad death story. In fact, the antecedent scenario is the burial of Pastan’s family. Instead, the poem gives death a new meaning. She says, “I don’t feel sad for them, just left out a bit.” Pastan feels left behind because her family is buried in the same location together, leaving her living here on Earth. She feels the way a little kid feels at Thanksgiving dinner sitting away from all the grown-ups, at the “kid’s table.” Through their graves, they’re telling secrets, as they would during Thanksgiving dinner.

“Something I’m not quite ready yet to learn.” This sentence has such a strong meaning – even though her family is dead, her family is still keeping things from her, things that they know she shouldn’t know or isn’t ready to know. It’s a very powerful way to look at death.

The Pigeons and the Girls by Chistopher Middleton

This poem was one of the most random things I’ve ever read; that was entirely the point. The theme of the essay is not just about pigeons or girls. It is about describing what is seen in a curious way – to ask questions about the world.

I would expect this poem to be written in the Realism literary time period because it is just describing what is going on around the poet. It is interesting that he noticed the pigeons sitting on a twig. Pigeons don’t seem as though they stand out in a crowd to make you wonder about them. The girls are a little more understandable:  questions about why one girl is helping the other, why one girl is limping, where are they going, and so on could be asked about the girls. Pigeons are just pigeons. They don’t seem that interesting. It’s all a personal perspective.

Circles

The mind goes in circles;

The world moves in circles;

Our earth orbits in circles.

Ferris wheels rotate in circles;

Transportation begins with circles;

History Is a circle.

I run in circles.