Have fun and good luck.
Relax. This won't last long.
Or if it does, or if the lines
make you sleepy or bored,
give in to sleep, turn on
the T.V., deal the cards.
This poem is built to withstand
such things. Its feelings
cannot be hurt. They exist
somewhere in the poet,
and I am far away.
Pick it up anytime. Start it
in the middle if you wish.
It is as approachable as melodrama,
and can offer you violence
if it is violence you like. Look,
there's a man on a sidewalk;
the way his leg is quivering
he'll never be the same again.
This is your poem
and I know you're busy at the office
or the kids are into your last nerve.
Maybe it's sex you've always wanted.
Well, they lie together
like the party's unbuttoned coats,
slumped on the bed
waiting for drunken arms to move them.
I don't think you want me to go on;
everyone has his expectations, but this
is a poem for the entire family.
Right now, Budweiser
is dripping from a waterfall,
deodorants are hissing into armpits
of people you resemble,
and the two lovers are dressing now,
saying farewell.
I don't know what music this poem
can come up with, but clearly
it's needed. For it's apparent
they will never see each other again
and we need music for this
because there was never music when he or she
left you standing on the corner.
You see, I want this poem to be nicer
than life. I want you to look at it
when anxiety zigzags your stomach
and the last tranquilizer is gone
and you need someone to tell you
I'll be here when you want me
like the sound inside a shell.
The poem is saying that to you now.
But don't give anything for this poem.
It doesn't expect much. It will never say more
than listening can explain.
Just keep it in your attache case
or in your house. And if you're not asleep
by now, or bored beyond sense,
the poem wants you to laugh. Laugh at
yourself, laugh at this poem, at all poetry.
Come on:
Good. Now here's what poetry can do.
Imagine yourself a caterpillar.There's an awful shrug and, suddenly,
You're beautiful for as long as you live.
I believe this poem is about freedoms given to humans. The speaker is clearly the poem itself, talking to the reader and encouraging him/her to write about his/her deepest desires. But more than asking for the reader to write about wild ideas or desires that someone would not normally talk about, the speaker is inviting the reader to exercise their freedom to write. Writing liberates the soul from all the bitter experiences we have all gone through and it builds a relationship between the soul and paper. The poem also emphasizes on our freedom to shape our lives the way we want to. As the speaker goes on in telling the reader about possible things to write about, the speaker reminds the reader that it is up to him/her to shape the poem in any way he/she wants to. In a broader picture, the poem symbolizes the life of an individual and the elements or style used to shape the poem, symbolize the different courses a life can take based on human choices.
ReplyDeleteI think this poem talks more about what someone can do or push themselves to do. It is like some sort of motivation. Everyone has the chance to decide what they can or will do. Everyone goes through the same situations everyday, and can relate to one another. I also think the author wants the reader to connect with this poem by the different situations everyone can go through. Like work or school or in the streets.
ReplyDeleteIn my perspective this poem is very different from every other poem I have read. To me it seems like all the things the author mentions like instead of reading the poem to watch t.v. or go to sleep is that poetry is not really interesting to many young people anymore. The author is trying to give a point by saying that teens would rather be partying than reading any poem. It also seems like the author wants to relate to the reader because the author asks questions to the reader such as "I don't think you want me to go on."
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the poem talks about how things can be the way you see them, you can create an outlook on anything you would like, and a poem is a perfect example of this. For instance a poem can have numerous meanings but its all about the way you look and analyse it. It uses phrases like "can offer you violence if it is violence you like" its putting you in a position where you can decide on what you want the poem to be. Another example of this idea is when the poet says "This is your poem".
ReplyDeleteThe ending of the poem is most interesting to me. How author say to laugh at the poems and poetry itself. The author might find the poem to be amusing. The author tries to convey sense to the readers, explaining how poetry can be expressed differently. The author throughout the poem talks about having a little bit of time to read a poem. The author uses the “caterpillar” in the end to make you think what a poem really means and in his poem he shows it a different way.
ReplyDeleteThe overall message that I see the poet is trying to make in the poem is that poetry can offer the reader different interpretations, all depending on the reader. Like, if it's violence or sex the reader wants, then that's what the poem can offer the reader. For instance, he approached a sex scene when he said, "everyone has his expectations, but this/ is a poem for the entire family...", the author suggests that they were most likely going to have sexual intercourse, but also respecting the fact that there is a young audience reading out there, so emphasizing the fact that the poem is for everyone. Also, he said that the reader can start the poem in the middle. Meaning that if the reader is bored they can start wherever they feel is the 'good part' of the poem. Also, the ending of the poem suggested that it might be hard at first because you're a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, and that when you transform into a butterfly reader could be beautiful for the rest of their days. In other words, the reader can have a hard time at first trying to grasp the message of the poem but once the reader realizes that they have found the message their experience can be as beautiful as the butterfly itself. Even I related to the poem because sometimes I get bored of poems, and it was clever from the author to acknowledge the fact that some people get bored of some poems and want to read about violence.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion i think that this poem is about helping people realize that there is other more important things to do then do just have fun and breaking rules. It made me realize that even if i see a long poem, its not always going to be boring and make me go to sleep. it also made me realize that its not all about being independent and going out. Its about listening to your parents and other impotant people, because if you dont your going to end up in the streets.It also says that if you mess up then there is always a second change and it can then change your life.
ReplyDeleteForgive me if i come on a little strong, but, i totally and completely disagree with EVERYONE. I think that this poem has a much simpler meaning. It's about poetry, about how no one appreciates it anymore, about all poetry can be, and about how it can influence the people that read it, in that order. In the beginning, the poem establishes a comfort-zone, kinda (don't know how to explain this better), and lets the reader know that they're is no commitment, no strings attached, just reading a poem. thats it. I can't explain the purpose of this...its to make the reader comfortable with the idea of poetry. Then the speaker talks about all the different forms poetry can take...it can be violent, sexual, etc., etc. The poem puts itself in the shoes of the reader, if that makes sense, "and I know you're busy at the office or the kids are into your last nerve." If that doesn't make sense, then the poem, in some way, relates or associates itself with the reader by knowing the struggles of everyday life. ANYWAY, the poem goes on to say, in essence, that poetry can change your life for the better. In conclusion, i think this poem is a big ass metaphor: poetry is a friend that's there when you need it and not there when you don't. the one line that through me off, though, was the thing about "this poem being nicer than life." i don't know how to make sense of that...latez. Los Geekz.
ReplyDeleteOk, this is a long poem, but a simple one, yet full of metaphors and all those poem structures. What I get is that a poem is undervalued. Anyone can find time to read a book, but too busy to read a poem. That's basically what the title says. What i got from all the other words the poem has in it is, a poem can make you feel everything. It can be sadness "because there was never music when he or she left you standing on the corner" or it can make you feel loved or in need of it "and you need someone to tell you I'll be here when you want me". the poem says it it's self what it wants you to do or feel, "The poem is saying that to you now". The poem is just trying to tell you to read a poem and it will be good for you.
ReplyDeleteI believe that this poem is telling us whenever we are too busy or if there are some reasons that we cannot do something, and then we should take a break, to be relaxed and then go back to the problems. Life is tough and busy, but we should figure out a way to do some things that we need to do. First able, take a break, to be relax, once when there is no rash, then we can also enjoy to solve problems.
ReplyDelete