Turner Poem

Interpretation of Some Days by Billy Collins

Somedays I pull the wagon with all the people,
I wait patiently as they load,
if they bring me carrots,
I stand still and let their children pet me.
All afternoon I do this,
families with babies,
a well kept business man,
coat ironed, perfectly groomed.
But other days, I am pulled
by the leather leash in my mouth,
to stand stagnant,
amongst a row of other nameless pack mules.

It’s secure
but how would you like it
if you never knew from one day to the next
if you were going to spend it,
prancing around like a show pony,
your mane glowing under the street lamps,
or standing amidst unfamiliar horseshit,
staring forward because of your head blinders,
straight at a horse’s ass

Cooper

I rode my orange bike
Past my favorite orange flowers
When they are in bloom
It is pure joy
Their color burns with the sun
As there leaves giggle on their stems

They bloomed over winter
For 14 days
And grew around my wheels
The sun kept them warm as long as it could
But the nights were vengeful and relentless

I knew they were fading
When he coughed up white
I screamed, "Hang in there"
But then they just sagged and blew with the breeze
That will eventually take them away

It is hard to watch them slowly wither
Knowing they weren't made to last
Knowing they bloomed too early
Inside winter's false mirage of summer
I try and laugh with them in the meantime
Soaking in our rare moments
Filling every last breathe with happiness
Until the bike ride is over
And we both go home

Responses

Disillusionment of Ten o’Clock
Wallace Stevens

To be honest, I really wish I understood the meaning of this poem. First I read it, then played the video and I noticed that it didn’t really appeal to me until I played the video animation of it. The video is great, I think it complements the poem nicely and is visually interesting on its own as well. After looking up what the poem meant I now know that it deals with imagination, but I think for once I enjoyed the visual more then the written part.

Love Songs
Robert Kelly

I loved the simplicity of these poems. It seems to me that that was their intent. They kind of read with an aggressive voice, but maybe he is just passionate, but it seems very “take it or leave it” which maybe is also a commentary on love itself. I enjoy the message of the poems/songs, and find it interesting that the first song is titled Love Song but no where in the poem does he mention love. Maybe to him love happens all the time, and that is what he is interested in.
I didn’t care for the image though, kind of cheesy.

Edward Hirsch The House by the Railroad

I really enjoyed how the house became personified through the visuals of relating it to a shrugging human in this poem. To me the house had more personality then the painter. I wish I could understand the insight more of this poem. It embodies the feeling of loneliness so well. Then I wonder if it is the painter that is portraying the house this way, and projecting his emotions onto the house and thus his canvas.

X.J. Kennedy Nude Descending a Staircase

I thought the use of language and play on words was quite clever in this poem. I like the relationship it has to Duchamp’s painting. It seems to sexualize the very geometric figure he has painted. I don’t think the painting would come off quite as provocative as it does, if it were not for the words accompanying it. The gesture in the painting has a lot of character but I feel the poem gives it even more personality.

If its a blushing rose you want
Then plant me a garden
Maybe in the backyard
With rich, chocolate soil
And room for me to grow
But be warned
There is gravel in that dirt
That my roots press forward
But history slaps them back
A scorned lover's rose red imprint
Across my cheek

Interpretation of The Dead

Her painted eyes are always looking back at us
they say,that she analyzes them as much as they do her
She is looking through your lenses and false lashes
to your heart, measuring each beat
She will lift your painted veil,
and whisper truths you forgot about since childhood,
Drugged by her omnipotent stare,
we think we have soaked in her wisdom,
which causes us to turn around,
and fall drunk with rejoice, then blink
with our closed eyes.

Corner of MLK and Ole' Bardenton

If the wind blows
Let it comb your hair
Halting the trudge
A hot flash of gold
Strings snap
Smoke crawls out
Free
Left with their broken metal
Whiplashed
Hit then ran

Deceptive sunny day
Raindrops fall on my face
And then it pours

We watch comfortably from our 3rd floor perch
Faces pressed against the glass
Then we fly back to work

Small birds in a flock
Frantically fly outside
Back and forth
From tall tree to smaller tree
Back and forth

Naked Girl And Mirror
Judith Wright

About a girl growing into her womanly body. She rejects it and longs for the days when she was young and shapeless and free. Now she is beginning to realize her feminine shape, but instead of rejoicing as most girls do, she fears it. I got the feeling from reading this poem that the girl was smart, and knew that with her new body came burdens and liabilities. For instance, she seemed to have a pre-determined knowledge that men will find her attractive now, and seek her out, and she will eventually have lovers. I think she is fearful of this, and sees her new maturity as taking away ownership of her body. Now she will be expected to look nice, in order to attract men. She may even fall in love and one day have children, which will mean her body will go to producing and serving her family. She sees where her new body may take her, and rejects it, saying she will never really be apart of this new body; she will always be free as a child.

A Hand
Jane Hirshfield

I think this poem is discussing the age-old question of what are we, and why are we here? Maybe it is because of the accompanying picture, but I feel the poem is saying that we are more than the physical matter that forms us, or the substances we produce from our labor. That we are also apart of something greater and bigger than our perception can perceive. The second to last line of the poem “A hand turned upward holds only a single, transparent question” brings to mind biblical references of people praying to God or some higher power. I think this sense of connection to something greater is what Jane is referencing.