Martin Espada

I think "Bully" was basically saying that even though Roosevelt was clear about how he felt toward the Spanish, he obviously failed. Roosevelt led a group in the Spanish-American War, and also showed his feelings while he was president. Roosevelt was basically a bully to the Spanish, but it did not seem to do any good. I think this poem is somewhat a ha ha ha toward Roosevelt or anyone else who had a problem with Spanish people. The Spanish still came to America and are in the schools and surrounding him.

Dianna

Sherman Alexie

"Evolution" sounds like the way any crooked business owner would do business. I wonder if this was the idea Buffalo Bill had all along. Did his store start out as a regular pawn shop and then realized what treasures he had in it or did he think of this before he even opened. I also wonder why the Indians were pawning everything. In the second line it says Buffalo Bill opened right across from the liquor store. So were the Indians going in to sell things so that they could buy liquor. If this is the case then I would think that Buffalo Bill knew what he was doing. He knew they would sell everything they had to keep buying liquor. I wonder what the title means. Of course Buffalo Bill's pawn shop evolved into a museum, but how did the Indians evolve.

Dianna

Louise Gluck

Reading the title "Parable of the Hostages" made me think I would be reading a poem about hostages, but the Greeks were not actual hostages of war. They had not been captured, but I guess in a way they were hostages because they were stuck on the beach to wonder about their families. They had to wait and wait for ten years for the war to end. Some made it and others did not. The soldiers wondered about what would be like to be in Troy just to explore or if they would even be permitted to be away for a long time. I think that this may show that in a war everyone is in a way a hostage. No one really has control over the situation and everyone is captured in some way.


Dianna

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

This story sounds like a conversation I have had with some of my friends, except no one is hoping their ex gets killed by a swarm of bees. But the conversation about love. I think everyone has their own idea about love. When the woman was talking about the man that beat her. In his eyes he might have loved her. I am not saying that it is ok to beat someone, but I think everyone loves in different ways. You love someone the way you were taught. With that in mind I think that sometimes you have to teach someone how you want to be loved. In my opinion love is not a feeling but an action. If you love someone then you accept their flaws and you cater to their needs. If your spouse likes something then you do it because you love them. This is how you teach someone how you want to be loved. You let them know what makes you feel good.


Dianna

John Ashberry

Ashberry was very hard to understand. I read the poems over a few times and still did not seem to understand what he was saying. I looked at some analysis about the poems and I think that confused me even more. "They Dream Only of America" was said to be about runaway children or about gay relationships. I am not sure. When I first read the title I thought the poems was going to be about immigration, but after reading the poem that idea was gone. "The honey is delicious" makes me think about the Bible and the land flowing with milk and honey, but then the poem says "though it burns the throat" and that throws that idea away too. I also wonder what the signs were. Are we talking about signs like something is wrong or something is going to happen. You know sometimes you may take something as a sign of good or bad. And what were the signs telling him. I am not sure.

Dianna Duhon

Adrienne Rich

Obviously the poem "Power" is talking about Curie, but I think the writer may not have just been talking about her but talking about anyone who has made great sacrifices to accomplish something. Rich says "her wounds came from the same source as her power". She had great ideas and accomplished a lot, but in order to do that she basically gave her life. Her power was her intelligence. I think everyone sacrifices something to accomplish what they want. Many of us sacrifice time with our family in order to work and go to school, so that we can get a degree. That is not near the extreme of sacrificing life, but I think we can all relate in a way. The power may be referring to the power to sacrifice. How much is someone willing to sacrifice? I guess it would depend on the results that would come out of it.


Dianna

Philip Levine

I get the feeling that Levine is talking about people destroying the earth. "Earth is calling in her little ones" and "all that was hidden burning on the oil-stained earth" are the phrases that made me think this. I could be very wrong, while I was reading this that is what I thought of. And the phrase "they lion grow" makes me think that Levine is referring to the need for more. People always want more, and will get it even if it means destroying the earth for it. We tear downs trees, and allow cars and factories to pollute the air, and the more we have the more the want grows.

Dianna