Poetry

Blue Willow
by Jody Gladding
A pond will deepen toward the center like a plate
we traced its shallow rim my mother steering
my inner tube past the rushes where I looked
for Moses we said it was a trip around the world
in China we wove through curtains of willow
that tickled our necks let's do that again
and we'd double back idle there lifting
our heads to the green rains
wallows met over us later I dreamed
of flying with them we had all the time
in the world we had the world
how could those trees be weeping?
http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/146.html

I chose this poem because I thought that first of all the title was clever. Also I have a pond in my backyard that used to have a lot of weeping willow trees and still has a few so I found it interesting.
The title is clever because the poem talks of a wonderful pond with weeping trees, that just don't seem to fit. The title is Blue Willow, or sad tree, like the weeping willow they suggest.
One poetic device they use is a simile in the first line. This adds details to the pond and helps the reader picture the gorgeous place, like imagery. They also use an allusion when they mension Moses in the fourth line. This shows how magical and amazing the pond is to the author, and helps emphasize that there is no reason for the trees to be weeping.
The tone of the peace is questioning, almost doubtful I would say. The author creates this by creating a picture of a beautiful place to convince the reader that nothing should be sad or weeping near the pond, like even say a tree.

Larry

So what I guess I'm going to start with is talking about times when my pops shows happiness or lets his guard down I should say, because he isn't a total manly bottled up person that shows no emotion, well other than manly anger. Oh well now I want to share of times when he used to get angry more often and how it made me stronger, but I'll stick with teh current subject I suppose.
(all my posts seem to start with So....? :) (and I'm using a lot of I guess and .....)

The first times I noticed that my dad seemed to show happiness or be a joyful outgoing sort of guy was when we had company over, or were around a lot of people at a family party or something. He is like this I think mostly because he doesn't want everyone thinking he is a mean ogre of a man, but also because he can be a great guy. Another time I have seen this, only in recent years, is around our new dog/puppy. He turned two last august and ever since we got him he and my dad have bonded into best buds. My dad really enjoys playing with him and really likes him because he continues to be nearly fearless, even though he weighs less than 10 pounds. I think its pretty hillarious because my dad is normally such a tough guy and stands at almost 6'2'' and about 230 lbs, and he plays with this little itty bitty ball of energy of a dog all the time and loves it.

Pops!

So for our topic of choice, I have decided to theme my blog around my dad. I can write anything really, realate it to him, and it will all connect back to my main theme of my daddy! Pops! This is a little about why I want to do this:

First, I am in the mood to write about and it is easy at this time to write about my dad because his inspiration is the subject my narrative. Second, I really don't thank him enough for what he has tought me, inspired me, and done for me. Not even mentioning he has been somewhat of a role model for me, although I am a little more personable. Third, I can't really share my gratitude for him with him or anyone too much really because it feels awkward. He is always so....I don't know how to put it...manly. Not wanting to share emotions. He doesn't like help from people much and is into being self-sufficient and independent, so the idea of him aiding me so much makes me feel like I am admitting to his helping me and me accepting it. I guess it's a weird thing. Mabe I'll finally get enough courage and confidence to do it around the time I leave for college because he really does mean a lot to me. Anyways, this can be my way of doing it quietly, and showing the world...or the internet i guess....how much he has and is still having an effect on my life.

titles

ok so possible title options for my narrative are:

Falling Upwards
Driveway Interuption
Delicate Supporter

As a point of reference the paper is about a ladder breaking with my dad on it while I was shooting hoops in the driveway and how my dads toughness and manly in situations like these in my life has made me a better person.

I'm sort of struggling between which title to choose because the first one is clever in that my dad is falling but teaching me at the same time so I'm learning and my thoughts are getting better represented by up. The second is just interesting and creative but no real thought behind I think. The last one is a title that describes the ladder that supports him but is too delicate and breaks but at the same time can be thought of my dad supporting me and teaching me, but it's funny cause he isn't delicate, but gets hurt in the story so may seem somewhat delicate. please give me feedback.

Falling Upwards

title thanks to brett, here's a sentence from my narrative that you all should critique cause I'm not quite sure how to make it sound better.

It wasn't until a few seconds later I realized that intertwined in between the bent in half ladder in the grass layed my dad with the whole left side of his body almost completely covered in blood. His arm had been cut open from his elbow up to almost his wrist. I was starting to tear up. It was my dad's calmness that kept me under control.

My question is first, do you think the part describing his arm is neccessary or just cut the whole sentence out? And more importantly now, the last three sentences very chunked, how do you think I could put them together and/or make that section smoother? I guess I feel that the voice in this section is a little off and it just doesn't flow.

Discovery

Ok world, and internet petiphiles, I posted a long post but then the computer failed. I will quickly express my frustration for the computer. It has a space bar that doesn't really work and it failed to post my ....post! Well anyways. I'll cya next week!