In Blackwater Woods
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
—Mary Oliver
Love is the reason of life. At least this is what this poem is saying to me. The only way to fulfill your life is if you learn to use it. If you can learn to love and learn when to let it go, and continue to love even after letting it go, then you have achieved the meaning of love and of life.
Recently after dealing with the news of the death of Lucious, I have thought about the meaning of love. Lucious never said he was coming to teach the Yankees how to feed the poor. Mr. Webster made that up. He said, “I am going to teach those Yankees how to love.” Completely different I know, right?
Whether you have religious beliefs or not Lucious would reprimand those who came to ‘serve the poor.’ You came to ‘serve Jesus.’ But love, that was his main point in the same talk he gave every week.
He would explain to all the kids, that they had the best parents in the world. He would give reasons why we were in debt to our parents. Of course if you had never heard this speech before you start to feel pretty badly about yourself. But then, he says that you can get out of your parents. You say to your mom while giving her a hug, ‘I love you thank you for being my mom. For cooking for cleaning for raising me.’ And to your dad, “I love you thank you for being my dad. For working, for paying the bills for paying for my education.” And you were not welcome back if you did not do this.
I never know which kids actually go home and do this. I know that I never did. I tell my parents I love and appreciate them all the time, why would I have to do it this way?
After the funeral when I came home I went to my mother and said “I love you. You are the best mom in the world. Thank you for being my mom.” And to my dad when he walked in the door, “I love you. Thank you for being my dad.”
Friday, August 29, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
loveless life overcome
I Stand Here Ironing is the story of a young girl, Emily, as she grows up, through the eyes of her mother.
Who is Emily?
Why is it that her mother thinks about her while she is ironing?
Does the environment a child grows up in effect their lives once they grow older?
I really liked the story I Stand Here Ironing. I feel the underlying theme is the depression of Emily. Emily didn’t grow up with her mother around to show her that she loved her, so she grew up stiff. When she was sent away to school, where she ‘wasn’t allowed to love’ she began to shut out emotion. When her mother tried to show her compassion, she would pull away. Because her mother was never able to be there to show her what love was, she was never able to experience it or reciprocate it. Her depression affects her life and she begins to lose weight and is always put off to the side. Once she was finally able to be home with her mother, her mother needed her to grow up quickly and be another mother. She was never given the opportunity to know the love from her mother or to be a child. When she finds that she is good at impressions and stories, and finds her place, she finally experiences happiness. She was able to overcome everything that she went through as a child to become a happy human being who is able to communicate her feelings. Because of this she is able to understand that her mother never wanted to hurt her, and can forgive her. Her mother is upset that she had to put her daughter through all of it, but is happy in the end when Emily finds her place.
Who is Emily?
Why is it that her mother thinks about her while she is ironing?
Does the environment a child grows up in effect their lives once they grow older?
I really liked the story I Stand Here Ironing. I feel the underlying theme is the depression of Emily. Emily didn’t grow up with her mother around to show her that she loved her, so she grew up stiff. When she was sent away to school, where she ‘wasn’t allowed to love’ she began to shut out emotion. When her mother tried to show her compassion, she would pull away. Because her mother was never able to be there to show her what love was, she was never able to experience it or reciprocate it. Her depression affects her life and she begins to lose weight and is always put off to the side. Once she was finally able to be home with her mother, her mother needed her to grow up quickly and be another mother. She was never given the opportunity to know the love from her mother or to be a child. When she finds that she is good at impressions and stories, and finds her place, she finally experiences happiness. She was able to overcome everything that she went through as a child to become a happy human being who is able to communicate her feelings. Because of this she is able to understand that her mother never wanted to hurt her, and can forgive her. Her mother is upset that she had to put her daughter through all of it, but is happy in the end when Emily finds her place.
wow... im learning a lot
The Lesson is a story about impoverished children taking a trip to an FAO Schwarz and coming to a realization that there is a class divide in America.
Who is Sugar?
Does the girl telling the story realize what is happening in America?
Is the only way to eliminate or change the class system for the lower class to rise up and demand change?
The kids have some idea that there is a class system in America. They know that they are poor and that the don’t come from a great neighborhood, but they don’t really know what that means in the context of things. When they see that there are people who buy toys that cost more than all the food their families can eat in a year. Sugar spews out what Miss Moore wants to hear, but then does not really think about what she has just said. She doesn’t act on it. The girl telling the story doesn’t tell Miss Moore what she wants to hear because she thinks that if she verbalizes it than it exists. As long as it isn’t verbalized it doesn’t exist in her mind. She does know what is going on, she just doesn’t want to give Moore the satisfaction of her knowing and acting on it.
Who is Sugar?
Does the girl telling the story realize what is happening in America?
Is the only way to eliminate or change the class system for the lower class to rise up and demand change?
The kids have some idea that there is a class system in America. They know that they are poor and that the don’t come from a great neighborhood, but they don’t really know what that means in the context of things. When they see that there are people who buy toys that cost more than all the food their families can eat in a year. Sugar spews out what Miss Moore wants to hear, but then does not really think about what she has just said. She doesn’t act on it. The girl telling the story doesn’t tell Miss Moore what she wants to hear because she thinks that if she verbalizes it than it exists. As long as it isn’t verbalized it doesn’t exist in her mind. She does know what is going on, she just doesn’t want to give Moore the satisfaction of her knowing and acting on it.
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