A Birthday Candle

A Birthday Candle
Donald Justice

Thirty today, I saw
The trees flare briefly like
The candles on a cake,
As the sun went down the sky,
A momentary flash,
Yet there was time to wish

After first reading this poem, the author portrays a feeling of sadness, while still showing some hope. Although he believes himself to be aging quickly, he states that "there was time to wish," which suggests that he still has the ability to do more in his lifetime. Also, the imagery of the trees and the sun appearing to be like the candles on a cake shows that he is getting older and no longer receives birthday cakes, and instead must essentially create his own. In order to achieve the effect of the poem, he writes in form poetry, as he does not use a rhyming scheme but uses a metric pattern instead. Also, the entire poem is essentially a metaphor, as he is associating the sunset with candles on a birthday cake. Lastly, the imagery of the scene makes for a much more vivid picture of what seems to him to be a birthday cake. Overall, through the various poetic devices used, Justice is able to convey how rapidly everything seems to happen in his life through the "momentary flash," but afterwards shows that it is never too late to do something great.

Song by Eamon Grennan

At her Junior High School graduation,
she sings alone
in front of the lot of us--

her voice soprano, surprising,
almost a woman's. It is
the Our Father in French,

the new language
making her strange, out there,
fully fledged and

ready for anything. Sitting
together -- her separated
mother and father -- we can

hear the racket of traffic
shaking the main streets
of Jersey City as she sings

Deliver us from evil,
and I wonder can she see me
in the dark here, years

from belief, on the edge
of tears. It doesn't matter. She
doesn't miss a beat, keeps

in time, in tune, while into
our common silence I whisper,
Sing, love, sing your heart out!

In this poem, Eamon Grennan seems to use the example of a young girl singing to show someone that does something solely for enjoyment and ignores what others may say about it. From the start, it places the reader in the place of the young girl, into a situation that would typically be extremely nerve-racking. However, I became intrigued by the strength of the girl and her ability to completely block out what the people around her think and say. Immediately after reading the poem, I felt uplifted, as this young girl proves that nothing matters besides passion for what she is doing. For me, the last two stanzas evoke the most emotion, in that it shows the girl's spirit in the sense that she does not stop singing despite the fact that she is on the verge of tears. At the very end, the narrator becomes a believer in her and wants her to keep singing no matter what. Clearly, through this struggle, the author possibly tries to convey the message that it is important to do things for one's own pleasure and ignore what others may think about it. One part of the poem that is slightly difficult for me to comprehend is the purpose of her singing the Our Father in French, but it could possibly be reasons for the people around her to judge her.
Starting at the very beginning of the poem, Grennan utilizes imagery, as he sets the scene of a young girl singing in a middle school auditorium in front of her entire school. Also, this is a free verse poem, in that it has no rhyming or meter patterns. Lastly, when the author says "hear the racket of traffic shaking the main streets," he personifies the noise of the traffic in its ability to rattle the entire city.
Overall, I feel that this poem was very thought-provoking, mainly because the narrator transformed from being one of her judgmental classmates to actually rooting for the girl at the very end. This shows that if a person believes in what they are doing, no matter how strange it may seem, other people will begin to believe in it as well. Because of the very meaningful message of this poem, I would strongly recommend it to others, while I would also enjoy reading more poetry by Eamon Grennan.

The Farewell by Edward Field

They say the ice will hold
so there I go,
forced to believe them by my act of trusting people,
stepping out on it,

and naturally it gaps open
and I, forced to carry on coolly
by my act of being imperturbable,
slide erectly into the water wearing my captain's helmet,
waving to the shore with a sad smile,
"Goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one,"
as the ice meets again over my head with a click.

In the poem "The Farewell" by Edward Field, the author shows how quickly one's life can end because of a simple mistake. When I first read it, I was intrigued by the immense effect that such a short poem achieved. The immediate sensation I got after reading the poem was one of emptiness, as it ended quickly on a sad note. The lines that had the greatest effect on me were the last three, in that the author elongates a moment that could have occurred in a split second in order to give the reader the same feeling as the narrator.
Although this poem may not necessarily be literal in the chain of events, I feel that it is symbolic of the narrator's tendency to trust people too easily. In the poem, the narrator slips into an iced lake because he trusted the people that said the ice would hold. However, the beginning of the second stanza is a bit difficult to understand, especially when he says "I, forced to carry on coolly / by my act of being imperturbable..." I believe the author is trying to say that even though the ice started to crack, he continued because he completely trusted the people and did not think that the ice would break completely. Although this description was slightly extreme, it allows the reader to see the extent of his tendency to trust people no matter what.
In order to achieve this effect, the author uses free verse to make it less poetic and more realistic. Also, he personifies the ice throughout the poem, in that it seems to punish the narrator for trusting the people that told him the ice would not break. I feel that the entire poem is a metaphor, in that it represents the symbolic idea of "walking on ice" when he chooses to trust people too easily. Lastly, throughout the poem, the author uses imagery to portray the frightening and surreal situation that the narrator was faced with.
After analyzing the meaning of the poem, I feel that it is very well-written and it seems that the author truly serves his purpose of evoking a certain emotion through the narrator's slip into the ice water. Due to this metaphor, the poem achieves a great emotional importance and for this reason, I would recommend the poem to others and am curious to read other poems by this author.

Sidekicks by Ronald Koertge

They were never handsome and often came
with a hormone imbalance manifested by corpulence,
a yodel of a voice or ears big as kidneys.

But each was brave. More than once a sidekick
has thrown himself in front of our hero in order
to receive the bullet or blow meant for that
perfect face and body.

Thankfully, heroes never die in movies and leave
the sidekick alone. He would not stand for it.
Gabby or Pat, Pancho or Andy remind us of a part
of ourselves,

the dependent part that can never grow up,
the part that is painfully eager to please,
always wants a hug and never gets enough.

Who could sit in a darkened theatre, listen
to the organ music and watch the best
of ourselves lowered into the ground while
the rest stood up there, tears pouring off
that enormous nose.

In this poem, Ronald Koertge explains the life of the sidekick, the one that stands on the sidelines while the 'hero' receives all of the glory. I chose this poem because it shows an interesting new perspective on someone that is usually overlooked and in essence presents the sidekick to be a hero. It seems to be something that a great deal of people would be able to relate to, as it many people live their lives outside of the spotlight. In my opinion, "Sidekicks" is a very thought-provoking and, at times, sad poem, as it shows the struggles of the person that is commonly overlooked. I find the second stanza to be the most controversial, as it shows the sidekick to be the true hero, as he constanly puts aside his fear and risks his life to save the 'hero's' life. Also, the third stanza makes the poem more personal by saying that everyone is, at times, a sidekick.
While the beginning of the poem clearly describes the trials and heroic nature of the sidekicks that we know so well, the end is slightly more ambiguous and left open to interpretation. I believe that the author is comparing everyone to the sidekick that he described, in the sense that they are very dependent on the 'hero.' It is possible that the last stanza could mean that the sidekick in each of us focuses on his or her weaknesses, rather than strengths. The "tears pouring off that enormous nose" could symbolize the pain that the sidekick feels as a result.
In order to achieve the effect of this poem, Koertge uses a style of free verse, as there is no pattern in rhyming or meter. In my opinion, this makes it more personable and easier to relate to one's own life. Also, in the last stanza of the poem the author uses a great deal of imagery to give the reader a clear picture in order to easily relate to the scene. When he says "watch the best / of ourselves lowered into the ground..." he personifies "the best of ourselves" sinking in order to evoke the emotion of sadness and futility.
After reading and examining the poem "Sidekicks" by Ronald Koertge, I now fully realize what the author's intentions were and how he achieved a certain effect. Although I simply thought the poem's intention was to compare the sidekick to the 'hero,' but I later realized that the sidekick that the author discusses is really just a character trait that can exist in everyone. Because of the writing style and meaning of this poem, I would definitely recommend it to others and would enjoy reading more poetry by Koertge.