Admittedly, I was not very fond nor excited about the idea of recording myself reciting my so-called "favorite poem", explaining its literary merit and why I personally favored it more than any other poem, and being projected on the big screen. After all, I'm terrified of public speaking, uncomfortable being the only person in the spotlight at a certain moment, and discomforted to see my face or hear my voice on a screen. However, the more and more I dug into the project, I found it to be personally enriching. I think the reason I always found poetry to be dull is because teachers in the past usually force feed us these poetic works and teach us how to like it. Upon personal research, I was able to find poems that related to me, and thus, find my favorite poem. Here it is:
The End and the Beginning, by Wislawa Szymborska
After every war
someone has to clean up.
Things won’t
straighten themselves up, after all.
Someone has to push the rubble
to the sides of the road,
so the corpse-laden wagons
can pass.
Someone has to get mired
in scum and ashes,
sofa springs,
splintered glass,
and bloody rags.
...http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/szymborska_su97.htmlTo save space, you can read the rest at the above link. This poem appealed to me for quite a few reasons. The major one, though, is that it broadened my perspective. I've always been trained to think big picture--I attribute that to the scientist in me. However, this poem persuaded me that the most significant impacts made by certain situations do not always have to deal with the cause-and-effect relations. In this poem, while the world is concerned about "the next war", these innocent war bystanders are left to pick up the pieces and recover from such traumatic experiences. I learned through this poem that many events in my life, though less tragic than dealing with the aftereffects of war, can be better analyzed and understood. Instead of pondering how an action of mine can affect a broad spectrum of people, I think about the personal implications of such an action. This is a valuable outlook to learn before heading off to college!
-Christopher Lee
i too really like this poem. It reminds me that someone needs to take charge. when tasks are at hand and actions needs to be taken, someone will need to step up. Most of the time i am the one to do this. And for the others in this world who take charge, i have much respect for you. It's not easy.
ReplyDeleteToni g
Exactly! I forgot to add, too, that I really enjoyed watching my other teammates' poem videos. I find it really interesting to learn about others in their state of introspection. It's amazing how much you can learn about a person from their poem recital.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Lee