My Fear by Lawrence Raab

I think Lawrence Raab is talking about fear as if it is a person in “My Fear.”  The way he talks about it is what true fear is.  He references to what he is talking about without actually saying what he is afraid of.  I like how he calls him Mr. Fear. 

What comes to mind when reading this poem is horror movies.  Everyone has their fear of something unreal or unseen.  I think it is amazing how people’s minds can make up a fictional story of something that either they fear themselves or something that they think will scare someone else.

Its also sad that we live in such a world of fear because of these things.  Horror movies are so popular and more and more are made, then we wonder why kids get scared in the middle of the night.  On top of that, parents aren’t being as strict about what they let their kids watch.  I think our society needs to think of the possitive side, instead of the negative, where everyone is being killed. 

Maybe Raab is talking about a character froma movie he watched when he was a little kid.  Maybe it was “It” or “Freddie.”  I like that he didn’t specify who Mr. Fear was, it makes you wonder who and it also makes you think of who your own Mr. Fear is.

Lost Brother by Stanley Moss

I’m assuming that Stanley Moss, the author of “Lost Brother” was talking as a fellow tree.  The only thing that I didn’t understand if this was the case was that he mentions that he sees a picture of this tree he claims as his brother.  Trees are stationary, and how would they come across a picture!  Maybe I’m just trying to analyse this more than it needed to be. 

This is most likely just a person that is very intact with nature telling the story.  He sees a picture of a this magnificant tree and has these deep thoughts about them.  I like that when he sees the picture, he notices everything in it. Not just the tree.  He also adds to it anything else he thinks might have happened in those four thousand eight hundred sixty-two years of the life of that tree.

I wish i could be one of those people that are categorized as “tree huggers.”  Nature is an amazing thing that should be appreciated but we dont do that a lot because of the society we have grown up in.  We are lazy and ignorant to think that we can take advantage of such a good thing.  Karma comes back around and bites you in the rear.  I’m a strong believer to this.  I was reading a book awhile ago that said that eventually the sun will burn out and we will seize to exist.  Even though it really wont matter in the end, we should take care of what we have and see the beauty in things the way this author did.

Beginning Again by Franz Wright

As I read this poem, the only thing I could think of was the first three lines.  “If i could stop talking, completely, cease talking for a year, I might begin to get well.”  He might be referring to this as actual, physical brain problems, but I took it as mental problems.  Not like he was mentally disable but more like just a rut in his life, or better known as depression. 

There have been times when I think if I could just shut my trap and stop speaking for a long, long time, things would get better.  Words are powerful, whether they are used as weapons or not, or intentionally, they can hurt more than just for the moment.  “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  This only applies to certain people.  It seems like today, we have a lot more hurtful things to say to each other than people used to.  They used to use words like “swell” and “darn.”  Now every other word is offensive or hurtful. 

I also like the part about the mirrors.  I was actually thinking of this a couple days ago in my random thoughts part of my mind.  Mirrors can also be used as weapons.  When you look into a mirror and dont like what you see, it does a world of pain on you that takes a lot of time to fix.  It could be even deeper than just looks, too.  You could look in the mirror and remember what you have done or what has been done to you and be totally disgusted.  That is the reason some people fall into depression.

To Myself by W.S. Merwin

“…You who are not lost when I do not find you.”  This is the last line and some of the second to last line, and my favorite part of the poem “To Myself.”  He could be talking about a loved one who has passed, or a person who had the choice to walk out of his life.  In my personal experience, I have had many times where people have left or gone away.  They are not there, but I know where they are and I know they have not left me, even though sometimes they have. 

 I like the beginning where he talks about forgetting but still searching for the person he is talking about.  This applies to relationships because even when two people part, they are both trying to find a person just like the last so they can feel that comfort and love they once knew.  That’s why people say they have a type of person they like to date.  It reminds them of the people they have had in their lives before. 

I like poems that are general.  Poems that can relate to more than one thing.  More people can apply it to their situations.  It also makes analyzing it fun because no two people will have the same thoughts about it.  I also like that its all one sentence and the more you read it the faster you read it and the more you understand it.  There are so many feelings in this one little poems and its cool he can describe exactly how he is feeling in one breath.