Haikus et al.

The coat
Makes a bad haiku object
For the non-English major

My coat isn’t warm
The wind goes through
The thin fabric



I sing to myself,
And what I do not assume haunts me
For my every atom belongs to you.

I invite you to my soul,
I lean at my ease,
Beautiful as a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood
Made by love
I, now twenty two years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

School onward in silence
Retired, but never forgotten,
Nearing the end for good or for bad,
I permit myself a wish
To have the energy to fight onward.

Past Memories

Not so much a blog entry as a comment on finding poems...

Not having had much experience with poetry in my educational career, many of the poems I have found are either poems that the vast majority of people have heard before or poems that were specifically mentioned in English classes- some long ago, some more recent. All of them, though, have a special place in my memories, for all of them were prominent in my life at some point or another. For instance, one of the poems (if you can even call it a poem) is the 23rd Psalm. Now, most everyone has heard the 23rd Psalm at some point in their lives, but it is more than a psalm or a passage from the Bible, it is a testament to my standing as a practicing man of the Greek Orthodox faith. Many others have other places, some as serious as my faith, some merely reminding me of a different place in my life. But they all have that meaning....

Love

Love your parents
Love your siblings
Love your family
Love your pets
Love your friends
Love your job
Love your house
Love your bed
Love your car


Love your life.

Into Thin Air

This book so far is phenomonal, especially knowing the ending in advance. There is a sense of tragedy and paint that is so real, it completely adds to the story. I must give the author credit, he paints a wonderful picture that is all the more amazing when considering that he is not a 'real' author.

Non-Fiction

A debate on non-fiction? Not to me. Seeing as 'fiction' is a body of work that is untrue, 'non-fiction' is simply a body of work that is true. This can encompass many things- newspaper articles, recollections of past experiences, a script for a TV show or movie that is about a true experience. As I see it, the debate over 'what is non-fiction' is simply people trying to stir up a debate where there is none.

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Such an interesting story....I have always held the opinion that it takes a lot of courage and guts to end a story (in any form-book, movie, short story) on a tragic note. This time, however, I cannot applaud the courage- quite the opposite. To end the story with "The Misfit" killing the entire family seemed to be a complete cop-out. There was nothing exciting about the death of the family, it simply...happened, a way to end the story. When I read this story, I see "The Misfit" included only to end the story, perhaps even inserted into the story AFTER the first or second drafts, after the author realized she had no other way to end it.

Response

One of the opinions of one of my classmates was that this story did not seem to have a purpose, did not seem to exist for any reason except to exist. And to that I must wonder, has this person ever truly experienced grief? I am sure she has, almost everyone who has reached college age has had to deal with maybe the passing of a grandparent, or a particularly bad breakup. This story does a wonderful job of conveying what goes through the mind of a person struggling to deal with a tragedy that claimed the lives of her family, the people she loves and cares for most. Sheila is an amazingly strong woman, and this story--in my opinion, at least--serves as an excellent job of showing how grief and loss can completely alter someone's mind.