Final Project Proposal

For the final project I will be doing a chapbook. Even when we first started talking about the final project, I knew I wanted to do one. I think my poems will be best expressed in a book. It will be easy for me to visualize and organize them. The only thing is that even though I already have written 16 poems, I might have to write more of them because they don't all relate to each other and I know the book has to have some sort of theme. I have had two most common themes in my poems which are family and nature. I think either could work for the book. I'm leaning more towards the family thing because I have so many memories and family members that I could write about while if I write about nature it could become impersonal. But if I can combine the two themes it would be even better. I could make the chapbook have two chapters maybe. The hardest part will be making the actual book but I think it will turn out pretty nice.

Visual Poem Project Proposal

Poem: http://15smsullivan.blogspot.com/2013/11/happy-poem-video-idea.html

Proposal: I think I am going to do a slide show of pictures with a voice over or an audio poem with the words of the poem moving and forming different shapes. I will just have to see which option works better with the poem or maybe do a combination.

Tech Tools: I’m sure there is a tool online that I can use, I don’t need anything fancy.

Materials: I will need a computer and a microphone.

Other people needed: No one else needed.

Audio Element: I have a lot of sound description in my poem so maybe I could add in that specific sound effect when I’m talking about it.

Visual footage: I don’t need to film anything.

Time/ date/ venue: It doesn’t really matter what time I make it during the day. I want to start it soon though.

Happy (poem video idea)

Happy

Bubbles rushing to the top of a glass, exploding and fizzing

Sunshine hitting your face after being inside

A nonstop energy that fuels you to run a mile

A pair of warm fuzzy socks for the long winter

Having a really good hair day

The ticklish and jumpy sensation of when someone pokes you in the back

The jittery excitement of waiting for the weekend

Hitting a winner on a point in tennis with everyone watching

The first snow storm of the year

Running in the rain and stomping in puddles creating a small tidal wave

Eating an ice cream cone on a sunny day

Getting a good grade on a hard test that you studied for

Scoring a goal in a hockey game and being congratulated by teammates

Sitting inside on a gray day in pajamas watching countless movies

Being surrounded by friends, whether doing nothing or going on an adventure

Taking off on a plane ride to a new exciting vacation

Skating outside at night under the lights

Family holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas with the great food

The freedom of summer with endless possibilities

Driving alone home from school jamming to a good song

Happy

Louis Jenkins Response

My first impression of Louis Jenkins poems was that I really enjoyed them. I liked how they were descriptive, like he was just jotting down observations and a conversation he was having. Then he would go a bit deeper with the meaning. Like in his poem "Football" he states, "One has certain responsibilities,

one has to make choices. This isn't right and I'm not going to throw it." In the beginning he was just talking about a football, then he talks about an old shoe and pancakes but somehow he makes it work. He ties it together with the line "I realize that this is a world where anything is possible and I understand, also, that one often has to make do with what one has. " He does this descriptive story telling into a deeper meaning it almost all of his poems. Like in his poem "The Talk" it starts out very light-hearted but then at the line "Then she was silent. She looked at him. He saw that her eyes were gray" it all turns around. In the beginning he was talking about the instant connection he had with her and how she had stunning blue eyes. When her eyes turned gray, that's when the problem arises and she feels like he is smothering her even though they just met. I really like his prose poetry and it is something that would be fun to master because I think the simplicity of it is beautiful.

Poetry Reading

On October 23rd I attended a poetry reading at The Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar. I had never been there before but it was quite nice inside. The fact that the reading to place at a coffee and wine bar was cliche and something that I pictured when I envisioned what a reading would be like. There was a small stage set aside for multiple poets and many small tables for people to listen and observe what was going on. Almost everyone there for the reading had a notepad. In class, we had watched a video of a poet and the crowd would go wild after almost every line she read. That wasn't the case at the one I went to. Everyone would just listen and then clap after the poet was done speaking. My favorite poem that night was spoken by Hawona Sullivan Janzen (not just because of her name). It was about herself as a fourteen year old and how her parents didn't 'get' her and how no one understood what she was going through. I thought it was a poem that was one most people could relate to and since I was only fourteen two years ago, I really understood the feelings and messages transferred through the poem. Overall, it was a better experience than I thought it was going to be and the poets were very interesting to listen to.

Chris Martin "The Bubble"

Poet Chris Martin is very proud of the fact that none of the lines in his poem are the same length. I hadn't noticed this before he told us, I had just noticed that his lines are generally short and choppy. This made the poem, "The Bubble", harder to read. I really had to pay attention to every line and go back to certain lines just to try and find meaning or a sense of understanding. My attention span had to be on point for this poem and sometimes it trailed off. For example, the first time a read the poem I zoned out at the line, "who are every name." This line is towards the beginning of the poem and to me, was a confusing one. It isn't exactly a logical sentence and it doesn't fit in well with the one two lines above it, "with sun’s bubble still inside." My attention was brought back with the line "doubling bubbling bubble" which is my favorite line of the poem. I love the repetition of the 'b' sound and the line in general sounds so happy. If I was asked to explain the story or message in the poem, I wouldn't be able to do it because it all seems like nonsense to me. First he was talking about a girls thigh, then the sun, then names, then bubbles, then angels, then champagne and then how angels and workmen are similar. It was quite a lot to take in! By using shorter lines and changing the topic very often he really pushes you away from grasping the concept, story or image portrayed. All the images he uses in his poems are real life experiences so I would think that it would be easier to understand his poems, but its not. People want a story in a poem, something that is easy to follow and he does not give the reader or the listener this.

http://www.esquemag.org/2012/01/31/chris-martin/

Unknown Park

The park would be one of serenity if it was not placed by a busy street
Gray- brown tree with black- green pointy leaves
Statue of an old caring man in a robe with a young scared child
Low shrubs, prickly, green and surrounded by red wood chips
A sour apple tree with the bitter fruit that looks like sweet cherries
Tall, strong brown tree with vertically striped bark with swirling limbs
Skinny pine trees stand in a group away from the others
Picnic tables with benches attached as well as tables with one or two chairs
Dreary gray, white sky is all consuming
Two trees with light brown bark and light green narrow leaves beginning to turn orange
Two chairs face each other in a confrontational way, there is no table between them
The gray in the sky is beginning to break up
The chirping of two small birds back and forth at the same pitch
The sky is turning white
The grass is a splotchy green
Purple flowers appear on bushes
Teal shrubs with fat leaves
Yellow flowers perched on the top of bushes
A red leaved tree peeks from the background
The sky is now an icey electric blue
The park is more colorful, animated than it was when I first arrived