Lake Bonny Park Poem

I went to Lake Bonny Park on this Tuesday afternoon and I spent at least 40 minutes at the park. I decided to sit around the baseball fields and sit and listen to everything going on around me for 20 minutes. I heard some little kids playing around in the playground and I heard some other people talking. I also listened to the wind blowing through and listened to the birds chirping to each other. I thought it was very interesting just sitting around and listening and watching everything that was going on around me at Lake Bonny Park. I chose to sit around the baseball field because I loved playing baseball when I was growing up and it is still my favorite sport to play when I get the chance to play. So I decided to choose a part of the park that I would enjoy and that was the part of the park I chose. Since I was sitting and relaxing around the baseball fields I think it helped me flow with more ideas on what to write about in my poem. Looking out on the baseball fields reminded me of the past I have had in baseball and how I enjoyed it so much. It also got me back in the mood to play baseball again, so I guess I was happy and kind of sad at the same point. So my poem reflected the ideas of my love for baseball and also how beautiful it was outside at that time of the day. It just felt like one of those perfect days where it was not too hot because there was a little breeze that kept me in that warm and comfortable mood. Also, there were also no clouds in the sky so that is also why I thought it was perfect out.

The following is my poem:

It just always feels right
Sitting here feeling the wind blow
Looking out on the diamond
Where the sun glistens off the green grass
The pine trees are assembled in perfect rows
Like they are all at a church service
Swaying back and forth with the wind
Beyond the outfield fence
The dirt on the infield takes a ride from the wind
Much like a surfer rides a wave
I am always happy when I get the chance
To play on a baseball diamond
It reminds me of all the experience I have had
Playing one of the games I enjoy most
The weather resembles my happiness inside
With the sun shedding its light everywhere
And there are no clouds in the sky
There is a slight breeze to make it just fine
The birds are chirping in harmony
And all this makes me realize
That today is a perfect day

Mary Oliver Poems

All of the poems written by Mary Oliver were very interesting and understandable unlike most poems. My favorite poem in the collection was the Walking Home from Oak Head poem. The poem was just very descriptive and understandable and made me think of being back home in the winter time. Not all people can relate to this poem like I can, because people grow up in climates like Florida and never get the chance to see snow unless they choose to go north to experience that kind of weather. I think that it is a lot easier to understand a poem or piece of literature when you can relate with what they are talking about in their piece of writing. The poem written by Robert Hass was a well written poem and I understood parts of the poem, but I could not really relate too much with the poem because I do not appreciate science as much as this person does. He was also trying to prove ways why we should consider the idea that evolution is why we are here and I cannot relate with that idea. The poems written by Mary Oliver did not bring up those kinds of thoughts or ideas that I did not agree with so that could be another reason I liked her poems a lot more. I also think that poems should be more understandable. It feels like every poem someone writes they try their hardest to make it like some type of puzzle where you have to figure out what the solution of the puzzle is and what they are trying to discuss. I would have a greater appreciation for poems if they were more understandable like these Mary Oliver poems. I like to read things that I will be able to decipher what they are discussing and also things that I can also relate with, and these poems do that for me.

State of the Planet

The State of the Planet written by Robert Hass was a very interesting poem describing the many wonderful aspects of our planet Earth. The planet just has so many things that are put together to help make the planet an atmosphere that we can live and survive in. It just further shows that there is no possible way any kind of evolution has occurred or any big bang that occurred millions of years ago. I think he also illustrates that we are not as appreciative of our planet as we should be, due to the way pollution has increased throughout the years, but we are also now trying to change that in our new products. All of the descriptions he lays out through the whole poem makes me realize more and more that there is no possible way that this all came together by accident, and God thought this all through and that is what makes Him so amazing. I thought that when the author kept referring to Venus in the poem I think that he was just talking about the Earth in other ways just using a different name. I began to get very confused of where the author was discussing the thoughts of Lucretius and also talking about chlorofluorocarbons. I just realized at that part in the poem I got very lost and reread it a few times, but still did not really get something out of that section. There are so many things that I never think about that make this planet the way it is, and this poem shows me what some of those things are. Some of this stuff I have learned about in science classes before but I just end up forgetting these things over time, and this poem reestablishes those ideas and things I have learned in the past.

This Blessed House

This Blessed House written by Jhumpa Lahiri was basically a story discussing on how a Hindu couple handled all the Christian iconic items left around in their newly bought house. The story was more of a character driven story than a plot driven story, because they focused more on the way the characters acted than with what went on during the whole story. I thought the author did an excellent job describing all of the items found by the Hindu couple. I think that if I decided to close my eyes and let someone else read me the story I would have been able to picture everything well just like the author was planning to accomplish.

I probably would have acted the way Sanjeev and would have not liked all those religious items around my house if it was not the religion I believed in. Whenever I buy a house for me and my future family I do not want to find Mormon items laying around in my house. I also do not want my wife persuading me to leave the things around the house for other people to see whenever they come to my house. I want to have things around my house that represent me and my family not things that do not represent our beliefs. Sanjeev got himself caught up in a tough position because he really did not want the things sitting around for display in his house, but his wife kept convincing him to leave them alone and she would move them later. However, that was Twinkle’s way of persuading Sanjeev to keep the Christian items around and she did a good job of persuading. Girls are very good at convincing guys to do things guys do not want to do, and this story is a good example of that thought.

Arctic Search

The arctic could be a tough place to live if you are a lion. It could also be a tough environment to live in if you are a dog. However, Karl is not one of those animals that cannot survive in the arctic. Karl is an animal that fully enjoys living in this type of arctic and chilly environment. Karl is a huge polar bear and he and his family love the arctic with a passion. Karl has a wife and three kids. His wife’s name is Brittany and his kids’ names are Mike, Rachel, and Peter. Rachel is the oldest of the three kids, Mike is the second oldest or middle child, and Peter is the little one of the family. Brittany is known as being a nurse to all the other animals in their area, taking care of all the animals when they get sick or get hurt. Karl helps the other animals construct shelters for each other. He has a high knowledge in constructing structures, so he uses his knowledge in aiding the other animals just like his wife Brittany does with her nurse like capabilities. That is how the two polar bears met, because of their caring attitudes and being concerned with other animals than themselves. Karl and Brittany have been married for twenty great years and their kids have been more than a blessing to them. Mike is getting close to becoming an adult and move out in which he would begin the search for future wife. Rachel is still going through the search process for her future husband, and Peter is still going through the learning phase of his young life.

So on one beautiful morning Karl goes on out to help some caribou construct their new home. Rachel and Mike also end up going out to enjoy the day and look for their future mate. Brittany is left at home with a relaxing day with Peter. The day is so relaxing that Brittany falls asleep and she thinks Peter falls asleep too. Later that day Karl arrives back home after a somewhat short work day and awakens Brittany as he got back. Karl is curious where Peter is so he asks Brittany, “Hey honey do you know where Peter is?”

Brittany responds “I think he is still asleep in his bed.”

Karl goes on in the room to look and answers “No he is not in his bed, he must be somewhere else in the house.”

So Karl and Brittany go throughout the house looking in all the rooms and they come to realize Peter is not in the house. Now at this time fear begins to strike their minds because they both know Peter is not at the stage of his life where he should be going out in to the arctic on his own. Brittany starts to get a little upset and asks Karl “Do you have any idea where Peter might have gone? It is all my fault I should have not been sleeping.” Brittany starts to cry.

Karl responds strongly, “No it is not your fault at all, I will do whatever it takes to find Peter do not worry.”

Karl is now very determined and packs a couple of things to take with him and then gives a goodbye kiss to Brittany and heads out of the house. Karl begins his journey and heads north towards the glacier zone. As he is heading there he is hoping that he does not find his son dead in the frozen water. He begins to pray a little in his head on the way over to the glacier zone, hoping that God will protect his son and also give him direction on where his son may have gone to. He then arrives to the glacier zone and looks around for his son, but he instead discovers a small group of penguins. He walks up to them and asks them, “Excuse me, my son has gone missing have you seen any smaller polar bears lately?”

One of the penguins approaches him, his name is Richard, he replies, “I do believe I have seen another polar bear earlier in the day. I am not sure if it was your son, but he was heading towards the walrus beach zone.”

Karl then thanks Richard for the advice and goes on over to the walrus beach zone. It takes Karl a little while to reach the beach zone but he gets there and does not see his son. However, there are a lot of walruses around so he asks one of the first walruses that come up to him, “Hey, have you seen any other polar bears come through this area?”

The walrus hints at him “Go ask the huge walrus over there” he points over at the other end of the beach zone “His name is Nathan.”

Karl responds by going over to the other side of the beach zone where Nathan the big walrus is at. Nathan on the outside looks very tough and intimidating with his big features. Karl is a little bigger though so Nathan does not scare Karl and Nathan becomes very concerned of what Karl may want. Nathan says “I do not see many polar bears come through here, may I help you?”

Karl responds “Yes, I was wondering if you have seen a smaller polar bear come through here today?”

Nathan replies “Yes, there was one not too long ago” and he pointed to the caves, “He headed over that way, he may still be there.”
Karl quickly thanks Nathan for the advice and frantically heads on up to the caves. As he arrives at the caves he hears some growling nearby. There is a big pack of wolves around some animal and he goes on to realize they are slowly surrounding his son. Karl is filled with anger towards the wolves and takes them on all by himself. One by one he takes out each wolf with a swiping punch from his huge bear paws. Minutes later the wolves are done fighting and most of them are running away, and at that time Karl goes to welcome his son Peter back into his arms. Peter is so happy that his family found him and Karl carries Peter in his arms all the way back home. By the time they arrive back home Rachel and Mike have realized what had happened to Peter and they all welcome him back with lots of love. They go on to tell Peter that this a huge lesson learned early on and they conclude the day by having a welcome home party for Peter.

Character

Most of the time when we decide to hang out with someone we usually do that because we like their character. Throughout reading this chapter on character I realized that there are a lot of things to consider when describing a character. I know I never catch myself thinking of all these things they listed about character in the chapter. Character can come out and express itself either through verbal gestures or non verbal gestures. However, sometimes may judge too quickly on the non verbal gestures someone is giving and think that the person’s character is not right where it should be. And the same can be considered when you ask someone to describe some other person to you.

For example, in the Madam Descartes poem it is someone describing the character of this lady. The person goes very in depth with the description of the lady’s character however the description made me feel like I never want to hang out with a lady like that ever. I thought the description was very well done of the person, and I used that description to figure if I would like to be friends with that person, and I realized that I probably would not. Technically, I would rather try to hang out with a person to find out what their character may be like and make a decision then, than asking a friend to describe their character to me and make a decision on whether or not to hang out with them. I hope that I grew up right where people look at the way I act throughout life and think that I have a good and well defined character. I would probably enjoy it more if people came up to me and wanted to know about me more because of my character, instead of asking how tall I am and if I play basketball. Today a lot of people use stereotypes to define someone’s character, and most of the time there is a lot more to know about someone’s character before you go make a decision on what you think they are like.

Sonnys Blues

Sonnys Blues was a pretty long story, but at the same time it was a good story and very influential to me. The story showed how two brothers could be so different and grow so far apart throughout all the years. I did not like how the brother made a promise to his mother that he would stay close with Sonny, and then break that promise when she died. The part that got to me the most was the part where the mother told her son about what happened to his father’s uncle. The mother also said that her husband could never get on with life after that incident, because he felt like he killed his own brother. As the story went on it looked like the same kind of thing was going to happen a generation later. In my family I have two siblings, a brother and a sister.

After reading this story I never want to get to the point where I am avoiding my brother or sister in the future. I always want to keep a good relationship with each of them throughout my life, I want to support them through all the good and all the bad. Me and my brother are five years apart and I am the older one, so this story spoke to me pretty strongly. When we were younger me and my brother always had those fights here and there, but it never resulted in us completely ignoring each other. I plan to keep that strong relationship with him going on and also with my sister. I think if I ever got to the point where I was ignoring my brother and sister and something really bad happened to them, I do not think I would be able to live with myself for being that stupid and not sorting things out with them. Therefore, this story was very influential, I really liked it, and this story serves as a reminder of what I plan not to do in my future relationship with my brother and sister.