One of the poems that really caught my attention was "Song of Napalm," by Bruce Weigl. It was very unique and I really liked how the poem seemed so peaceful in the beginning and it made me paint this beautiful image in my mind. Then there is a twist and the poem really takes an ugly turn when you realize what is going on and that it isn't so peaceful after all. The poem made me sad for the characters and it made me cringe when he said, "And the girl runs only as far As the napalm allows Until her her burning tendons and crackling muscles draw her up into that final position," (Weigl, lines 36-40).
The other poem that really pulled me in was Jimmy Santiago Baca's, "Immigrants in Our Own Land." My father spent three years in prison when I was in elementary school and it was really hard on me. For some reason when I read this poem it gave me a better understanding of what he went through in there. Even though you see stuff bout prisons on television all the time, it made me think differently because it is not very often that you read poetry coming from a convict's point of view. I actually felt sympathy for the prisoner and I cannot imagine what it must have been like for my father. The author really gets your attention by making it seem as if they are entering a new world and that is what kept me reading. The most emotional part for me was when it said, "But it's no different here. It's all concentrated. The doctors don't care, our bodies decay, our minds deteriorate, we learn nothing of value. Our lives don't get better, we go down quick," (Baca, lines 36-39). It made me sad to think that so many young lives are wasted away because othey make stupid decisions and they have to spend their lives in jail cells.
Works Cited
Baca, Jimmy Santiago. "Immigrants in Our Own Land." New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1990.
Weigl, Bruce. "Song of Napalm." Poetry Foundation. 1999. 7 February, 2011. Web.
This a cool website on tips for poetry.
Here is a link to the poem by Baca.
Here is a link to the poem by Weigl.
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