Poems from Class

The poems we did in class were very fitting.   And When You Leave, Take Your Pictures With You sadly seems very accurate.  Too many people are inclined to do things because what they are doing will be a resume builder or make them feel better for the all of the times that they neglected to do the right thing.  Not only do people do things for the wrong reasons, but they also take pictures so that they have proof of their good work.  They are exploiting other people’s misfortune to then better themselves.  The focus when going to a place that needs help is to help them, not yourself.  It’s about being selfless, not selfish.  We should be trying to get these people in a situation where they can provide for themselves and increase the quality of their lives. 

The Bridge Poem discusses what it feels like to be the mediator in a situation.  The speaker is the mediator between members of her family and several different cultural and religious groups.  The speaker feels as though she spends more time being this bridge between different groups than being the bridge to the speaker’s future.  It is certainly easy to get lost spending time as the bridge between people, but it is important to remember to stay focused on your future.  If you are true to yourself and do what you should be doing, you will make more of an impact than if you get lost in everyone else’s business.  If you spend all of your time being everyone else’s bridge you will lose sight of your own bridge.

In When I Was Growing Up, the speaker in this poem describes several ways in which she wishes that she were white.  When I first started reading this poem, I assumed that the girl was black.  I did not expect her to be Asian.  This poem reminds me of the article that we had everyone read for our presentation because the speaker talks about being forced to fit the stereotypical role of an exotic gardenia or an oriental chick.  I hate that she feels that she needs to fit some sort of stereotype in order to be liked.  The pressure of society can easily make you feel insecure about yourself and your culture.  We analyze every aspect of ourselves looking at our imperfections instead of being proud of the gifts that we have.