Sarah' Anthology Poems #11-15

Love Yourself, Be Yourself
By: Justin Blackburn


Why do you dream of being someone else,
When you are so beautiful
When you are filled to the furthest galaxy
With the endless amazing ability to change and
create yourself
Into the beautiful person you hide inside


Why are you so searching so far and wide for love,
When there is an endless supply inside you


Sweat out your self-doubt
Under the shining safety of the stars burning
Buy your fears a new car
Send them driving happy down the road listening
to love songs
Open the window that stops the lovebirds from
flying music into your heart

Feel eternal youth by staying up all night
Let the earth cover you in morning dew
Chase a butterfly through the pasture of human
emotion
When you come to the ocean
Bathe in the soothing natural noise of sweet reality
Dry off in the sun
Choose the moment's deepest divinity for yourself,
For everyone

Love yourself so you can be yourself
Why would you want to be yourself
If you do not love yourself?

~Blackburn, Justin. "Love Yourself, Be Yourself." from pg.20 of Open Minds Quarterly.
Volume XI, Issue IV, Winter 2010. a publication of Northern Initiative for Social Action.680 Kinkwood Dr., Bldg. 1 Sudbury ON, P3E 1x3 Canada. Literary Journal.


The poem "Love Yourself, Be Yourself" is one poem that many may relate to which is one I find to have really good powerful quotes behind it such as "have faith in yourself," and "how can anyone else love you if you don't love yourself?"

Everyone is different and with perfection not being a realistic thing to achieve, one should know what they do and don't have a go on from that instead of always longing for being something else which can be hard to do in a world that tends to focus on appearance that reminds me of the quote "beauty is only skin deep" and do think this is a statement that is completely true. Everyone's idea of what beauty is differs and self-conscious is human nature and does no good, especially in trying to be something else that I believe the poem may also be referring to also. Overall the poem has a great message in my opinion one I can personally can associate to feeling of wanting to try to be in another's shoes or change something about myself.

This poem is about encouraging those to stop wishing to be something else but instead adapt and find oneself which could help to not end up in regretting that also goes with my theme of wishes and regret, but is trying to prevent past regrets and future wishing that only solely bring one down, so it goes opposite of many of the other poems I chose in which Blackburn is trying to aim for not wishing for so much and finding the potential one has inside instead, but still see it as fitting into my theme. I decided to go with this poem, since it is by a person who is more of an amateur poet that’s poem I think is just as good as those more experienced.



"O Captain! My Captain!"
By: Walt Whitman
(p.319)

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

~ Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!" from Kennedy; Gloia, Dana's. An Introduction to Poetry Thirteenth Edition. pg.319. Textbook.

I like this poem by Whitman since the "Captain" is a representation of Abraham Lincoln and the events during his assassination and I found the visual setup for this poem to be really unique going at a slant along with the poem having much meaning and bringing up many emotions by reading it if one were to know the background being based on the real events that took place.

Whitman made it full of imagery and great rhyming scheme putting exclamations for showing more of the surprise by the people who knew him and were around to see this happen. It is a bit long telling a story of Lincoln's death as if he were a captain of the ship although he was the president which I think is a good metaphor since people look up to the captain and he is very important to the ship like the president is to the country, so it is a great idea that Whitman used when he wrote this poem.


"Birthday Cake"
By: Paul Goodman


Now isn’t it time
when the candles on the icing
are one two too many
too many to blow out
too many to count too many
isn’t it time to give up this ritual?

although the fiery crown
fluttering in the chocolate
and through the darkened room advancing
is still the most loveliest sight
among the savage folk
that have few festivals.

But the thicket is too hot and thick
and isn’t it time, isn’t it time
when the fires are too many
to eat the fire and not the cake
and drip the fires from my teeth
as once I had in my hot hot youth.

~ Goodman, Paul. "Birthday Cake" from Kennedy; Gloia, Dana's. An Introduction to Poetry Thirteenth Edition. pg.95. Textbook.

This poem by Goodman I found to be about a guy who is getting older and wishes to be young again and stop aging, not wanting to celebrate his birthday any longer due to the missing his youthful years. "Birthday Cake" is supposed to be good and what one looks forward to, but in his mind he would rather "eat the fire and not the cake." I imagine the speaker being a grumpy man or at least sad wanting to be younger in age like before. Goodman’s tone of the speaker is that of a questioning angry mood towards aging and the whole birthday ritual from his verse “isn’t it time to give up this ritual?(line 6)” and so this poem goes with my anthology's theme; the speaker wanting the birthday ritual to stop happening at some point like he wishes to stay at one age and not have to deal with the impacts on the body that come with. Goodman’s figurative language is one to recognize, so I chose to use this poem for comparison in my anthology.



"Ballad of Birmingham"
By: Dudley Randall
(pg.133)

"Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,


And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."
"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.

But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"


~ Randall, Dudley. "Ballad of Birmingham" from Kennedy; Gloia, Dana's. An Introduction to Poetry Thirteenth Edition. pg.133. Textbook.


This poem by Dudley is one in which it seems that even the slightest change in decisions such as allowing the child to go or not to go to march in the streets of Birmingham, even if for a cause the child was not knowing of the danger that could go on, so "Ballad of Birmingham" I see as a regret for the child's decision and a wish that her baby was alright and safe instead of killed by the explosion that occurred. It is a horrible occurrence and time in history, especially for children to be in unsecured places. Seeing that this poem can be included in my anthology due to the mom regretting making the decision to tell the child to go to church instead and brings up the concept of the idea that destiny and what is meant to happen will happen no matter the place it is hard to protect and plan out and being cautious as to the consequences since bad outcomes can come about from any decision made. Sometimes it is just about whether or not paths are made for good intentions, but still can end up disastrous and that is one part of life that anyone can go through and have to live with although it seems quite extraordinarily tragic, so wishing for the best and for safety of loved ones is what is the only option people have at times.



"Prayer"
By: Langston Hughes

Gather up
In the arms of your pity
The sick, the depraved,
The desperate, the tired,
All the scum
Of our weary city
Gather up
In the arms of your pity.
Gather up
In the arms of your love-
Those who expect
No love from above.


~ Hughes, Langston. "Prayer" from Kennedy; Gloia, Dana's. An Introduction to Poetry Thirteenth Edition. pg.352. Textbook.


Langston's poem is about the gathering of the tired, sickly, and criminal of a city all be brought together-united with love from the pity felt for them. It also talks about God from there being "No love from above." I chose this poem because I like how it is of personal identity and I like how it is set up like a speech and Hughes's style that contains some rhyming and talks about a strong topic expressing his emotions through his writing which in this case is a prayer-like poem. Hughes repetitively exclaims to the reader's to "Gather up" which stands out within the poem. I included Hughes poem in my anthology since it still goes along with my theme wishing or praying for the world to change.