After Us

Connie Wanek, in his poem “After Us,” forces the reader to feel confusion and curiosity towards the meaning of life, by comparing life to a day and the weather patterns. The first stanza begins with death, by explaining what rain is falling. In this poem, rain is the symbolism for death because of its somber, gloomy connotation. Right after it mentions the things that happened in the sun and in the morning, when it was light. Connie Wanek wants the reader to notice that while everything that we do in life, such as working and playing music, is light and pleasant, but once we die, there are no guarantees of what life is like, only confusing, gloomy rain. By comparing life to light and death to gloomy darkness, the reader feels anxious and curious as to what might happen after death.

Wheels

Jim Daniels gives off a somber and sorrow tone in his poem, “Wheels,” by using parallelism and descriptive imagery. By repeating the word “waving” after every description of the brother, the reader slowly feels an attachment to the brother, by getting to know him, one characteristic at a time. The word “waving” completes one characteristic of the brother, and allows the reader to get a clear picture of him, before moving on to a new fact. This, and the descriptive details, such as “in an old Ford pickup,” allows the reader to get attached to the bother and his growing family, and really allows the reader to feel his loss after the crash. By using these techniques, the reader feels the sorrow and the loss of the brother, even though they do not know him.

Radio

Laurel Blossom, in her poem “Radio” uses short, informal sentences to share the shock and unsettling feeling that comes with being a victim of robbery. By repeating the phrase “no radio,” the speaker is showing the state of shock he/she is in. The speaker has to continuously state was is missing to process that it was actually taken. By making short stanzas with slang, such as “No radio, No nuthin, (no kidding),” the author gives the impression that this poem was written in the moment and helps the reader feel the shock. By stating “please” and “thank you” close to the end of the poem, the speaker again sounds desperate and in shock. These techniques of short sentences, repetition of “no radio,” and informal language help the reader relate to the shocked and desperate feeling the speaker experiences.

The Partial Explanation

Charles Simic, in his poem “The Partial Explanation,” creates a lonely, and melancholy tone through imagery, diction, and syntax, in order to share his feelings with the reader. By creating the feeling of a cold, lonely day through the snow and the ice, through commonly understood imagery, the reader can easily feel the speaker's loneliness and impatience. By choosing words that are associated with waiting in solitude, such as “time,” “grimmy little luncheonette,” and “myself,” Simic adds to the feeling of loneliness and makes it easily relatable to the reader, whether this specific restaurant situation has happened to them or not. The short sentences also help the reader focus on the individual, important details. For example, if the author did not put “at this table I chose myself” in its own line, the reader might not understand the irony in the fact that the speaker regrets picking to loneliest table. Through these short lines and the descriptive diction and imagery, Charles Simic makes this poem of loneliness relatable to any reader.

The Poet

Tom Wayman, in his poem "The Poet," brings the poet to life, line by line, through a silly, yet serious tone, by creating a catalog poem with repetition. Wayman lists the characteristics of a poet with short, simple sentences to keep it fun, while giving off an impression of a poet to the reader. For example, he explains that the poet “Does not understand what he reads” and “Does not understand what he hears.” While this is slightly humorous, as it is meant to be impossible for the reader to comprehend, it does actually represent the fact that the poet has trouble comprehending what he/she hears, due to the over-analyzation. The fact that Wayman begins his lines with repeating words, such as “cannot,” “does not,” “may,” and “has difficulty” is what makes this poem a catalog poem. This gives the reader a full description of the poet, so they are left with no unanswered questions, just a desire to read into the picture Wayman has presented them with. Through these short, descriptive statements that make up a catalog poem, Tom Wayman brings the poet to life for his readers to understand.

Neglect

R. T. Smith’s “Neglect” leaves his readers with a feeling of regret and longing to bring back the past, by sharing those feelings through detailed metaphors and emphasis on what is important. By sharing the details that his neglect caused the plant to “skew the sap’s passage, blacken leaves, dry the bark and the heart” the reader can picture in their mind something they neglected and the stages it went through as it withered. Smith hopes that through this metaphor, the reader can perhaps share the feeling of regret he shows in the next stanza, starting “I should have.” Smith also places emphasis on what is important in the poem. For example, he capitalizes the name of the plant to show that he neglected what was so important. He also rhymes the last two sentences to drag attention to them, as they sum up all of the feelings expressed through metaphors in the previous stanzas. By focusing in on details of the metaphor of an apple plant, Smith pushes his readers to feel regret, perhaps towards something in their own lives they have neglected.