Jocelyn Afandi

Block G/H
November 29, 2012
Poetry Collection
Poems I Wrote:
To Play, To Rewind
In a world
where the path called future
is never paved,
you create your own.
It doesnt matter
how many whirls and twirls
you create or
which point on the compass
you want to follow
It doesnt matter
to them.
Some people say
X marks the spot
others
Calculate x
Either way
find X.
This time,
theres
no map,
no equation,
only you.
You can journey back,
back the way you came
Just dont be surprised
to see
gnarled roots creating
and sky-high barrier
blame the skinny, red, second
hand circling
around and
around and
around and
around
for all of eternity.
In a world
where maps
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and equations
and paths
and cars
collide
we have to glance back
to clear those gnarled roots
before they
climb so high
not even giants
can see what is
behind.

This poem is an extended metaphor about your future and past. One of the metaphors I use
throughout the poem is of paths to symbolize the future. ie: In my second stanza, when I say, It
doesnt matter/ how many whirls and twirls/ you create or I am talking about how our actions
make all of our paths different. These metaphors I use help the reader compare it something
else that is very common in their daily lives, paths. Paths in this poem also has a second
meaning, the past. ie: the second half of my poem (starting from the fifth stanza) I talk about
how you can journey back.

Timebomb
2

She stomped, a sickening sight

tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock
Face twisted, rats nest like hair sits on her head
tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock
Like our ancestors, forced to adapt
Yet like the male species, oblivious
tick tock tick tock tick tock
Donning mismatched pajamas
among seas of black
tick tock tick tock
She was given a wide girth, as if
she were a bear waking up from its hibernation
tick tock...
beep beep beep beep
BOOM!

In this poem, I use sound device of onomatopoeia throughout this poem. I do this to show that
time is running out. Throughout the poem I only use the onomatopoeic words tick, tock, beep,
and boom. The words tick and tock are used the majority of the time. However, in the last
stanza, I change it up to further show that there is no time. Another thing I did with these
onomatopoeic words is that I removed 2 words, tick and tock, from the end of each stanza
(except for the last stanza), so that the amount of time saying these words goes down each.
This creates the feeling of a countdown, each number smaller than before until zero. As I said
above, this is to show that there is no time.

Together Forever
3

My best friend is
invisible
like conjoined twins
together
forever
Youll never see her
Like a small child
shes afraid of you
afraid of everyone
You have an invisible friend too
whether youre sleeping
eating solo
or even
taking a shower
But you push her away,
like shes trash
You go to parties
without her
You go to school
without her
Dont worry
Shell forgive you
Alone will be your friend
forever

In this poem I use the device of similes to further enhance the meaning of the poem. In the first
simile, like conjoined twins I compared how close our friendship is to that of conjoined twins.
Conjoined twins were born together, and even if they get separated they stay very close to each
other. In the second simile I use, I compare how afraid she is to that of a small child. Small
children often hide behind their parents out of fear. In the third simile I use I compare this friend
to trash. People run away from trash because it stills, and most of all, its dirty. All of these
similes help the reader to create a picture in their minds about this friend.

Poems I Read
Perform Out Loud:
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Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Cool:
One Art
by Elizabeth Bishop
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
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to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like a disaster.

Readers Response Poem:

Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
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With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, Ill rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
Cause I walk like Ive got oil wells
Pumping in my living room
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops
Weakened by my soulful cries
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Dont you take it awful hard?
Cause I laugh like Ive got gold mines
Diggin in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words
You may cut me with your eyes
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, Ill rise
Does my sexinesss upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like Ive got diamonds
at the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of historys shame
I rise
Up from a past thats rooted in pain
I rise
Im a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling, I bear in the tide
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise
Into daybreak thats wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing gifts that my ancestors gave
I am the dream and hope of the slave
I rise
I rise
I rise

In the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou, the author tells the tale of a woman that has
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overcome her many obstacles in life with pride. Rhyme, repetition, and similes are used
throughout the poem to help us further understand what this person is going through.
In this poem, the author uses many similes. These similes are used to create images in
our mind. For example in the line Shoulders falling down like teardrops. In this image we get is
of a person with hunched shoulders, struggling to continue onwards. The word teardrops
enforces this image because tears are often associated with sadness.
Another device the author uses is repetition. The lines that are often repeated are Ill
rise and Still I rise By repeating these words, it forces us to look at them. It also emphasizes
the authors message, which is to stay strong no matter how many obstacles you encounter in
life. Not only are these lines repeated, but also the image of light objects such as air or dust
rising. For example, in the lines Cause I walk like Ive got oil wells/ Pumping in my living room,
this simile creates a sense of lightness. This is because, if the person really had oil wells
pumping in their living room, they would be very rich. In my mind, I picture a rich person as a
smiling, skipping person with no worries. However, compared to a family struggling to make
ends meet, I see a person with shoulders slumped and rings around their eyes from the long
hours they had to work worrying about the next bill. There are many images similar to this one
like That I dance like Ive got diamonds/at the meeting of my thighs.
The author also uses rhyme to create a constant rhythm throughout the poem which
gives the feeling of perseverance. For the most part, every other line in the poem rhymes.
However, the author only uses the sounds of -ise, -oom, and -ard in her rhyme schemes. This
creates a sense of simplicity. Even though this rhyme scheme is repeated throughout the entire
piece, the author changes it up in the last stanza. In the last stanza, the rhyme scheme is in line
one and three, then line five and six, next seven and nine, and lastly eleven and twelve. This
change is very different than the calm, constant rhyme scheme of the other stanzas, therefore
forcing us to pay attention.