6 responses to “Poems & Takeaways—the end of our Poetry unit (Weds)”
I really liked the poetry unit; it might have been my favorite out of all our units. I used to be really into flowery and traditional poems, but I feel like this unit has helped me branch out the poems I read and write into more experimental genres. I also liked getting to experiment with pushing the boundaries of nonfiction/fiction/poetry.
I want to use this space to express gratitude for the poetry unit. It was really, really fun. I felt inspired, challenged, stimulated, and like a part of a genuine community. I was very impressed and inspired by my Professor and classmates. I enjoyed the quick traverse through reading and writing the different styles of poetry. I also enjoyed attending Professor Cassarino’s reading. In a way, I feel like this unit opened a door to a whole new world for me to explore.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am for all the feedback during the big group workshop. The poetry unit was so much fun, especially, since I usually just write whenever I feel like I have something to say but I learned during this unit that we can find things that evoke feelings/thoughts/ideas, generally something to write about. I think my favorite prompt was the one where we had to write down answers to questions and work with those words to create a new poem.
When did you decide
that you are the authority
on existence?
Gay people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you cannot get past
“Stick goes in hole”
spoken with the accent of a caveman
Your brain stops there
yet you believe you have the authority to exclaim
that gay people should not exist and
you use your precious time on earth
in the fight to eradicate something that exists
Fat people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you cannot get past
“Skinny is sexy”
spoken with the accent of a pedophile
Your brain stops there
(and your penis)
yet you believe you have the authority to exclaim
that fat people should not exist and
you use your precious time on earth
in the fight to eradicate something that exists
Trans people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you don’t realize that you are the sheep
that fell for the propaganda and sales tools
of the people hoarding the money
Straight, thin, cis as the model of superiority and morality
does not exist
and you can’t get past
“Roar!”
spoken with the accent of the king of the jungle
to mask your baa
Your brain stops there
yet you use your precious time on earth
in a fight to regress to a time that is
Great again
Because living in the closet is great
Because death by eating disorder is great
Because hating your own children is great
Because pretending to be something that does not exist is great.
I never forced writing but rather waited for the right time for it to flow. In this class and especially this unit, I was proven wrong. Constraints/restrictions (restrictions in terms of time and prompt) can also breed beautiful poetry!
6 responses to “Poems & Takeaways—the end of our Poetry unit (Weds)”
I really liked the poetry unit; it might have been my favorite out of all our units. I used to be really into flowery and traditional poems, but I feel like this unit has helped me branch out the poems I read and write into more experimental genres. I also liked getting to experiment with pushing the boundaries of nonfiction/fiction/poetry.
I want to use this space to express gratitude for the poetry unit. It was really, really fun. I felt inspired, challenged, stimulated, and like a part of a genuine community. I was very impressed and inspired by my Professor and classmates. I enjoyed the quick traverse through reading and writing the different styles of poetry. I also enjoyed attending Professor Cassarino’s reading. In a way, I feel like this unit opened a door to a whole new world for me to explore.
I cannot express enough how grateful I am for all the feedback during the big group workshop. The poetry unit was so much fun, especially, since I usually just write whenever I feel like I have something to say but I learned during this unit that we can find things that evoke feelings/thoughts/ideas, generally something to write about. I think my favorite prompt was the one where we had to write down answers to questions and work with those words to create a new poem.
Great again
When did you decide
that you are the authority
on existence?
Gay people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you cannot get past
“Stick goes in hole”
spoken with the accent of a caveman
Your brain stops there
yet you believe you have the authority to exclaim
that gay people should not exist and
you use your precious time on earth
in the fight to eradicate something that exists
Fat people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you cannot get past
“Skinny is sexy”
spoken with the accent of a pedophile
Your brain stops there
(and your penis)
yet you believe you have the authority to exclaim
that fat people should not exist and
you use your precious time on earth
in the fight to eradicate something that exists
Trans people have existed
since humans have existed
yet you don’t realize that you are the sheep
that fell for the propaganda and sales tools
of the people hoarding the money
Straight, thin, cis as the model of superiority and morality
does not exist
and you can’t get past
“Roar!”
spoken with the accent of the king of the jungle
to mask your baa
Your brain stops there
yet you use your precious time on earth
in a fight to regress to a time that is
Great again
Because living in the closet is great
Because death by eating disorder is great
Because hating your own children is great
Because pretending to be something that does not exist is great.
I never forced writing but rather waited for the right time for it to flow. In this class and especially this unit, I was proven wrong. Constraints/restrictions (restrictions in terms of time and prompt) can also breed beautiful poetry!
I’ve been woken up in the middle of the night for days now remembering I needed to post this revised poem here… and have then promptly forgotten to do so. It’s available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13NggiuUhpAcSSOQ8XdrN2ErWSAy6YB5cq0w7_eKahNE/edit?usp=sharing
Thank you to everyone for your feedback/suggestions, they were much appreciated even if they didn’t make it into this very chaotic version.