Grandma or the Dog? The Dog Wins

I decided to wait until after class this time to write about the piece I picked (even though we should before). The reason being that I really could not choose between the two. I choose "Stoplestad" to discuss in class probably because the dog. But as we talked about the piece in class I started to see why else I loved the piece.

First off, because of the 2nd person point of view. That pulled me in and put me into the position of the officer but also kept me at a distance. I felt like I was the one who shot the dog. And when the father told the officer that the dog was still alive after being shot, I felt like I was punched in the stomach.And again during the verbal attack/threat on the officer, I felt I was the who was being threatened.
There was a good point brought up by our group; it was the abuse of the boy by the father. The father didn't quite treat the son as a loving father would.  Like pushing the boy around, exposing the boy to killing the dog or teaching him about killing it the "right" way.
As mentioned in class, the verbal attack from the father on the officer was a lot stronger than any physical attack, especially in the second person point of view. 
Another reason why I love this piece is the element of sadness and sympathy teh reader feels for the dog. Maybe this was just for me because I'm an animal lover.

"This Dream The World Is Having About Itself" By Carolyne Wright

It was really hard to choose between these two poems. I first read "This Dream The World Is Having About Itself" and then had to read the other because I didn't really understand it at first. I reread both a few times and decided I enjoyed this one the most.
The thing I like most about "This Dream The World Is Having About Itself" is the lines/stanza breaks. The sentences continue to the next stanza but if you look at one stanza, there is meaning behind each part. For example:

"we were sisters at the prairie's edge: I
who dreamed between sage-green pages, and you

a girl who feared you'd die in you twenties.
Both of us barefoot, wearing light summer

dresses from the Thirties, our mother's good
old days, when she still believed she could live"

You can see it in the lines here. I especially like that last part "when she believed she could still live". These line/stanza breaks give the piece something, some character,  that I love.
I also love the moving through decades. We cover a lot of time in this poem but it works for the piece.

Let's see what everyone else thinks in class.

"How to Succeed in Po Biz" By Kim Addonizio

What I really loved about this piece was the humor and where it came from. This author has obviously experienced first hand what she writes about in this piece. 
I summarized this as a how-to piece using past experiences to explain to new writers what the publishing business is like. I love the approach used in writing this piece. I have not written and probably will not write poetry, but I assume the publishing business is very similar for any genre.
I'm finding that what I am trying to say about this piece is hard to put into words but I'll try. The author puts us into her shoes as she goes through her journey of being a poet.
As I said before, I love the humor she writes into this piece. There are quite a few passages that I really enjoyed and the images that come along with parts of the piece were hilarious.

I may try to write again about this later. For now this I what I feel the reasons may be for publishing this piece.

"Our Pointy Boots" by Brock Clarke`

When I looked at the list of stories to choose from for this week I immediately went to "Our Pointy Boots" probably because I liked the title. That was the only reason. It took a while to get into the story and I even looked at the other one, but then I was caught by this one.
Like the piece I wrote about last week, I felt this one was relate-able. My father is in the military, and I have been there when he came home from trips (Thankfully, he has not had to go to war).
Also, as last time, I also loved the imagery throughout the whole piece.
I liked the switch between before the war and after the war. And toward the end he brings it all together, when the main character(s) wear their pointy boots to Saunders burial.
The thing that stood out the most for me was use of "we" instead of "I". It wasn't as noticeable when the main character was with the group of soldiers but when he was at home with his"sweet baby". It was interesting because at home it was as if the whole group went through the same thing, whether at home or on the battlefield.  They stick together through war and the main thing that keeps them together are their pointy boots.

"Rain" by Peter Everwine

Toward evening, as the light failed
and the pear tree at my window darkened,
I put down my book and stood at the open door,


Peter Everwine's poem reminds me so much of Minnesota: the loon and the lake especially. The imagery that he creates with the first few lines is what caught me most and kept me reading. "The pear tree at my window darkened". That line made me keep reading. Something about it attracted me unlike the other two poems.
I read all three poems trying to figure out which one to choose and even though all three reminded me of something I knew, I was most intrigued by this one.
I felt that this piece was more like a prose poem and should have been written that way. As I was reading, I felt as if it was a story and I was waiting to read more about this character/narrator. (Once I read it again later it did feel like it had a rhythm to it as poems do.)
The imagery, not just in the first few lines, but throughout the piece is what, I believe, makes the piece; word choice, too. I sat down and read it a few times slowly to take in each word. I love the rain, how he describes it and his emotions he feels standing in the doorway. I could feel what the author was feeling as I read his words.