The Things They Carried Poem

We leave behind the ones we love to be drafted into a family of trust
Don’t know what to expect but to think the worst
Dependent on each other reputation is obsolete
Trying to fight the fear hoping not to die
Our weapons give chance pictures possess hope
Daydreams bring comfort dope providing relief
Sniped during the day mortared at night
Wounds open up death takes its toll
Nowhere to run nowhere to hide
Illusions of the jungle only trick the mind
Wanting nothing more than to end this hell
To close your eyes and be released
Ready for the next life wherever that might be

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/vietnam.htm

On The Rainy River

SUMMARY
The Minnesotan Tim O’Brien, was sent a letter to be drafted to the Vietnam War. The scared 21 year old did not believe in the war, nor wanted anything to do with it. On his decision to flee to Canada, he stopped just south of the border where he spent six days in a friendly old man’s lodge. The two went on morning hikes, ate meals together, and Tim helped him around the lodge getting it ready for the winter. Respecting that the old man never questioned why he came to the lodge, Tim suspected that he already knew. On the last day the old man took them out in his boat fishing on the Canadian side of the river. Even though Tim could have swum to Canada, he chose to head back to his home town. From Minnesota he deployed to Vietnam where he would safely return.
ANALYSIS
The story “On the rainy river” is showing the emotional rollercoaster that soldiers face before heading to war. Tim O’Brien spoke so proud of graduating from college and having a full paid scholarship to Harvard. He used himself as an example of many others that had goals and a direction in life before they were drafted to fight against their own will. The dilemmas they face are being humiliated and marked as a coward for running, or fight a pointless war and perhaps die. Understanding the consequences of ditching the draft is worse than killing other human beings, creates confusion in O’Brien’s mind. He believes fear of being humiliated for the rest of your life is not worth it.

Sam Hamill has written an amazing piece that breaks down the power of voice. Reading about his intense and troubled past, you don’t expect a paper that is so well written. It is not only well written but very powerful and insightful. The title “The Necessity to Speak” is the main point to what this read refers to. Society is controlled by the power of voice and more so from silence. A person can say anything that comes to mind, right or wrong in their eyes. It can obviously be wrong but if nobody ever speaks their opinion to that person, then that person or worse yet, group, can become very controlling. This is evident in everyday life. There is a fine line to know when to speak and when to be silent. I believe Hamill is saying that most of the time it is more rewarding to express words then hold them in. Obviously in some cases this can be very difficult and can lead to disaster. A perfect example of this is when he refers to battered women. This situation can be very complex resulting in fear. If she speaks her voice it may make things worse, or if she does not respond to these actions, maybe, just maybe, it will stop. The author writes “Three out of for victims, men and women, will return- the men will go back to prison, and the women, will return to battering relationships. The battered child will grow into the batterer” ( Hamill 547 ). So how are you supposed to stop or limit these behaviors? How do you keep living your life without fear? Is it healthy to live without fear? In my opinion I don’t think it is. I believe fear is what keeps us alive mentally and physically. The apathetic woman in an abusive relationship is causing more harm than good. Hamill mentions the battered child growing up to abusive. This is also pretty disturbing when you think about how it can continue being handed down into one vicious cycle. I related this paper to the poem” Immigrants in Our Own Land” by Jimmy Santiago Baca. Both authors spent time in jail and referred to some of the same situations. Both talk about how prisoners want to work and learn and start a new life but how difficult it is once you are released. I really enjoyed this read by Hamill. It was very moving and opens my eyes to the power of speech.

http://www.newpages.com/interviews/sam_hamill_copper_canyon.htm

Second Poem of witness

For the second poem, I chose” Immigrants in Our Own Land” by Jimmy Santiago Baca. This poem is intense with several emotions rolling from happiness, betrayal, sadness, to regret. I thought it is very well written but takes a little more involvement to figure out. I had to read the poem several times before I realized what was happening. Right off the bat the author uses a clever tactic by using the name of the poem to throw me off course. Then on the first two

lines it states “We are born with dreams in our hearts, looking for better days ahead” (Lines 1-2). My initial thought was that this poem is about immigrants from one country crossing a border to another, which is not the case but I had trouble letting that go. Keeping that idea in my head throughout the poem led me to confusion. “At the gates we are given papers,” (3). Again I thought these were papers that were given to immigrants crossing a border. When you figure out that the speaker is an immigrant talking from inside a prison, is when the pieces start to come together, but not completely. The poem never tells you why he was in prison which keeps you wondering. I think it’s pretty moving with the analogies the speaker uses to compare prison to the land he once lived. I think he is telling the audiences that it is harder to survive in the real world for some people than others think.

http://www.enotes.com/poetry-criticism/jimmy-santiago-baca

Work Cited

Baca, Jimmy Santiago. “Immigrants in Our Own Land”. New Directions Publishing Corporation.1990.15 June, 2010.Web. http://www.poetryfondation.org/archive/print.html?id=179708

First Poem of Witness

“Compendium of Lost Objects” by Nicole Cooley

This poem is easy to read and comprehend and gives you a taste of reality from Mother Nature. The writer does a good job at sucking you in and keeping you guessing till the end. The Speaker you figure out is a victim of a hurricane that is morning over lost possessions and areas that are now just memories. In the first four lines you don’t know that anything is wrong. The author writes, “Not the butterfly wing, the semiprecious stones, the shard of mirror, not the cabinet of curiosities built with secret drawers to reveal and conceal its contents,” (lines 1-4). It’s not until the author uses the word “but” that breaks up the poem as in “but the batture, the rope swing, the rusted barge sunk at the water’s edge” It is not till then that you realize something bad has happened, you just don’t quite know what. Reading farther you learn where and which hurricane has caused the disaster from the line that states, “but a cot at the Superdome sunk in a dumpster” (14). This line tells you that the speaker is talking about hurricane Katrina hitting the gulf coast. I believe the speaker is saying that nothing is safe from Mother Nature and can be taken in a blink of an eye. This poem reached out at me because I was living in the Florida Keys when Katrina came over my house as a category 1 hurricane. Luckily I didn’t have to write a poem about my losses.

http://huehueteotl.wordpress.com/2007/12/04/rates-of-anxiety-mood-disorders-high-in-areas-affected-by-hurricane-katrina/

Work Cited

Cooley, Nicole. “Compendium of Lost Objects”. Academy of Lost Poets. 2010. 15 June, 2010.Web.

http://www.poets.org/printmedia.php/prmmediaid/21526