Response

How Easy It Is
By Goldbarth

This poem speciafically caught my attention. I have been reading quite a few poems lately that are based off of the ideas of an elegy. This poem, in my opinion, defiantely has some of those aspects to it as well. I like the heavy sounds of some or the lines throughout the poem because the poem itself is a harsh story, recapping the cruel murder of a family. The beginning of the poem begins as a 5 and 6 year old are dying. There is just enough detail to convey the cruel intentions of the murderer. There is also a sense of connect throughout the poem, but yet also, a disconnect. I also like how there are lines throughout the poem that are short and get the message acorss clearly, such as "days go by". Though this poem was about murder, I found it quite interesting. It reminded me of Capote's novel In Cold Blood.

Writing Poetry
Subject

Quite often, when I try to sit down and write a poem, I think to myself Oh yeah I will write a poem about this or that. Well, I found out the hard way that does not work... at all. At least for me. Usually, i try to mimic a poem or a line that I like, then try to change it in a way that characterizes my writing style, which is... I'm still working on finding it. This chapter helped me realize that you can take a subject, however, and and transform it into a poem. I found this very helpful. And after watching a 2 hour special on bigfoot the other night (yes, bigfoot... one of those things you have a hard time changing the channel with...), I realized how interesting a fictional topic could be in poetry.