you fit into me

"you fit into me" by Margaret Atwood was a short poem, yet it had a lot of meaning within the few words it had. Just looking at the lack of punctuation it gives off the feeling of not caring or unhappiness. That lack of punctuation contributes to the overall meaning of the poem. There are only two stanzas and the first stanza goes like this: "you fit into me like a hook into an eye." Here the reader would assume that the author is referring to a hook and eye clasp on clothing like dress that clasps together. The hook and eye works together to keep the dress fastened and together. From that stanza the reader would assume the author is saying that its like how a relationship works just like a hook and eye; it is stable, they work together, etc. But then the second stanza goes into a complete different direction. "a fish hook an open eye," clearly this stanza doesn't have the same tone as the the first stanza. The tone shifts to being a bit angry and a bit painful. From those last lines it is clear that the relationship the author is describing wasn't a relationship that the two worked together, but rather one that only brought pain and unhappiness, and that was the only way the two fit together. It is straight forward and to the point. At the end of the day, maybe the reason the author chose so few words for this poem to show that the relationship was painful and is done and over with and that is it, according to the content and the structure of the poem.

What the mirror said

Continuing my liking for Lucille Clifton's poems, this week I chose her poem "What the mirror said." It was a short poem with an interesting structure. Looking at each line they are short and some lines only have one word. I think Clifton did that for a reason, that being that she had the most important or meaningful words by themselves. Clifton chose words like listen, women, girl, etc. as the words that stood alone. The word "listen" was repeated a few times throughout. That contributes to the overall meaning of the poem that Clifton was trying to bring forth, and that was that every woman is somebody, and is an important somebody, and to never let someone tell them otherwise. With the repetition of "listen" she is trying to grab the attention of the readers and say "Listen you are somebody, you are, you are!" This poem is obviously directed towards women, and it is no secret that for centuries women have not been treated the best, or seen as very important, and I think Clifton used this poem to reassure women that they are worthy, and nobody can tell a women otherwise. Clifton starts off the poem by describing a women as a wonder, and continues with relating a women to a map that needs directions because we are complicated. These lines I liked in particular, "listen, women, you not a no place anonymous girl." I liked this because it was telling every women that they will be somebody and that they are not a week little girl, but rather they are strong women. The last lines have a very distinct tone and addresses the anger that comes from abuse on women. "mister with his hands on you he got his hands on some damn body!" I think those lines are pretty powerful, for they bring a clear message that no matter how degrading a man is towards a woman and how ever many times they call a woman a nobody, that is never the case.... he has his hands on some damn body...and it's a women. At the end of the day, it was a short poem that has an interesting structure, but it has a clear message from Clifton.

at the cemetery, walnut grove plantation, south carolina, 1989

The poem I chose this week was “At the Cemetery, Walnut Grove Plantation, South Carolina, 1989” by Lucille Clifton. I have noticed that I have liked a lot of her poems throughout all of these packets, and I think it is because she takes things that people don’t recognize or necessarily want to talk about and she calls people out on them. I think if I met her she would be sassy and I think that would be awesome. :)

In this poem Clifton recognizes the fact that the slaves in South Carolina were never honored for all they did, or received justice for the things that happened to them. The second stanza really is the central idea of the poem, “nobody mentioned slaves and yet the curious tools shine with your fingerprints. nobody mentioned slaves but somebody did this work who had no guide, no stone, who moulders under rock.” That stanza shows that the slaves were such a huge part of the development of this world, only to be dishonored, forgotten, and unrecognized. As the poem continues, it is clear that Clifton’s goal is to give these slaves recognition for all they did, and give them the credit they deserve. “tell me your names, tell me your bashful names and i will testify.”Here, she just wants to show readers that they deserve to be recognized. Clifton’s last stanza was the best out of them all, she begins by saying that sometimes men were honored, but never women. “tell me your dishonored names. here lies here lies here lies here lies hear.” Those final lines were brought together by Clifton to recognize all they did, but also to tell readers to hear what she said because that was her goal all along, to get others to recognize these people and everything they did for our country and they should be honored for it. Overall, I really enjoyed this poem because it is something America is embarrassed about, but I think we need to be held accountable for it and honor them making sure it never happens ever again.