Turning Pro

"Turning Pro" by Ishmael Reed was a very cool poem! I love sports and after just having my last week of soccer this week I can somewhat relate to this baseball players feelings, with the thought of its all over for me. Like him I realized my love for the game isn't over until I say it's over. :)

When looking at the structure of the poem I noticed that there was a lot of enjambment throughout and it was pretty random, and maybe it goes along with his old, tired tone. Also, the author doesn't use hardly any punctuation, having only who periods throughout the 35 line poem. The periods are only at the the end of the two stanzas. I think the reason for that goes along with the tired, old tone.

When reading this poem it didn't read like a poem, it read like a story or like a speech maybe, and I liked that it did that, it was interesting. If it was to be read as a speech it would be a pretty darn good one though. It starts out with the character playing baseball and realizing that he is the oldest one out there and he is old enough that the shortstop would practically be his son, and that isn't something many athletes really enjoy... After that first stanza it seems like that realization made him realize even more things like that people talk of him being slow, and he's being faked out left and right, etc. It isn't until this line that the tone changes, "But just as the scribes were beginning to write you off as a has-been on his last leg." After reading that line I found that he had a made a new realization and that was that he wasn't about to let all these people determine the rest of his career. He got a second wind and took it all the way home and showed he wasn't just that old guy in the amateur baseball league. By believing in himself and his fans showing their support he finally proved he wasn't just the old guy... he was deserving of the majors. At the end of the day, this poem was fun and I liked that the poet made it their own and did it their own way showing his love for the game. :)

Sindhi Woman

I thought since it was the last poetry blog I would end it on one of my favorite poems in the packet. :) The poem that I really enjoyed in the packet was "Sindhi Woman." It was a sad poem, yet it puts things in perspective and it makes readers grateful.

I liked this poem because it reminded me of The Kite Runner, which is one of my absolute favorite books. Now this Sindhi woman obviously wasn't rich like Amir was and had a large house, but how they were similar is by the things they two did to take care of their family. Amir took care of Hassan's son, and this Sindhi woman either had some sort of food or water in the jar she was carrying that the reader can assume is for her family. Also just the scene reminded me of the middle east and the struggle there that both the Sindhi woman and the Amir faced.

The poem is fairly simple, it is short and has a bit of an unusual rhyme scheme. Take the first stanza for example, the first line ends with "bazaar" and it rhymes with the forth line that ends with "jar". Then the second and third line rhyme and the fifth and sixth lines rhyme. The rhyme scheme continues into the next stanza as well, and it is a bit unusual but I like it and find it interesting the author made it their own.

I also liked how the author made they poem like a scene the reader could picture in their head. Stallworthy used such good detail giving the perfect picture in the readers mind. A perfect example of his attention to detail would be this: "Barefoot through the bazaar, and with the same undulant grace as the cloth blown back from her face, she glides with a stone jar high on her head and not a ripple in her tread." As I read that I pictured this strong, woman walking through a market in the Middle East, barefoot, and without a struggle carrying this huge jar with some sort of food or drink in it. This detail makes the reader appreciate what they have in life and appreciate hard work. In the second stanza the reader finds out of the extreme poverty this woman lives in. The last lines really bring it all together, "I , with my stoop, reflect they stand most straight who learn to walk beneath a weight." I think these lines show the author reflecting that hard work brings good health, and that these woman should be admired for how hard working they are and how committed they are to their family. At the end of the day, I thought that this poem had an interesting structure and was thoughtful, and I personally admire those strong Sindhi woman greatly for all they do for their family. :)