Response to a poem
Denise M. Augenstein
06/16/10
The two poems I chose were Charlie Howard’s Descent by Mark Doty and Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds. These two poems spoke to me in two very different ways which I will explain. First in Mark Doty’s poem Charlie Howard’s Descent I was disgusted that we as humans treat others this way just because of their personality and preferences. I could feel the unease, pain and embarrassment of the subject of the poem.
I also could identify with him. From personal experiences I know what it is like to live in a small town and have people point, laugh and whisper behind your back. To know the pain and embarrassment of the people who will laugh and make snide comments to your face. Doty wrote this poem about a young man who was killed in the small Maine town of Bangor. The young man was the victim of a hate crime, he was thrown from a bridge by three teenagers where he fell into a river and drowned. This poet has written many moving works to bring awareness about the AIDS epidemic. He is also trying to educate people on what it means to be a homosexual and why to some people that is not abnormal. Doty writes and lectures on these subjects to try and put a stop to hate crimes against his fellow man.
The second poem I chose was Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds. This poem was also something that spoke to me right away. I to have witnessed exactly what she talked about with 6 and 7 year old boys. Her description of the gentlemen and their posturing for rank is exactly what I had witnessed at some of my son’s birthday parties. It actually made me smile as it brought back these memories. The way it was written also brought to my attention how when young children get together to play army it can portray a darker side. As if subconsciously children are plotting something greater than the act of play.
Sharon Olds is an accomplished poet and writer. According to her biography her poems focus on what she perceives is lying underneath family, social, and work interactions. Olds uses very descriptive and startling words to form images in the readers mind. She writes about sexuality, family, and life from a very straight forward and descriptive point of view. Olds was raised in a very “hellfire” Christian family. She currently teaches in New York at a university.
I did go through the entire list of poems and I chose to these two because they were the only two that caught my attention from the start. I find when I read, especially with poetry, it has to grab my attention from the start or I can’t focus and retain what I’m reading. Both of these poems made me feel surprised in their wording. The first by Mark Doty had me reading further because it seemed to be using images to tell the story and brought detail of the subject to bring the point across. I am easily intrigued when I’m reading and I can use the author’s words to create an image of things in my mind. The second caught my attention because it brought me back to having a son that age and the birthday parties he had. Her description of the gentlemen and the general were very familiar and it made me smile. I could just see my son and his friends in a room gathered around a cake plotting their revenge on the world. It also surprised me in a way I didn’t expect. I had never thought of how serious this child’s play could appear.
Denise M. Augenstein
06/16/10
The two poems I chose were Charlie Howard’s Descent by Mark Doty and Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds. These two poems spoke to me in two very different ways which I will explain. First in Mark Doty’s poem Charlie Howard’s Descent I was disgusted that we as humans treat others this way just because of their personality and preferences. I could feel the unease, pain and embarrassment of the subject of the poem.
I also could identify with him. From personal experiences I know what it is like to live in a small town and have people point, laugh and whisper behind your back. To know the pain and embarrassment of the people who will laugh and make snide comments to your face. Doty wrote this poem about a young man who was killed in the small Maine town of Bangor. The young man was the victim of a hate crime, he was thrown from a bridge by three teenagers where he fell into a river and drowned. This poet has written many moving works to bring awareness about the AIDS epidemic. He is also trying to educate people on what it means to be a homosexual and why to some people that is not abnormal. Doty writes and lectures on these subjects to try and put a stop to hate crimes against his fellow man.
The second poem I chose was Rite of Passage by Sharon Olds. This poem was also something that spoke to me right away. I to have witnessed exactly what she talked about with 6 and 7 year old boys. Her description of the gentlemen and their posturing for rank is exactly what I had witnessed at some of my son’s birthday parties. It actually made me smile as it brought back these memories. The way it was written also brought to my attention how when young children get together to play army it can portray a darker side. As if subconsciously children are plotting something greater than the act of play.
Sharon Olds is an accomplished poet and writer. According to her biography her poems focus on what she perceives is lying underneath family, social, and work interactions. Olds uses very descriptive and startling words to form images in the readers mind. She writes about sexuality, family, and life from a very straight forward and descriptive point of view. Olds was raised in a very “hellfire” Christian family. She currently teaches in New York at a university.
I did go through the entire list of poems and I chose to these two because they were the only two that caught my attention from the start. I find when I read, especially with poetry, it has to grab my attention from the start or I can’t focus and retain what I’m reading. Both of these poems made me feel surprised in their wording. The first by Mark Doty had me reading further because it seemed to be using images to tell the story and brought detail of the subject to bring the point across. I am easily intrigued when I’m reading and I can use the author’s words to create an image of things in my mind. The second caught my attention because it brought me back to having a son that age and the birthday parties he had. Her description of the gentlemen and the general were very familiar and it made me smile. I could just see my son and his friends in a room gathered around a cake plotting their revenge on the world. It also surprised me in a way I didn’t expect. I had never thought of how serious this child’s play could appear.
To read more about Mark Doty please visit this web site:
www.glbtq.com//literature/doty_m.html
To read more about Sharon Olds please visit this web site:
//famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/sharon_olds/biography
www.glbtq.com//literature/doty_m.html
To read more about Sharon Olds please visit this web site:
//famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/sharon_olds/biography
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