Chapter 15 and 17 Poems

The first poem I read in Chapter 15 was “ This is Just to Say.” The point of this poem was to show that it is not always the point of a writer to write cryptically. Sometimes, words are meant the way they seem, without a hidden meaning or metaphor behind them. I was able to read the poem and immediately understand what it was about without having to look below its surface. The author is simply apologizing for eating the delicious plums from the refrigerator.
Another poem I read was “Grass,” by Carl Sandburg. Sandburg’s poem is full of allusions, or an indirect reference to something not precisely mentioned. His poem is narrated by grass. The grass is speaking to the survivors of events marked by death. It is telling them to bury them in the ground, sooner or later; it will grow over the graves and cover the catastrophes that had once taken place there. It would be as if the events had never taken place.
Last, I read “Carnation Milk.” It was written by an anonymous writer. The purpose of the poem is to show a different style of English. I found it the most entertaining out of the poems in the chapter. It has a straight to the point, almost sarcastic tone. It sticks in your head with its witty rhyme scheme.

The first poem in Chapter 17 I read was a haiku called “The Piercing Chill I Feel.” The haiku, by Tanguchi Buson, uses tactile imagery to gains his audience’s attention. The poem is three lines, but gives the makes the worst chill go down my spine. A man, who recently lost his wife, is in his room when he steps on one of her belongings she dropped on the floor; a comb that she used to run through her hair.
Second, I read “The Falling Flower,” by Arakida Moritake. Also a haiku, it talks about the beauty of nature. It focuses on a butterfly, landing on a tree branch. Mortake compares the prettiness of the butterfly to a flower. Two entities in nature that make the world a more beautiful place to live.
Third, I read an example of Contemporary Haiku. Walt Whitman’s poem, “The Runner,” caught my attention. It is a modern version of the Japanese Haiku, written in English. The modern haiku describes the characteristics of a person running down the street. It describes his or her body, clothing, and actions.