Journal #4 _ Maggie Lacy

I think that the most helpful chapter throughout our reading has been chapter six. I like chapter six because I tend to write about the things that I find significant or extremely important to me. Though this isn't always a bad thing and tends to make many poems feel more real through experience and imagery, I find myself writing about the same things. Chapter six encourages you to step out past your comfort zone and to be willing to explore the unknown. Don't be afraid to go down the street you've never been down or try a new experience. You never know where your biggest inspiration will come from. On page 99 it says "...use imagination to make an experience real for the reader". I think that this is also very important. Don't forget to make everything that you experienced and experience for the reader as well. It is my goal and I thoroughly enjoy reading poems where I can feel what the writer is feeling.

I believe that the poem that has taught me the most would be on page 65

Pastoral
When I was younger
it was plain to me
I must make something of myself.
older now
I walk back streets
admiring the houses
of the very poor:
roof out of line with sides
the yards cluttered
with old chicken wire,ashes,
furniture gone wrong;
the fences and outhouses
built of barrel-staves
and parts of boxes, all,
if I am fortunate,
meared with a bluish green
that properly weathered
pleases me best
of all colors.
           No one
will believe this
of vast import to the nation.
                         -William Carlos Williams

I like this poem for a couple different reasons. One of the reasons that I like this poem is because it was the first time that I saw a drop-line that really made sense to me. With this dropped-line I can feel
the alteration that the poem takes with that line. It really sort of makes that fact that no one will believe what he's thinking and that he's basically alone. Also, I liked this poem because it also helped me recognize the drag, advanced, and balanced. I have a hard time hearing the stress on the syllables and this poem helped me to recognize that stresses really do matter and have a large impact on the poem. I also like how short the lines are, it adds a sort of punch to the poem. I can never figure out how I want to divide my poems and how much punctuation to use. This poem helps me recognize that you can't really be wrong. Whether short or long, your poem is your poem and it just needs to make you happy with how its composed.