Barbie Doll By Marge Piercy

When reading the poem entitled "Barbie Doll" by Marge Piercy i was immediately attracted to the subject of the piece.  Not only is there a very dark tone throughout the poem, but there is also a deep sense of connection that i felt the author had to what she wrote.  The poem discusses the issues faced by young girls when they hit puberty and the pressure society puts on them to be "beautiful" in a completely artificial sense of the word.  The author speaks of the girl in the poem being intelligent, good natured and healthy, but those features failed to surpass the barrier of superficial beauty.  Repeating the line "big nose and fat legs" or using synonyms to do so, instills the issue in the readers mind which this girl is forced to face, until finally what i felt was the climax of the poem, when the girl cuts off her nose and legs to rid herself of that which was the focus of scrutiny.  The line i enjoyed most and what i felt really captured and exemplified the very dark tone throughout the poem was the second to last line where the author wrote "consummation at last" referring to after the girl died, and she was done up by the undertaker, every saw the beauty she could not find herself without all of the makeup.  It is a very depressing view of how the author feels society views beauty because it does not take makeup to be beautiful, and beauty is definitely not and external thing.

Hay for the Horses by Gary Snyder

After reading the poem "Hay for the Horses" by Gary Snider i felt a very close connection because the author discussed an issue i personally have been conflicted with and worry about in my own life.  Snyder speaks of an elderly gentlemen who is driving his truck late at night and doing work.  The message unfolds towards the end when the man in the poem is quoted basically talking about his age now, being 68, and referring back to when he began his work at 17 when he told himself "I sure would hate to do this all my life" and it just so happen to end up that way.  There is a feeling throughout the poem i felt of a certain frustration that is disguised well by acceptance of the situation the man in the poem is stuck in.  As well as understanding that the time in his life flew by so quickly he wasn't able to stop it, only now able to reminisce about a better time in his life.  This is a big fear i face everyday because i too, along with the man spoken about in the poem, want to take advantage of my life and the world still being ahead of me as opposed to behind me like the farmer.  I hope i have a different future than he does.

Allen Ginsberg HOMEWORK

I really enjoyed this poem specifically because it was very straight forward and used simple language but also was able to deliver a strong message that is hard to miss.  Ginsberg is taking a task well known to human existence, laundry, and turning it into a way to rid the world of all the bad humans have done to it.  It is a striking comparison because similarly people do laundry and they dirty their clothes, something they are responsible for and that causes them to have to clean them.  This stays true when he discusses different parts of the world saying things like, "I'd throw in my United States, and pour on the Ivory Soap, scrub up Africa." This relates directly to issues discussed in his poem that exist still to this day but are ignored and not taken care of.  Ginsberg is able to take a very effortless task such as doing laundry, or pouring something down the drain, (line 9), and weigh that against something not even the most intelligent species we know to exist can resolve.  I also found it very interesting what he chose to name his poem.  The title Homework I think symbolizes our responsibility to take care of something, but in the same sense as known to be with homework, lazy people do not take care of it.  So in a way I feel as though Ginsberg is calling all humans who are part of the problems he mentions, basically all of us, lazy and irresponsible.  The same words you would use to describe someone who does not do their homework for school.