jenniferl08′s Blog

Right now, the election is definitely at the forefront of my mind, a long with probably most Americans. Like Ms. Coon was saying in class today, there are so many issues plaguing our country right now. The economy is arguably the worst it has ever been, the environment is becoming increasingly important in everyone’s mind, and we are in the midst of war. And at this time, citizens are given the opportunity to vote. This election year could not have come at a more crucial time. I feel like it is my duty, in a sense, to be informed about what is going on in the world right now and what the candidates have to offer to change the course that America is going down. I cannot vote this year, but I would love to be able to help encourage people that can vote to do so in some way. Going off of what our classmates were saying in assembly wednesday, involvement starts just by educating yourself. 

Not doors but entranceways:

Right angle upon right angle.

It was the whole that

Made it Holy.

Not the straight lines,

Or the shadows-

Like iron containing but a foot

Almost camouflaged

Pops out of a tiny crack.

The one incongruous thing

In a sea of straight lines. 

Ireland, the long road at

the end of the world. I walk

it just at dusk,

when the night is just overripe.

Past the oldman’s house with 3 or 4 dogs.

The sun goes down and breaks through

a hole in the clouds.

The silence can be heard for miles.

We don’t have control over water

On it, but not it. Life is a

balance of what we have 

and what we make for ourselves.

The silence stands on two feet.

I wished dad was there.

He was good with bats.

He did something with them once

in South America, I remember.

It just kept flying around and around.

I guess it must have been scared, too.

Not as scared as Lisa with the broom,

Beating the air with every swing she took.

It flew around the house,

Over and over.

Making its round soaring through only one hallway.

I wished dad was there. 

I stand, bundled up and ready for a day outdoors.
It must have been cold outside.
My arms straight out like penguin wings,
Wrapped in the gauze of my purple and pink overstuffed feather jacket.
My hands are bound in mittens and I look hungrily
at my wide open coat, lapping up the cold.

Walking into the mudroom, my father stops right in front of me.
Sticking out my uncovered belly, pointing-
The bond between father and daughter withstands
another perfectly silent conversation.
Hurrying, he snaps my chin into it’s teeth and
my chin is swallowed into it’s evil cool stomach.

One, hot tear rolls down my cheek.
Our eyes meet, a twang of apology creeps into his.
“Oh, stop that,” he says to me.
But I persist,
As if right then I would give everything for a bit of his love,
His apology, his guilt.

Kneeling, he kisses my chin,
The metaphorical band aid pressed gently and tightly.
All pain that I felt subsided.

I am researching the poet Seamus Heaney. I began by looking up some biographical information on his life. I found this website nobelprize.org that has a detailed description of Heaney’s upbringing in Northern Ireland. In what I have read of his poems so far, Heaney uses the setting of Ireland as the backdrop of many of his poems. For this reason I think that really understanding the place where he was raised will provide insight on the reasons behind a lot of what he writes.

Highways lie nowhere

near. The cows stand idle by

the edge of the bay.