Cyndi+Lynn+Sheridan

Ode to Pillow :
 Comfort beneath.  A fluff of ecstasy.  The support of an angel.  A touch of heaven and a dream unfold.  When the lights go out  I only feel the connection between.  You wipe the tears I shed.  You help save my memories.  You listen and never judge.  You build the warmth,  And guide the free soul.  From the beginning until the end,  You and I will always be,  And partner in sleep.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Iambic Pentameter <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Poem:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The dark and stormy night brought fear to life. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I start to write the feeling of my soul. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> To wish upon a star for such a knight. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The sea of tears create a tight deep hole. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I need some gold to cover my pure feet. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> And bring me to a place that’s full of joy. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I wonder where me and this man will meet. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Or if he will be just a useless toy. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I know the power of my strength will strive. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> But in reality some thing I brought, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Into this world is happiness to dive <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Within the beauty of one’s perfect mind keen. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> And to reveal the hidden and unseen.

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Raised By <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Poem:
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I was raised by <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A professional looking <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Hair pinned tightly <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Cheetah rimmed glasses <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Kind of woman

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Some brown eyed <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Church going <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Tree loving <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Magazine reading <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Cowgirl swaying <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Boogie dancing <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> John Travolta crushing <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Kind of woman

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Some chief of delight <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Specialty of chicken <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> With a pinch of pepper <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Scattered beneath <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A mouth dripping sauce <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Of juicy fresh tomatoes <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Mixed with <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The hair of an angel <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> "How it taste?" <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Leaves our words unspoken <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Kind of woman.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Some tea sipping <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> "Go Green" believin' <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Lunch making <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Healthy eating <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Coupon clipping <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Kind of mother I need

<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">I am from… <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Poem
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the bright city of brotherly love. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The moments I create, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The breaths I take, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> And the love I share <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> It all relates back to who I am no matter where.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the traditions I speak <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The religiously unforgotten savior I seek. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The words of wisdom rise against <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The power of all beyond the gates.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from music and dreams, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> From the instruments to the beats. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the arms of an angel, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Glistening beauty surrounding thee.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The guidance of my parents <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> That I cherish and feel complete. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the heart of steel <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> That I hardly broken of shattered <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Through obstacles of fear. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the friendships and seasons <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> That have developed the inspiring me. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> From the bestfriend I lost, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> To the new joys of the family.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I challenge myself every day <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> To accomplish any goal even through <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> An obstacle standing in my way. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> And my emotions have been unequal, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> But my strength and power will achieve.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> I am from the place I call home.

===<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">" <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">This Was Once A Love Poem <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> " ===

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">by Jane Hirshfield
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">This was once a love poem, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> before its haunches thickened, its breath grew short, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> before it found itself sitting, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> perplexed and a little embarrassed, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> on the fender of a parked car, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> while many people passed by without turning their heads.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">It remembers itself dressing as if for a great engagement. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> It remembers choosing these shoes, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> this scarf or tie.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Once, it drank beer for breakfast, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> drifted its feet <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> in a river side by side with the feet of another.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Once it pretended shyness, then grew truly shy, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> dropping its head so the hair would fall forward, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> so the eyes would not be seen.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">It spoke with passion of history, of art. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> It was lovely then, this poem. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Under its chin, no fold of skin softened. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Behind the knees, no pad of yellow fat. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> What it knew in the morning it still believed at nightfall. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> An unconjured confidence lifted its eyebrows, its cheeks.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The longing has not diminished. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Still it understands. It is time to consider a cat, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> the cultivation of African violets or flowering cactus.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Yes, it decides: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> many miniature cacti, in blue and red painted pots.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">When it finds itself disquieted <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> by the pure and unfamiliar silence of its new life, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> it will touch them-one, then another- <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> with a single finger outstretched like a tiny flame.

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Close Reading for** “ <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">This Was Once A Love Poem <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">”: =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A typical love poem begins with phrases of happiness, but once love fails those images fade away to darkness. In the poem Jane personifies this piece of literature as if it once engaged in love. In the beginning structure of the poem, the words she uses convey a more exciting and enthusiastic mood. This expresses a jubilant tone, but then as the poem progresses it changes to a more wishful and remorseful one. For example, in the poem it says, “It remembers itself dressing as if for a great engagement. It remembers choosing these shoes, this scarf or tie.” This exemplifies the imagery, setting, and characteristics Jane uses to indicate the memories created in a specific way. An example of the drastic change in tone is when Jane writes, “Dropping its head so the hair would fall forward, so the eyes would not be seen.” Jane incorporates this sentence so the reader is able to visualize the actions that are occurring, and how it relates to character’s feelings. Also, Jane emphasized the first stanza to grasp the reader’s attention instantly, and then overdramatized the fifth stanza so that you were actually able to understand the sense of anguish. Clearly, the poet’s uses of detailed images help the reader understand the emotional and physical change of a love poem. =====

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">by Jane Hirschfield
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A hand is not four fingers and a thumb.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Nor is it palm and knuckles, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not ligaments or the fat's yellow pillow, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not tendons, star of the wristbone, meander of weins.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A hand is not the thick thatch of its lines <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> with their infinite dramas, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> nor what it has written, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not on the page, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not on the ecstatic body.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Nor is the hand its meadows of holding, of shaping- <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not sponge of rising yeast-bread, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not rotor pin's smoothness, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> not ink.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The maple's green hands do not cup <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> the proliferant rain. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> What empties itself falls into the place that is open.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> A hand turned upward holds only a single, transparent question.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Unanswerable, humming like bees, it rises, swarms, departs.

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Close Reading for** “ <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">A Hand <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">”: =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; margin: 0.1pt 0in;">What is a hand? In this poem, the poet uses a sense of imagery to describe a hand in an abstract way. Typically, the appearance of a hand is four fingers and a thumb, but in reality it provides something more significant. A hand relates to the way individuals express believe because they are known to think they know every answer to any question, when in reality this isn’t always necessarily true. The poet’s use of technique helps reinforce these ideas. The repetition of the words not and nor help expand that hands are not just something visual; it can be a variety of things. In addition, the structure that is mainly used throughout this poem is end-stopped lines. This strategy forcefully states the exact things a hand is not only. The use of the metaphor “A hand turned upward holds only a single, transparent question” identifies the comparison between hands to a question. Clearly, it shows that people just quickly assume anything when actually everything is just filled with a mystery to discover. =====

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">by Jane Hirshfield
<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There are names for what binds us: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">strong forces, weak forces. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Look around, you can see them: <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">the skin that forms in a half-empty cup, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">nails rusting into the places they join, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">joints dovetailed on their own weight. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The way things stay so solidly <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">wherever they've been set down— <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">and gravity, scientists say, is weak.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">And see how the flesh grows back <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">across a wound, with a great vehemence, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">more strong <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">than the simple, untested surface before. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There's a name for it on horses, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">when it comes back darker and raised: proud flesh,

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">as all flesh, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">is proud of its wounds, wears them <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">as honors given out after battle, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">small triumphs pinned to the chest—

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">And when two people have loved each other <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">see how it is like a <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">scar between their bodies, <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">stronger, darker, and proud; <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">how the black cord makes of them a single fabric <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">that nothing can tear or mend.

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**Close Reading** “ <span style="color: #008080; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">For What Binds Us <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">”: =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">The poet’s use of imagery and symbolism strengthens the picture Jane foresees in a relationship. She uses everyday scenes to paint a picture for the reader that allows them to enter a world where they are not only just looking at the visual communication, but also the internal struggles. These everyday descriptions let the reader connect with the poem on an emotional basis because it shares a realistic meaning. In the lines “And see how the flesh grows back across a wound, with a great vehemence,” The reader is able to see how a broken relationship can be mending and become stronger and successful even through an obstacle. In addition, she identifies many objects within a community that share a similar meaning to the main example of binding love. Each stanza has its own original example, and the last stanza mainly joins everything together into a main idea/theme. =====

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Poetry to me is the voice inside our souls that is expresses in a specific structure. Throughout the poems I write, I usually have a common topic of love, memories, or struggles. I feel that when I write poems it helps me express the person I really am as well as act as an emotional relief to reality. Sometimes when I write, I like to relive the moments I’m most proud of and feel influence who I am today. Poetry also helps me to express my innermost emotions and acts as a friendship when no one understands me. It is never judgmental nor criticizes anything I have to say, and lends a listening ear. My most important inspiration that I write about is my aunt Trish. She’s helped me overcome so many things in life that I’ve never imagined facing as a young adult, but she stood there with me through everything. She enlightens my personality and gives me the hope of being successful in the future. There are so many things that I wish I could say to her, but since she’s no longer living the only way to share these feelings are through the power of writing. As I write my poems, I usually have certain techniques such as repetition, enjambments, and imagery. In my opinion, these techniques help the reader interpret the deeper meaning of the poem, and have a sense of personal experience to it. Repetition is the key essential to my writing because it impacts the mind and brings comprehensions to what needs to be known for the reader. In addition, I think that when a poet uses imagery it captures the reader’s attention. Clearly, there are so many things that influence the poetry I create, and each poem has a meaning beneath it. =====