Sabrina+Stewart-McDonald

"Poetry is either something that lives like fire inside you -like music to the musician or Marxism to the Communist- or else it is nothing..." -F. Scott Fitzgerald **Sonnet ** Who holds the key to the locked heavy door? People. they seem so fast and heaven bound. They reach and reach until they can grab more. What's that I hear? Maybe a pleasant sound?

Of course! It is the sound of fortune, luck. Maybe we will find all the luck we sought. We mostly stay out of the sticky muck. But as you know, fortune cannot be bought.

We have to fight to achieve and to earn. To get what we want we have to give force. We never stop until we get what we yearn. Passion from our hearts is the only source.

When can we each reach our own holy grails? We need a little wind beneath our sails.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Words intertwined with melody <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Poetry hidden in the sweetest beats <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Truly Appreciated <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> but not often credited <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Lines differentiated <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> by rhymes and cuts <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Lay the pen down, let it flow <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Mix it up, make it slow <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Sew in the meaning <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Leave their hearts beating <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> to the beat <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Pin up the lines <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Button and snap the tune <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> It'll be heard soon <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> What makes them live? <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> The lyrics you give.
 * <span style="color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;"> Ode to Songwriters **

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I was raised by <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">someone who doesn't care <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">what the world thinks. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Someone who fights to be <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">only herself. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">an "I am not anyone else." <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Type of woman.
 * <span style="color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 160%;">I Was Raised By... **

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I was raised by <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">an artist. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Someone not afraid to <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">use their hands. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">A graffiti styling, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">a "Draw it a different way." <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Type of man.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I was raised by a <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">music blasting, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">color-wearing, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">home-style cooking, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">risk-taking, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">pool playing, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">type of people.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">A "say it to their face," <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">tattoo-decorated, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">strict, but nice, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">head high, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Philly raised, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">sure of herself, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">sort of individual.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">An animal-loving, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">"Do what you think you should," <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">electronic savvy, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">bass thumping <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">fast driving, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Darby residing, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">sort of individual.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I was raised by <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">my uncle and my mom.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Searching for a clue <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Have to find the key. <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> What will ensue, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> this destiny?
 * <span style="color: #c0c0c0; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Mystery **

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Hiding in the dark, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> squinting in the light <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Sly like a shark, <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> quick like a knife.

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Writing everything down <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Thinking really hard <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Where is this bound? <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Inches, meters, yards?

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Trying to stay on track <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> But I'm losing count <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Mind is going slack <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I just want to round

<span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> This is for a grade <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Gotta stay on the path <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> This number mess I made… <span style="color: #404040; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Boy, do I hate math.

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Poetry Statement <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Usually when I write poetry, my mood, thoughts and recent things that have occurred to me heavily influence it. I will take something that had happened earlier that day, something that had affected me, and turn it into something poetic. I usually write when I have an extreme feeling because then I can write solely in that tone. I usually put a twist or a sudden realization in the end of my poems because it mimics thought process; how most people go through many thoughts, than come up with an answer. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> When I write I use enjambments where I would add emphasis or where I would pause, so the line length can vary, but I try to keep them around the same length. When it comes to choosing words I write as I would speak and sometimes I try to rhyme in an “abab” pattern at the end of a line. With figurative language I usually use my mind’s eye and I try to picture what I am writing, then those pictures usually turn into similes, metaphors or personification. Sometimes an entire poem that I write is one big metaphor. I usually compare things to everyday objects or something that I see often. I do not count syllables unless I am writing a certain form of poetry that requires it, but in my free time I only write freestyle poetry. I try to use a lot of imagery in my poetry because I like to picture everything I read, so I would want my readers to picture everything I write.

**<span style="color: #9404cb; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 200%;">Alicia Suskin Ostriker **

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">But it's really fear you want to talk about <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> and cannot find the words <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> so you jeer at yourself
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Insomnia **

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> you call yourself a coward <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> you wake at 2 a.m. thinking failure, <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> fool, unable to sleep, unable to sleep

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> buzzing away on your mattress with two pillows <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> and a quilt, they call them comforters, <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> which implies that comfort can be bought

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> and paid for, to help with the fear, the failure <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> your two walnut chests of drawers snicker, the bookshelves mourn <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> the art on the walls pities you, the man himself beside you

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> asleep smelling like mushrooms and moss is a comfort <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> but never enough, never, the ceiling fixture lightless <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> velvet drapes hiding the window

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> traffic noise like a vicious animal <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> on the loose somewhere out there— <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> you brag to friends you won't mind death only dying

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> what a liar you are— <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> all the other fears, of rejection, of physical pain, <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> of losing your mind, of losing your eyes,

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> they are all part of this! <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> Pawprints of this! Hair snarls in your comb <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> this glowing clock the single light in the room

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> In this poem by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, she uses imagery and tone to achieve the idea that people feel sympathy for one who lies. In the poem, the poet speaks about the subject who has lied and is losing sleep because of it. The main tone in the poem is sympathy. For example, in stanza 4, it states, “your two walnut chests of drawers snicker, the bookshelves mourn/ the art on the wall pities you…” This could show that objects that bear human thought are sympathetic because the poet is. In stanza 5, there is the image of complete darkness, while in stanza 8; there is the image of a glowing clock. The glowing clock could stand for the sympathy people feel for the insomniac that is clouded by fear (which could be represented by the darkness).

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The downward turning touch <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> the cry of time <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> fire falling without sound <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> plunge my hand in the wound
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Exile **

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> children marching and dying <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> all that I do is a crime <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> because I do not reach <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> their mouths silently crying

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> my boychild reaches with his mouth <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> it is easy, being a mother <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> his skin is tender and soft <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> kisses stitch us together

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> we love as long as we may <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> then come years without kisses <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> when he will turn away <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> not to waste breath

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> when I too will fall <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> embracing a pillow at night <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> touching the stone of exile <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> reaching my hand to death

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> In Exile by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, the poet uses imagery and repetition to create the idea that comfort keeps love alive. In stanza 4, she states, “then come years without kisses/ when he will turn away…” This could show that once she stops giving him a lot of comfort, maybe because he has gotten older, he doesn’t feel connected to his mother anymore, so he leaves. In the last stanza, the poet says she was embracing a pillow at night to find comfort, but since the pillow is inanimate, and it cannot comfort her in return, she feels unloved and dies.

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">I am not lyric any more <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I will not play the harp <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> for your pleasure
 * <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 150%;">Psalm **

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I will not make a joyful <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> noise to you, neither <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> will I lament

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> for I know you drink <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> lamentation, too, <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> like wine

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> so I dully repeat <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> you hurt me <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I hate you

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I pull my eyes away from the hills <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I will not kill for you <span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> I will never love you again

<span style="color: #d28bd2; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> unless you ask me

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> In Psalm by Alicia Suskin Ostriker, the poet uses tone and imagery to show that even if someone is hated, they can be forgiven. In the poem, the poet says she will not do things for the subject because the subject hurt her, but then in the end says she will love the subject again if they ask her to. In stanza 1 and 2, the poet states that she will not make any pleasant sound for them because she hates them. Later in the poem, she says how she laments and makes the connection that the subject also laments, but may lament more. This connection could show that the poet still sees the subject as someone who relates to her and she may even feel sympathy for the subject, so in the end she states, “I will never love you again/ unless you ask me.”