Grant’s Legacy for Mom

POETRY DEDICATION

WHY I AM ME

Poetry is not my strong suit. I do not write it well nor do I explain what others have written well. However, I do like to read classic poems and epic pieces. I thoroughly enjoyed, The Summoning of Everyman which I know is a play but encompasses poetry that I do enjoy.

I perceive here in my majesty,

How that all the creatures be to me unkind,

Living without dread in worldly prosperity:

Of ghostly sight the people be so blind,

Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God;

In worldly riches is all their mind,

They fear not my rightwiseness, the sharp rod;

My law that I shewed, when I for them died,

They forget clean, and shedding of my blood red;

I hanged between two, it cannot be denied;

To get them life I suffered to be dead.

I also enjoyed John Donne, No Man is an Island which I will discus later my blog. Any poetry I have written will be very simple and to the point. I do not mix words well nor do I feel the need to be lengthy or apologetic. In this blog that I have created and will be dedicating to my mother I want to show her I have become a strong, independent man with a thirst for knowledge and an unlimited future. She has given me so many options in life that I cannot begin to thank her enough. I am the man I am simply because she guaranteed my success from day one.

WHY THIS WAY?

The following poems I have written over the last few months thinking entirely of the person you molded me to be. I am strong, independent and a self – thinker. I have grown to a point where I do not need you everyday but none the less, I want your guidance and all you can give me. I am ready to embark on life and venture into adulthood. You have prepared me well for the future and I am ready to fly. One of the happiest days you have had in the last fe months is holding baby Sydney and I see the love and grace in your face you must have felt every time you held me. Thank you mom.

Three Birds

In the early morning

Three birds arrive

It is the beginning

Of feeling alive

Spring comes with a whisper

Brightening the land

Everyone can prosper

When they work and plan

The three birds come each day

Looking for food

They scurry and play

And remind all that life is good

GRANT

Grand and powerful

Right with God and himself

Always a friend

Never an enemy

Tomorrow will come and he will be better

POEMS FOR MOM

I Can

I can be number one

I must simply get it done

I will practice and play

Until the day

When the crowd knows

That I am close

To becoming the best

And leaving the rest

Behind….

Limerick about Savannah

There was a dog named Savannah

And every day she ate bananas

When she was done

She trotted off for fun

And finished her day in the sun

POEMS FOR MOM CONTINUED

Haiku  - Trees

The trees in the yard

Are green with envy and grace

They bloom to shade the grass

Race Boys

Twenty cars on the track

The drivers never look back

Into the turns they slide

Running side by side

The winner receives the glory

He becomes the story

Nineteen drivers retreat

They will try again next week

POEMS MORE AND MORE

POETRY EXPLICATIONSPoems I Chose for Mom

INTO MY OWN

Into My Own- Robert Frost 1913One of my wishes is that those dark trees,So old and firm they scarcely show the breeze,Were not, as 'twere, the merest mask of gloom,But stretched away unto the edge of doom.

I should not be withheld but that some dayInto their vastness I should steal away,Fearless of ever finding open land,Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.

I do not see why I should e'er turn back,Or those should not set forth upon my trackTo overtake me, who should miss me hereAnd long to know if still I held them dear.

They would not find me changed from him the knew--Only more sure of all I though was true.

This is one of Robert Frost’s earliest poems and is written in a form that Frost became known for later in life. In this poem Frost shows great poetic form, imagery, metaphor and rhyme. For example, imagery, the use of the trees and the building of the trees as forest with no break for the audience to see through. Frost is building in the reader’s mind an unbreakable line that one can disappear into and not be seen again. The trees are also a metaphor for a mask. Masks often hide the true character of what is behind and the trees are mask of doom or maybe they are a mask for the escape of the young boy.

I chose this poem because I felt it was about a young boy that sees an opportunity to change where he is in life and become who he wants to be. He sees the line of the trees as an opportunity to enter a new stage and rid himself of his previously life. When Frost says, “They would not find me changed from the him they knew” he is saying, I won’t be changed in appearance but I will be more sure of who I am true. This means he is changing his person and his thoughts but on the outside he will appear the same.

In the line, “Fearless of ever finding open land” Frost is telling the audience that the boy is not afraid to be open and to expose himself. He is willing to enter the doom to become a better person when he emerges.

EXPLANATION

'No Man is an Island'

No man is an island entire of itself; every man

is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;

if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe

is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as

well as any manner of thy friends or of thine

own were; any man's death diminishes me,

because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore never send to know for whom

the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND

No man is an island is one of my favorite poems. I believe this poem was written by John Donne as a message to his readers that you cannot conquer the world, your kingdom or even your life alone. Everyone needs someone and what happens to others always has an effect on you. When he writes in line one, “ No man is an island entire of itself” he is setting the stage and mood for the rest of this poem. He is saying that everybody needs someone. Every man is reliant on people, places, and things outside of their own life.

“If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less” I think John was stating that if your neighbors are hurting or their life is diminished in any way you will feel the impact. Life occurs outside of you and your individual world but ultimately you feel the difference. I believe the poet is describing the theory that there are just six degrees of separation between any two people. Those at any given time events occurring to others will eventually get back to you and connect to you.

The last phrase, “And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee” is probably one of the most telling lines ever written. When your time comes to experience a change or your life is ending the exact moment is not known until it occurs. When a life departs this earth the impact of that loss of life reaches further than many may ever know.

EXPLANATION

I am Nobody- Emily Dickenson

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

Are you – Nobody – too?

Then there's a pair of us!

Don't tell! they'd advertise – you know!

How dreary – to be – Somebody!

How public – like a Frog – 

To tell one's name – the livelong June – 

To an admiring Bog!

I AM NOBODY

I’m nobody by Emily Dickenson is one of my favorite poems. Although it is short I find it to be so telling of the life the author lived. During her time, she was an unknown. She did not gain popularity and success until well after her death. She was basically a nobody. Emily had a very surprising way of writing, she liked to shock her readers. For instance, she writes” How public like a frog” normally frogs are not considered to be public so reading it at first is very comical but in the end makes so much sense.

The author is saying to the addressee” who are you?” Are you a nobody too? If the addresses sys yes, then the two are pair of nobodies. The author liked to live her life is private and keep her name to herself. She did not wish to put her name out there like the frog croaking in the bog. What she is saying is that frogs are very public and the constantly croak their identity to the rest of the swamp. They must be known at all times. This is a poem about a person that wishes to live their life in simplicity and remain hidden and very much happy in their private life.

EXPLANATION

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

DO NOT GO GENTLE

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” a poem written by Dylan Thomas is written about death and the exploration of how it must feel to be dying. This poem has six stanzas and a very simple rhyming scheme. The poem is written by the author to his father and tells him to fight against death. To, “Rage, Rage against the dying of the light” The light symbolizes life and as long as one sees and feels the light, life is continuing.

Dylan goes on in his second stanza to talk about wise men and knowing when their dark or death is near. Death is natural and everyone must face it eventually but the Dylan is telling his father to hold out, fight a little longer to remain alive.

In the third stanza, Dylan continues to described man and how often they missed the opportunity to live life to its fullest. He says, “And learned, too late, they grieved it on its way.” He is saying that too many times man is not taking advantage of life and only when death is near does he realize what he has missed.

Finally, he tells his father that his end is near and he knows he is leaving but he wants him to face it with fierceness and he did life and not to give up easily but to fight. He means for him to continue to fight and rage as he did in life during these final moments of life.

This poem has been summarized and characterized by many people over the years and I chose it because I do believe that all humans will face death and when that day comes they will two choices, to look back and grieve what they did not do, or to look back at their life and say I did it all, I lived to my fullest and I am proud. Death although the last chapter is not final and my legacy will grow and live without me.

EXPLANATION

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

ROAD NOT TAKEN

EXPLANATION

I believe this poem was written by Frost at a time where he was trying to make a decision in his life. He using many metaphors in this poem such as imagery and personificatios. Imagery - "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" Figuratitive roads and mental roads“And both that morning equally lay” Both identical, neither had more or less than the other. “In leaves no step had trodden black." The leaves were fresh and not pushed down by the steps of another person.. The tone is gloomy and expresses guilt over whatever decision he makes. He is indecisive in his decision and he states with a sigh that he will not return to the other road. I relate to this poem because I too am making a decision. What will I do in life? Where will I go and how it will all end. Whatever I decide today shapes what will occur tomorrow and I know that will return to pick another road.

I hope the poems I have selected and published convey what I want to say to you Mom. I have grown to be an independent young man with dreams and aspirations that you have nourished. I am embarking on a new life in a few months and I will

take with me everything I have learned from you. I can only hope I make you proud and that my life mirrors what you have anticipated. You have been a mentor,

a teacher, a friend, a teammate and the best mom I could ever have.

May you enjoy your empty nest and the next fifty years!

Love Always,

Grant Patric Robosson

IN CLOSING

Bibliography

http://www.bartleby.com/117/1.html

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-am-nobody

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/no-man-is-an-island

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15377

BIBLIOGRAPHY