Early Rising

I hate

waking up now,

what time is it? Screw it,

it is not worth it now.

I hate running, I am going back

to bed.

(Early Rising)

For my poem I chose to write using the cinquain form of poetry.  It is a short simple style that for one poem uses five lines with a differing number of syllables in each line.  I felt this form of poetry would work best for my idea which was about waking up early in the morning in order to go run and how much I hate it.  It’s a short simple idea that doesn’t need much explanation or vast imagery in order to convey it.  That is why I felt that the cinquain was the perfect form of poetry to get my message across, because it is short and sweet.

            Another reason the cinquain works is because it complements the content of my poem.  The way I wrote the poem was for it to sound like a person who had just woken up and seen what time it is.  Since it is early in the morning and the person just woke up, they are not going to have a lengthy well thought out debate with themselves as to whether they should go running.  Instead they are going to have short quick thoughts in order to justify going back to sleep.

            I did stray from some of the forms rules from what I have seen in most examples.  In all the examples I have seen punctuation is kept at an absolute minimum and the entire structure is made into one long sentence.  I did not do this instead I had lots of punctuation in order to make it sound more like a conversation.

Conversation

This is the time of my life where I must think

About which road it is that I must take.

No wonder so many college kids drink,

This question brings me to the brink

Of sanity while lying in bed awake.

I cannot sleep when this question is posed

Because I think of the opportunities present

And then all of the ones that are now closed,

Just because I felt I was predisposed

To what I’ve done causing me to relent.

Robert Frost (1916)- The Road Not Taken

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.

Speaker

The speaker, David Gessner, was definitely more interesting then I had originally thought he would be.  When someone writes a book called My Green Manifesto it can only be assumed that they are going to be insufferable environmentalist hippies, but he actually turned out to be level headed and make sense.  I did learn a lot more about the publishing world then I thought I would.  I had no idea how intrusive editors could be in writing going down to exact details just to appear to a wider audience.  It was interesting to hear his example of how he wanted to refer to the Butt Hole Surfers, but the editor wanted him to go with the Sex Pistols because they were better known.  It was also interesting to find out that the editing process could take so long, long enough for him to release two books relatively close to each other because of it.

Horoscopes

Horoscope

No, no I refuse to read this shit,

I don’t care if its being graded.

I completely refuse to read it,

There is no way I will be persuaded.

Can’t you see that horoscopes are all a sham?

How do the stars say what my day will bring?

How does the month I was born determine who I am?

Seriously why is this still a thing?

Horoscopes are meant for those with a simple mind,

They read them for good news to get through the day,

And maybe help them in their daily grind,

Actually I take back everything I say.

I could really use some good news,

We could all stand to hear something nice.

It really doesn’t matter if it’s a ruse,

As long as it helps my worries cease.

Let’s just see what mine has to say:

“In the shower you will trip on your soap,

And be out of commission the rest of the day.”

I retract what I said, screw you horoscope.

From 1st to 2nd

Original:

My senior year of high school the only thing that was getting me and every other senior through the boredom and monotony of that last year of high school was the thought of graduation.  While we everyone was excited to graduate from high school and either move on to college or get a job in the real world, what was really motivating all of us to reach this point was the week after it, senior week.  Everyone who in our class had heard the almost legendary tails of what went down at senior week from those who had graduated before us, I myself had been regaled with stories of this mythical week by my older brother. So when the time came for this glorious week to start needless to say everyone was extremely excited and ready for it.

Revision:

It is your senior year of high school and the only thing that is still getting you and every other senior through this ritualized practice of boredom and monotony is the thought of graduation.  While you and everyone else are excited about graduating and moving onto the real world either by going to college or getting a job, what is really motivating you is the thought of the week after graduation, senior week.  Everyone in your class has heard the almost legendary tails of what goes down there from the people who graduated before, you especially have heard numerous tales from your older brother.  So the time has finally come, it is your turn to experience this glorious week.