Love Floats Pale and White by Steven L. Peck and the Pity It Invokes.

I genuinely felt sad after reading this poem.  This is an odd occurrence for me because I usually absolutely hate poetry.  Maybe I shouldn’t say that, but I should probably just be honest J.

I think one of the main reasons I really liked this poem is because it’s written like a personal essay.  I would assume logically that he wouldn’t write about himself as a she or a her or going through a pregnancy.  Because of this, I’m assuming that this isn’t a personal essay from Steven, but rather it’s perhaps a personal essay that he wrote for someone else.  I could be wrong, but that’s my guess.

Anyway, I think Steven did a great job of capturing the emotion of the event.  Steven writes of a woman who has just woken up from an operation in the hospital.  Her family files in, and she is able to recognize all of her family members except her son.

The part of the poem that illustrates this is very captivating:

Fear turned into relief as her eyes and countenance recognized each face and she whispered their names:  her husband Jimmy, her oldest daughter Chandra and her husband Michel and their new baby Brittany, her three other girls, Becka, Tera, and Rachel, but who was this she asked, “Is this one of your friends Rachel”  She said to the shy young boy, “Mom it’s me,” said Kendel.

This part made me almost want to weep.  I have to admit that I had to read through the poem a second time to understand all that was going on, but it was really moving once I finally figured it out.

The poem definitely takes on a Mormon point of view after this point.  There is mention of her reading her journal to find that she knew that her son had chosen her to be his mother.  This maybe isn’t entirely a Mormon concept, but it definitely is a part of Mormon culture.  Also, the poem focuses on this woman and her wondering if she’ll ever get those memories back in the resurrection (the resurrection is mentioned specifically).  Steven definitely helps the reader see the point of view that a Mormon would have in a situation like this, and many of the thoughts that would be very common among Mormons as they go through trials such as these.

Teenage Time Bomb

Normally I love to solve puzzles...well at least puzzles that are logical in nature. A poem however is a puzzle that has no right or wrong answer unless it actually does. Not exactly my style, which made it difficult at times to try and decode what exactly the authors where trying to stay. However as a read the poems out loud and just tried to grasp on to something the poem by Terresa Wellborn entitled "Atomic Number Sixteen" caught my attetion.

The imagery and word choice that is used to describe what could only be an atomic bomb detonation made things ver yeasy for me to visualized

for the snap, the bite of light

the beggining fuse that flames like fireflies,

Clearly she is focusing on the sudden brilliance and magnitude of such an explosion. It starts from something very small which is is evident by the bite of light, and it is very sudden just like a snap. Then just as a fuse leads to something much bigger, this snap is leading to something big, potentially deadly and/or hazardous. She uses plenty of other words as the poem goes on to describe that what is coming as a result of this fuse is bad or will definately have consequences.

The title of the poem, and the use of the pronoun he and him gives us a peak at what the actual theme of the poem is. It has to be about someone coming to the dreaded age of 16. I know that I was definately a handful for my mom when I finally turned 16. Getting my drivers liscence being the biggest of these, and being able to go off and get into trouble on my own. 

Terresa is probably a mother, and from her perspective it happens all of a sudden, when someone turns 16 they suddenly become a time bomb of trouble.  She doesn't know how to describe what makes it happen, but that when it does happen it can be big and startling, but as I'm sure my mom did as well, the poem suggests shut your heart and hold onto the scraps that remain, because it's not time to give up and lose hope on these teenagers.

Assignment: Contemporary LDS Poetry

My students of LDS literature will be sampling contemporary LDS poetry, reading from the recently published anthology, Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-first Century Mormon Poets, edited by Tyler Chadwick.

Now, poetry is a tough sell. It's one thing to experience poetry indirectly, such as via the lyrics of a song. But once you start reading poetry proper, there are problems, the first one being that most people hate poetry.

There, I said it. As a poet, it's hard for me to own that reality. But it is what it is. A small group of literati (typically elitist English major types) love to make and exchange poetry, while the rest of the world seems to get along fine without it.

Well, I'm going to do my best to enliven my students' experiences with LDS poetry. I think they will enjoy it. Here is the procedure for them:

Additional ideas for "My Mormon Literary Life"

I'd like to give some additional prompts to you as you consider how you might compose your miniature personal essay about your Mormon literary life (see the assignment post, here).

• Journal writing / reading
  How has this shaped your spiritual life? (Even when not writing about religious activities or explicitly about Mormon belief)? Has re-reading your own journal, or reading the journal of a relative, been a reflective and spiritual occasion for you? Have you felt a sense of identity with others who are not you but somehow like you?
• Letters
  As you've composed letters or email messages, or as you have received these, how has this been part of your religious or spiritual life? (Again, even if not directly associated with something like letters to/from missionaries, though that's okay)
• Poetry / Creative Writing
  Such writing need not have anything to do with your religious or spiritual life, but it can. Has this been the case with you -- either in reading poetry or composing it?
• Lyrics
  Do you write lyrics, memorize lyrics, share lyrics? Of course the texts written for hymns are a kind of lyrical poetry, but a lot of people are immersed in contemporary music (whether religious or LDS or not) and attach a lot of personal and emotional significance to such lyrics. Has this been the case with you?
• Reading history (personal, family, or church history; history in general; historical fiction).
  History can be pretty dry stuff and far away from your beliefs or spiritual feelings. But sometimes we connect powerfully with the past by way of a written history (or even historical fiction). Has this been the case for you?
• Plays
  In viewing, acting in, or even writing plays, have you felt connected to others (in the audience, in the cast, or even to the characters portrayed in the play)? Ever been involved in a church-sponsored dramatic activity?
• Social Media
  We don't think of this modern form of communication as literature, and much of it is superficial (or isn't even text-based). But if you've been involved in sharing your beliefs, even in very informal ways among your close online connections, this is a kind of literary experience with your religion. If you blog, have you blogged about your religion?