Rabail Motihar - Mid Term Assignment

Ways of Reading

Mid Term Assignment

Read 'Learning the Poetic Line: How line breaks shape meaning' by Rebecca Hazelton - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/70144/learning-the-poetic-line. Write two poems where each poem has at least two deliberate line-breaks using any of the "Wagner’s six S’s: speed, sound, syntax, surprise, sense, and space." In a small note after each poem, explain your usages of these line-breaks.

Fate

I drown myself

in the silences I find

in the space

between your heartbeats.

The breeze so soft, caresses

this intimate moment;

my head on your chest,

our hands entwined.

The laziness and stolen

moments of peace as transient

as we are,

treasured nonetheless.

I feel the circles

you trace on my palm, the force

more than usual, I ask

Why?

You tell me fate is cruel,

and our love, forbidden.

So if you could just erase

the lines from my palms

then maybe, just maybe,

we could trick the stars,

and the world would make space

for a love like ours.

There is use of Speed as there is constant enjambment through the poem; the line break isn’t where the sentence ends.

There is also use of Surprise, one of the examples being the first line itself. ‘I drown myself’ which stops the reader and then wrenches away that feeling with the next line ‘in the silences I find’.

Unsaid

I spent half my life

looking for you,

and the other half,

waiting. 

For you to come back,

for the stars to realign,

so I could be yours,

and you could be mine.

All that I never said,

falls like autumn leaves.

A love that’s run its course;

rendered useless.

Some loss never leaves us. 

Funny, 

how it’s presence 

is defined by your absence. 

I am searching for peace 

in the silences,
after all, its only measure
is the words left unsaid.

There is use of Speed as there is constant enjambment through the poem; the line break isn’t where the sentence ends.

There is an appropriate use of Syntax throughout the poem, despite the presence of enjambment.

Write two poems, each using repetition of a word or a phrase. Think of our classroom discussion where we realized how repetition achieves different effects, whether it be lending weight, creating irony, exploring multiple meanings of the same word or phrase, among others. 

I Am a Girl

I am a girl.

The fourth daughter born,

as a joke from the universe,

to fulfil my parents quest for a son,

because four lives will never,

equate to the value of that one.

I am a girl.

A fragile history of oppression,

flows through my veins,

and often out of me.

But I am not allowed to speak,

of such dirty things.

I am a girl.

I hold my tongue in front of men,

who call me all the right names,

for all the wrong reasons,

as their threats burn my eyes,

like the promised acid would, my skin.

I am a girl.

My place is in the home,

of the entitled man I marry.

To serve his pleasures in silence,

like millions before me have,

as he exercises his rights over me,

in all the wrong holes.

I am a girl.

I speak not of the bruises,

that adorn my face, brighter

than the consolatory diamonds.

The purple on my body, blooming

with pride, as I smile through the pain.

I am a girl.

My existence is my miracle,

for I should be grateful I get to live,

unlike so many others, who die,

before they breathe their first.

I wonder if I ever will.

The Day You Left

The day you left 

there were no warnings,

there were no telltale signs.

There was no indication, 

of fates cruel design.

The day you left,

the milk didn't boil over,

it didn't spill to the floor.

It didn't make a mess, 

that one just couldn't ignore.

The day you left,

nothing big happened.

The world didn't come to an end.

There were no violent explosions, 

it didn't end in flames.

The day you left,

everyone went about their day,

with the same old small talk,

of weather forecasts and news reports,

and nothing new to say.

The day you left,

there were no screaming matches,

just a quiet goodbye.

You left your key on the table, 

with some mistiness in your eye,

The day you left,

I stood there wondering, 

if it's possible to measure pain.

Whether broken stays broken, forever,

or will we someday be whole again.

Read Mark Doty's 'The Tremendous Fish' about the art of description in poetry - http://poems.com/special_features/prose/essay_doty.php. Choose any two objects in your field of vision. A window, a person, an animal, a tree, a knife, a vehicle etc.. Write two poems that rely primarily on describing these two objects respectively. 

Firoza

A turquoise ornament sits delicately,
upon a glossy, wooden console,
as out of place in its placement,
as it is, in time itself.
It's age betrayed by the stains
adorning it's sleek, curving, frame.
It sits on a circular base,
stretching up like a trophy,
from its holy dais,
with a proud, protruding belly,
and a long elegant neck.
The enamel paint on it's rotund,
ample belly, decorated,
with yellow beads.
The flowers they form,
belonging to a time,
we have long forgotten.
A metallic sheath covers its mouth.
Engraved with petals and leaves,
it sits silently, reminiscent,
framed by small bells.
The sound that once echoed around,
the courtyards of princesses,
hailing the tinkle,
of rose water being sprinkled,
now sits dejectedly,
in a dusty corner,
under the television set,
cobwebs rooting it,
to its place.
It is a forgotten relic,
untethered from a past,
it struggles to hold onto.
A royal antique from 18th century Sindh,
sits dethroned,
forgotten,
like the history it represents.
A silent witness,
to the vagaries of time.
It is true after all,
how hard, the mighty fall.



A Vision in Woof


Months of cajoling,
and years of beseeching,
finally led to the moment;
the moment we had all,
been waiting for -
the possibility of getting a dog.
I found myself sitting,
or was it standing?
as he was brought
into the room.
All of twenty-one days,
his existence a mere blip,
in the history of time.
With a brown coat soft as silk,
splattered with dollops of cream,
white chocolate on a brownie,
I remember thinking to myself,
as I lifted him onto my lap.
His heartbeat fluttered in my hand,
his life so fragile.
He could have been mistaken,
for a bunny or a guinea pig.
The weight of his weightlessness,
settled on me as I finally understood,
what responsibility really was.
I remember so clearly,
as he yawned,
revealing a tiny pink tongue,
in his gummy mouth,
decorated with two teeth.
Then he opened his large black eyes,
for the first time.
They were lined with sleep,
but soft and bright.
And that was that -
it was love at first sight.