All because of the Stars

In the film The City Dark, Jeff Kuhn, astronomer at the University of Hawai’i, states “If our civilization didn't see the stars and didn't see how big the universe was, would they come to believe that they’re more important in this much tinier universe because that’s all they see?” (qtd. in City Dark). I believe that if people did not see the stars they would believe they are more important in the universe. If people do not see that there is something bigger than them of course they will think they are more important. People would think they are the most powerful and more dominate than the animals and plants. People think that because animals and plants do not speak that they are less intelligent than themselves. But, plants and animals are smart in different ways. Plants eat, drink, breath, and reproduce just as humans only in a different manner. Animals eat, drink, breath, and reproduce just as humans and usually in a similar manner. Aren't humans a type of animal? Doesn't that make us in a way equal as the others? According to the food chain we are higher than other animals but if I was to come into a situation with a lion I would not see myself being more powerful than him. The lion would dominate over me. How do I know there are lions though? I don’t walk out my door and see them. I am educated that in another part of the world there are animals that do not live on the continent that I live on. How do people know that there are other continents? Before there were cities full of lights a man looked up at the clear sky and saw millions of stars and believed that there is more stuff past his home. A man explored the lands, buy star navigation, and came across things he had never seen before. A man build a boat and sailed through the ocean, by star navigation, and discovered land, animals, plants, and people that he had never seen before. I know that there is a lion in Africa because a man followed the stars and discovered that the world is more than it seems. People are only germs compared to the universe. How do I know that there is a universe? One, I can look up in the sky and see a sea of stars. Two, men and women risked their lives to fly toward the stars to see if there is more than just stars. All of these adventures were all because some looked up at the stars and realized that there is something bigger than them. All because of the stars…

Twinkle Twinkle Little Colt

Buttercup when pregnant

 Buttercup when pregnant

Buttercup and her colt

Underneath the star filled sky of Hankamer, Texas, I watched the miracle of life. Our family horse, Buttercup, gave birth to her beautiful colt. The sweet relief on her face, after carrying the large baby after so many months, was absolutely amazing. Not only was Buttercup relieved, but my family was relieved that she had a successful birth. My family and I watched as Buttercup cared for her baby. TShe licked the colt clean and helped it stay standing when it would stumble. It was such a wonderful experience and very emotional for all of us. I looked over at my father and noticed a tear in his eye. The amazement of the entire family and all the friends around me was comforting. As we watched the two, the colt began to find Buttercups nipple so it could eat. We looked at each other in astonishment, amazed at how the colt knew that was her source of nourishment. It is explainable how the colt knew without having to be told. It is amazing to think of how the colt was once sperm in the male horse and an egg in Buttercup then it comes together and grows into a baby horse. Then once the colt it fully configured it naturally comes out and into the world. Without instruction the colt learns to balance and walk experiencing the world through its newly developed eyes. It was the little things that amazed us. As we walked out of the barn to head home I looked up and stopped in my tracks to admire the sky. Stars were everywhere I looked. I was able to detect constellations. As I began to see the way the stars lined up I began to wonder how the constellations work. How did the stars form in space? What is the purpose of stars? While staring at the stars I began to realize how amazing the night sky is. I began to see the beauty in the sky. It is weird how the stars come together naturally, with no instructions, just like the colt being born. The stars line up and create pictures and have meanings, same as the colt has a meaning. I am not sure what the meanings of the stars are, or the meaning of the colt is, but I believe they do have a meaning. 

“Reading the Obituary Page” by Linda Pastan and “Request” by Lawrence Raab, are two poems of similar interest. Both of these poems can be associated with death.

“Reading the Obituary Page”, when first read, can be thought as about a little kids birthday party. Looking at the poem again, you can see the narrator is realizing that death will come. Pastan writes “in starched dresses/with ribbons/ in miniature jackets/ and tiny ties”. When Pastan was a child, when accompanying a birthday party you dressed in a dress or jacket with your bow ties. When people pass away they are dressed in a dress or jacket with their bow ties. When Pastan writes “we would circle/ the chairs/ at birthday parties/ when the music stopped, lunge to be seated”, literally she mean the children are playing musical chairs but figuratively she could be meaning that everyone is running around having fun with life and when their life (music) stops they lunge into a casket (seat). To end the poem Pastan writes, “one/ by one we were welcomed to hard ground and empty air”. What she could mean is that one by one her friends began to die, welcomed to hard ground (being buried) and empty air (death).

“Request”, is about a person who is sitting down, probably close to death, deciding what song that they want played at their funeral. Raab writes, “Play it at the end of the service/after my friends have spoken/I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”. One can tell that the narrator is talking about a funeral because at funerals music is played at the end, your friends go up and speak memories of you, and the narrator also says “I don’t believe I’ll be listening in”, which tells the reader that he will be dead. Not only is the narrator picking a song to be played at their funeral but they want to pick something that has a bit of cheer in it. Raab writes “Sad enough/at first, but doesn’t it slide into/tapping your feet, then clapping your hands”.

bothering poem

A poem that bothers me is “Highway 12, just east of Paradise, Idaho” written by Robert Wrigley. What bothers me is the description of how a doe was killed. It breaks my heart to know that the animal was killed and reading how her tongue was hanging out and her eyes were vacant. The poem describes what happen to the doe, the doe “skated many yards… fell slowly”. The narrator says “her neck caught a sign post that spun her across both lanes and out of sight”. I don’t understand the reason to write a poem about a doe’s death on highway 12 just east of paradise, Idaho. Maybe, the narrator was scared that he hit the doe. The narrator caused an innocent doe to lose its life. I can only imagine the narrator felt remorse and they may be why he wrote the poem. At the end of the poem, after the narrator tells about the deer hitting the sign post and spinning across the lanes and out of sight he says “For which, I admit, I was grateful, the road there being dark, narrow, and shoulderless”. Wondering why he was grateful for this, the conclusion that he was grateful the doe landed on the side of the road instead of in the middle of the road where someone could hit it again. He was grateful that it was dark so that way when someone drives by the doe is out of sight so they wouldn’t see the dead animal. He was grateful the road did not have a shoulder because without a shoulder there is not a place for a car to stop, if a car pulled over and stopped they could accidently find the dead doe and what a horrible discovery that would be. 

Comparison of two poems

       The poems “Variations on the Word Sleep” by Margaret Atwood and “Monorhyme for the Shower” by Dick Davis are structured around someone they love. The two poems share similarities and differences.

       The author, Dick Davis, of “Monorhyme for the Shower” is sitting back admiring a woman in the shower. This is concluded from the description of her lifting her arms to soap her hair (line 1). As the author watches the woman, he realized how quick time passed since he first loved her. He says “the movement of that buoyant pair [her breasts] is like a spell to make me swear twenty-odd years have turned to air” (lines3-5). Now he flashes back to when they are young and he wouldn’t dare approach her or to ask her out (line7-8). Years passed, they have been together and had children. He still has a burning love for her and at the end of the poem she turns to him after her shower and smiles that he is there. The author is amazed that the girl he loved when he was young, the girl he was afraid to confess his love to, is his wife of twenty plus years and she loves him.

       In the poem “Variations of the Word Sleep”, by Margaret Atwood, the narrator expressed how they would like to watch “you”, someone they love, sleep. They say it may not happen (line 2). This could mean that they may never be together. The narrator loves the sleeper but they do not love her. The narrator wants to enter the sleeper’s dreams. The narrator wants to experience the beauty in the dream and wants to be able to protect the sleeper from their fear. The narrator wants to be unnoticed but necessary, as necessary as air is to breath.

       The narrator in both poems is admiring a loved one and thinking about them. The difference between the two is that in “Monorhyme for the Shower” the narrator has their love, but in “Variations of the Word Sleep” the narrator wants the other person’s love.

Channeled energies

As a child I channeled my creative energies by participating in academic activities. I have always possessed a love for learning. One thing I enjoyed to do was read, after I read a book I put it on a bookshelf I had in my room. I remember specifically when I was eight years old and I would stay in my bedroom and alphabetize my books and write numbers inside the cover, then I would pretend I owned a library and I checked books out to fake people. 

Along with pretending to have a library, I pretended to be a teacher. I would construct a lesson plan and place my stuffed animals in rows, as if they were in desks. My mom would buy me books that had math activities, reading activities, or writing activities. I taught my fake class the work in those books. When I no longer wanted to play school I would do my brother’s, who is four years older, math homework.

That lasted until I was in the sixth grade, at that time I signed up for the school band and learned to play the flute. I gained a passion for playing music and from then on I channeled my energies into playing musical instruments. Beginning in the sixth grade I played the flute, by the time I graduated I was able to also play the piano and percussion instruments (such as snare and xylophone). Academic activities have shaped my life by allowing me to make outstanding grades in school with no difficulties. Still to this day when I am troubled by life I pick up a book or play an instrument and I am transported into a world that nobody else can enter. 

What a Surprise

It was my sixth birthday, my family and I lived in a yellow house off of Barkaloo st. located in, at the time a small town, in Texas. It was a sunny weekend, weather I was not used to on my birthday. Having a birthday in April typically meant my special day would include rain. Not that day though, that day was different. My parents woke me up that morning by jumping on my bed while yelling “Happy Birthday!” That was a morning surprise. I stumbled out of bed, walked down the hall, through the living room, and into the kitchen where I enjoyed a delicious birthday breakfast. After I finished eating I continued on with the daily routine of brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and my mother fixing my hair. While mom was fixing my hair, my dad asked me to accompany him to the store to purchase a few grocery items. So, I happily went with my dad. When we arrived back at the house, to my surprise, my mother had organized a party. I recall opening the door and a lot of people jumped out and shouted “Happy Birthday!” It was the most amazing feeling to see so many people at my house to celebrate with me. As I walked in I was greeted by cousins, aunts, uncles, people across the street, people next door, and children from my class at school. There was confetti on the kitchen table, balloons on the floor, balloons floating on the ceiling, a birthday cake with my name on it, cupcakes, and lots of presents. We all celebrated and had a wonderful time. At the end of the party all of the adults left but all of the children stayed. About seventeen boys and girls stayed the night at my house that night. The girls slept in my room and the boys slept in my brother’s room. We stayed up all night playing hide and seek in the dark and by the time we finally went to sleep it was time to wake up so everyone could go home. It was the best birthday. Afterwards, my parents agreed to not have that many kids stay at our house again.