Two poems that I really enjoy are A Work of Artifice by Marge Piercy and I’ll Be Your Beach by Team Salvato. The first poem is special because I remember being assigned to read and analyze it during an English class in City Tech. I enjoy the poem because it tackles a disturbing and unfortunate subject matter which in this poem’s case is the limitations that a society puts on a woman. I really enjoyed the use of this poem’s language in order to establish its theme and message. In this poem, women are represented through a bonsai tree and the author states how “the bonsai tree…could have grown tall on the side of a mountain…but a gardner carefully pruned it…it is nine inches high.” The poem uses symbolism to great effect and I enjoy it because of that. The end of the poem also contains language and talks about specific methods that were used in ancient China in order to make women look more “appealing” and “sexy” like foot binding. The second poem is special to me because it comes from a video game that I greatly enjoy, Doki Doki Literature Club. The game itself is a psychological horror game that disguises itself as a cutesy visual novel. Each character within the game presents the player with poems that they can read. These poems are really telling of the characters personalities and some of their personal struggles. This poem acts almost as a message from one of the characters to another character who struggles with self harm. The language in the poem reads almost like a letter from someone who is offering a helping hand to someone struggling with mental health issues.
“Let’s bury your heavy thoughts in a pile of sand
Bathe in sunbeams and hold my hand
Wash your insecurities in the salty sea
And let me see you shine.”
This poem is special to me because it’s about reaching out to someone who is suffering some self harm and telling them that they are willing to shoulder their burdens together. It is about sharing pain with a friend and helping them on learning how to love themselves again.
I like how you said in the first poem that women are symbolized of a bonsai tree because using a literary device like symbolism is a great way of explaining how society puts them together. In the second poem, you’re talking about a video game you really enjoyed playing and I feel that because we all can relate when any characters struggles of mental health and others they’re getting into. Which poem in this do you feel like writing for your short story?
I played the game myself. Yes, Doki Doki literature club poem is unique to each character. Such as Monika and Sayori who have their own writing style. But what caught me as well is their struggle. Each person has a personal struggle that they could not share with everybody. So instead they would share in another way such as writing a poem or a song to help them at least. Overall I like your view of the poems you read.