Yeats

Well this semester has come to and end. It has been a good one and this literature class has done a wonderful job of exposing me to what amounts to just a tiny sample of good written artistry. Yeats was an unexpected treat and after reading and and spending some time with The Wild Swans as Coole I felt inspired to write my own nature themed poem to close this class out........

Nature


It is bright, my soul applauding life’s goodness and laughter
Yet deep inside I know it’s a world of pretend
Look inside
The sparrows flee
My life’s greatest dreams are buried in memories.

Snow cart wheeling downward towards destruction
Feverishly consumed by a certain notion….

In the end what is it that I am to believe?

Angels of truth bringing down a blanket of night
Covering up secrets nestled in spite
The awkward startled silence of a forest’s surprises…

My heart whispers and the wind answers back
Groaning like the wisdom of a mountain’s passage
The manifestations of my own creations
Calling for some long lost member
Open arms like cold empty winter.


Crisp open winter melts into spring
The open frosted plains of perfect intentions
That meander endlessly into excuses….
Bask in the sunlight of my mornings
Dawn blowing kisses to the dusk of yesterday
And now sighs into the expanding possibilities of an ocean

~ Keith Johnson 2008

Blake again

So as I was assimilating a web page for class, I decided to do one over Blake. His artwork was something I was unfamiliar with before now. He is an amazing painter, make that artist. The mystical elements of his work and the religious undertones make you ponder god and spirituality. Blake is really my new favorite person of the week, dead or alive.

Great Expectations

I have always loved this book from the first time I read it. Growing up in situations that really parallel Pip and his life, I found myself able to be lost in the story. I have always had great expectations, and I think that most people do. I think that the unspoken truth of this novel is that it is what you do with what your given that determines who you become.

Frankenstein

After reading Frankenstein I couldn't help but think of the people our society deems "creatures".
I ponder the evolution of what is deemed the moral limit of science. When researching the story of Prometheus I was drawn to the relevance today. Prometheus meaning forethought, who stole fire from Zeus and then gave it to man before man was ready to handle its power. This is much like science today, cresting the limits of creation, not quite sure of its power. With our lack of ability to deal with race, sexual preference or even marriage, how can we think we are ready to deal with consequences and ramifications of what we are presently creating in laboratories all over the world.

Art imitating Art

Art is a reflection of self, turned inside out Art is what we are. Who are we? How do you define yourself? Lack of a deeper understanding of your own personal perspective lends to an identity crisis. What can art mean if you have no meaning. What can art say to you if you have nothing to say. Art imitating art is how I see most people these days, a part of a trend that doesn't exist, a pop culture conglomerate of other people's interpretation of who they think others think they should be.

Blake

I was exposed to the poetry of Blake this week and I like the optimistic undertones and that permeate his work. He has a nice blend of juxtaposed imagery and social inconsistencies. I find his writing relevant, thought provoking and rhythmic.

Poetry

I love to read poetry,
Not just for the romance of it,
But for the hope that within those words,
That are perfectly strung together,
I might find apart of myself...
That I have been longing to confirm,
That little something inside myself ,
That I had forgotten about,
But always new was still there.


Here is an excerpt of a poem from one of my favorite poets... Nikki Giovanni, entitled
"Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day"

Don't look now
I'm fading away
Into the gray of my mornings
Or the blues of every night ....

It seems no matter how
I try I become more difficult
to hold
I am not an easy woman
to want
They have asked
the psychiatrists . . . psychologists . . . politicians and social workers
What this decade will be
known for
There is no doubt . . . it is
loneliness .....

If loneliness was a grape
The wine would be vintage
If it were a wood
The furniture would be mahogany
But since it is life it is
Cotton Candy
on a rainy day
The soft sweet essence
of possibility
Never quite maturing........