Tightened jaw, I did not love.
Flashback of myself jerked about,
legs high above my head, men
laughing, I came to sea drifts,
movement and crashing. I found I am
not so far from God exploding.
Gifting, a friend once said, is why we live.
Seven storks still and white on a gold lake.
My lazy eye glances back to that original
split, myself high above myself.
Whiplashed into forgetting, I didn’t know
hours from minutes. I was hypervigilant for
catastrophes. My head raging then numb.
The early garden bare, and now,
shocked with sudden memory,
I return to changing sky hues,
blooms of lilac bursting along sidewalks.
Lazy in the grass, I free myself of guilt,
imagine musicians in the park, us overcoming
ourselves. My eyes open before stars.
Holy these leaves, these skies.
What is torn opens for the light.
Source: This poem originally appeared in the April 2014 edition of poetry magazine.
Analysis:
In this poem, Luna uses poetic techniques such as alliteration, personification, and imagery to draw a connection with the reader to their current situation. Alliteration is used to add emphasis to her embarrassment in line 3 "my head, men laughing" and also to flash back to previous memories "shocked with sudden memories" and to draw a child like connection to innocence that is felt in the situation when Luna says "seven storks still". Personification also draw a connection with the reader to Luna's situation, for instance "flashback of myself jerked around" show the abrupt, uncomfortableness the author feels and helps the reader relate to it. She also does this through the lines "shocked with sudden memory" making the situation relatable because we have all felt that shock of a vivid rushing memory, good or bad. Finally Luna uses imagery throughout her writing, "changing sky hues" representing her life changing moment, "musicians in the park" painting us a peaceful picture, and the "blooms of lilac" that show her happy new beginning. All of these poetic techniques draw connections with the readers and make us a part of Luna's situation and understand her theme of giving all you have with the knowledge that you will not receive the equivalent in return.
In the poem, "Shock and Awe" by Sheryl Luna, Luna uses poetic devices to show her attitude toward the poem's central event. The central idea of the poem is that the narrator of the poem goes through a life changing moment, that in the end, makes her life much better. The title itself represents this idea, as you can relate it to a mortar strike back during the early World Wars. They would strike the trenches of solider, shaking and throwing them about, like a stronger sensation of whiplash. Then once the strike is over, everything seems much more peaceful and the soldiers become happy. Examples of imagery, such as " Flashback of myself jerked about,legs high above my head, men
ReplyDeletelaughing" and " Lazy in the grass, I free myself of guilt, imagine musicians in the park, us overcoming ourselves." These example of imagery show the author's attitude. Her attitude is that everyone goes through hard times shown by the first example, and later, it ends and you go into an era of peace and harmony, which is shown by the second example.
In the poem Shock and Awe by Sheryl Luna, the author uses metaphors and alliteration to convey the speakers attitude towards nature. She uses alliteration with "Seven Storks still" and "blooms on lilac bursting" to add emphasis to express her eccentric attitude towards the symbolic nature of the sea around her. Luna uses metaphors such as the last line "what is torn open for the light" representing the parting of clouds after a storm at sea, revealing the 'light at the end of the tunnel' and god rays which show the resolve at the end of tragedy in nature and in art.
ReplyDeleteThe author uses imagery to convey the speaker'a particular situation. In the beginning of the poem the narrator tells the reader about a "flashback of myself jerked about." The narrator expresses strong guilt about this particular flashback that she is sharing. However later in the poem she says "I free myself of guilt." This shows that the narrator as accepted what happened to her and is trying to move on. This exemplifies the main idea because it shows that one can't change the past but must come to accept it eventually
ReplyDeleteShock and awe by Sheryl Luna uses imagery and metaphors to describe how the author feels about the world around her. Luna states that "Gifting, a friend once said, is why we live", showing that she thinks that one needs to give back in order to have a reason in the world not only comparing life to a gift but as a gift that we must give back. Luna also gives us images stars, parks and the sky. " My eyes open before stars. Holy these leaves, these skies. These lines show an image of a person lying before the world looking for a meaning. Luna sees the world as something that doesn't only take but also gives,
ReplyDelete"What is torn opens for the light". This line shows her view that in this world even though something may not go ones way it is only taking one another direction presumably an even better one. The line can also be an alliteration of the quote "When one door closes, another one opens". Her view of the world is one of never ending opportunities.
Analysis:
ReplyDeleteSheryl Luna uses various poetic devices like allusion, atmosphere, and flashbacks to convey the speaker's attitude of fear, then peace at the central event of being at the crows nest of a ship. Allusion is used when the speaker compares the storm to the biblical storm God uses to flood the Earth, "I came to sea drifts,movement and crashing. I found I amnot so far from God exploding." The speaker imagines this storms is of.equal strength and viciousness. The atmosphere Luna uses adds to the speaker's attitude of fear by adding violent diction like "whiplash, exploding" to the dark description of the sea at the beginning to create an atmosphere of fear and hopelessness. Luna has the speaker's attitude turn to peacefulness even in the Strom by using a flashback to bring up the speaker's memories of being in a park, "blooms of lilac bursting along sidewalks.Lazy in the grass, I free myself of guilt."
Analysis:
ReplyDeleteSheryl Luna uses various poetic devices like allusion, atmosphere, and flashbacks to convey the speaker's attitude of fear, then peace at the central event of being at the crows nest of a ship. Allusion is used when the speaker compares the storm to the biblical storm God uses to flood the Earth, "I came to sea drifts,movement and crashing. I found I amnot so far from God exploding." The speaker imagines this storms is of.equal strength and viciousness. The atmosphere Luna uses adds to the speaker's attitude of fear by adding violent diction like "whiplash, exploding" to the dark description of the sea at the beginning to create an atmosphere of fear and hopelessness. Luna has the speaker's attitude turn to peacefulness even in the Strom by using a flashback to bring up the speaker's memories of being in a park, "blooms of lilac bursting along sidewalks.Lazy in the grass, I free myself of guilt."