Famous Poets

As mentioned before I've been reading/writing poetry for the last 3 weeks or so for my Literature class and I'll be honest I've been kind of bored. I've never really been a fan of Emily Dickinson and yes I know saying that out loud will make people *GASP* but honestly while her poems are good, great even  I can never get over the fact that she is so popular and it really affects my ability to enjoy such things. No I'm not a hipster type that hates things when they are popular but when it comes to reading I don't want to feel like I'm being "forced" into reading it know what I mean? That's why I never really read the novels assigned to us in high school. I understand they are classics and I did myself a huge disservice it's just I can't get involved and absorbed into the story that makes reading fun. I have to want it and anytime something is either popular or assigned to me I feel like I HAVE to read it or I'd miss out (or fail!!) and that's just not fun for me!  So with all that being said reading famous poetry hasn't been that fun for me the last few weeks even though poetry is my strong suit. I would have preferred maybe discovering new poems or more underrated poems/poets but yet still met the requirement of being allowed in a American literature textbook.  I can already tell what will be said in response to this and that's the second part of the course will make me happy because I think it's like  mid 1800s (I think...) to present day. Which is true I suppose but I have no idea if I can take it yet!

Regardless I had a fun semester overall and it did make me want to read more and it's something I've been pushing myself to do for 5 years or more now.

More Poetry of Mine!

I wasn't planning on another blog today, but why not right?  Well I will briefly discuss what my poem from yesterday is about "No Matter What" and then share another poem that I've written. As a disclaimer and as I mentioned yesterday these poems do NOT 100% reflect how I feel. However there may be some truth to what is said in the poems in how I feel, however it's greatly intensified for artistic purposes. So with that being said it's time to explain the poem from yesterday.


Basically the poem is about me and betraying myself.  I failed to trust myself and didn't realize it in till it was too late because the person I was before was "dead" that I've become too far gone and different that I could never get myself back again but then noticed if I realize this then I must not be as far gone as I thought (Hence the death has come to claim you (It came, but didn't succeed) ) and I promised myself not to abandon who I am anymore.



Ok so this short poem I wrote in 2004 so no laughing at me!  8/8/04 be exact!  I was 16 when I wrote this (Wow time flies by huh?!!)

Lonely Night

 

It's a lonely night without you

I miss you more than ever

My heart aches for you

I feel the night betray me

for it will never end

just like the tears

just like the pain

It won't go away

I'll never be alright

I'll never be ok

till you are by my side

please end this night

This lonely night

 

 

I feel like I could add to this now that I'm older but I hold value into something I created 9 years ago so I'll just leave it as is! 

 



No Matter What

As I mentioned yesterday I will share a poem I written recently. I will say before I share it that what it says isn't 100% reflective on how I really feel. I like to just write poetry no matter  what the subject(s) happen to be about while I admit there are truths to my poems but for example if the poem was about depression or love  that doesn't mean I'm depressed or in love. It simply means those are good poetry topics so why not make poems based on those themes!

No Matter What

 

 

No matter what

We will always be friends

I take that vow to my very end

No matter what

Fate brought us together

Promise me you will stay always and forever

No matter what

I never realized till now our friendship was true

You always helped me when I didn't know what to do

No matter what

I promise to stay by your side though thick and thin

I felt invincible protecting you from what you felt within

No matter what

I failed you because death has come to claim you

I will always remember you no matter what I do

No matter what

 

 

 

There you go! I hope you like it and I will reveal what it's about in a few days but till then comment and tell me on your thoughts





Lit the past to ignite the future

Thanksgiving was recently and I have to admit I don't have a lot to be thankful for apart from a handful of friends and the fact i'm in college right now to basically "ignite" my future.  My blog title is American Lit past for more then 1 reason. 1. Obviously to represent the past literatures of American history however there is a personal meaning behind it. I for the longest time would hold on to the past always shining a light on it or keeping it lit  in other words instead of looking at my present and seeing what i'm doing now will ignite my future, which in my eyes makes whatever happened in my past not that important anymore  when I realized things aren't the same anymore because it's better and will continue to get better.

It's fitting that I made the title that I did to express myself as it's kind of  a bit poetic and we happen to be working on poetry right now so it seems the perfect time to reflect upon those kind of things.  Speaking of working and reading poetry I write poetry and have for many years although it's been about 2 years since I've written new material. I have done just that since starting the new "Pod" for my literature class and I will share those with everyone starting tomorrow.

The Gift of the Magi

To continue with the theme of the last 2 posts I will talk to you about the third and last short story that I enjoyed growing up.   Any guesses?  The answer is of course The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. What about this story appealed to young Kyle you might ask? Well I've always been the loyal type to my friends and the romantic type to those that I'm interested in  even back when I was younger.  *Spoiler Alert* but the fact a couple sacrificed things they held so dear to them for the other one was very touching to me. The man sold his watch that was passed down thru his family to buy a set of combs for his wife  while the woman sold her hair for a chain for the husband's watch. Not only does this tell you how well they know each other but also shows you the love they have for each other to willingly  give up something  to show how much that person means to them not to mention the fact  they weren't even mad at each other once they found out what happened. The knowledge they gained that day was the true gift and that is priceless.

The Tell-Tale Heart

To continue with the theme of the last blog I will talk about another story that I quite enjoyed growing up. I mentioned there are very few stories that I was "forced" to read during school that I actually ended up liking a lot. Sleepy Hollow  and the other being The Tell-Tale Heart.  Maybe I like it because it's a very short story but the Psychologist in me really enjoys what Edgar Allan Poe tried to share with his readers with this story. It's basically about the narrator who throughout the story tries to convince the reader that he's not crazy when what he talks about in the story is completely contradictory to that statement and he is in fact very crazy due to his extreme nervousness condition. The part that intrigues me is not that he is trying to lie to us by saying he's a sane man but the fact he actually believes he's not crazy.  Probably one of my favorite lines from the story is when he says " ...observe how healthily --how calmly I can tell you the whole story" It's odd to me because this tells me by him saying he will tell you what happened "calmly" meaning what happened doesn't bother him in the slightest which to me gives further evidence that he isn't completely sane and I shouldn't trust what he says to be truth.  I don't want to spoil the rest of the plot for those who haven't read it yet  but I genuinely suggest you do so and let me know what you thought!

Sleepy Hallow

I've been really sick for the last 3 weeks almost and since I've been sick I've been really limited in to what I've been capable of doing. However with that being said I've been fortune enough to keep myself busy with things like Netflix and TV shows that are currently airing (apart from doing my homework of course!)  One TV show that I've been very excited about watching every week is a show called Sleeping Hallow that airs on Fox.  The funny thing about that is when we read The Legend of Sleepy Hallow in my American Literature in my college class  not even a few days later I saw A commercial online that showed a new show coming to Fox called Sleepy Hallow. I laughed because honestly what are the odds of that happening? I've known of the story since I was a kid and honestly was one of the few stories I ever cared to read about so when I found out about the show I was happy. I must say I haven't been disappointed so far.    The show is set in present year in the town of Sleepy Hallow however one of the main characters is none  other then Ichabod Crane himself from the past. He was basically sealed by magic and placed into a hiding place until finally be "awoken" to the present where he finds the headless horsemen who is one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.    It's very different from the literature story but it's still great that they based a TV show based one of my favorite stories of all time.

American Lit intro

I've never done anything like this before at least not involving a "school subject" so we'll be interesting to see how this blog transforms my thinking and enhance my abilities to reflection easier on all things American Literature .