City Eclogue, Part 2

Roberson's City Eclogue continues down its path of rife political commentary and rich metaphorical comparisons to humanity, technology, and nature, and it's still every bit as convoluted on a first glance as the first half of the book. Everything is just as enjoyable, though, even if the intricacies stay misunderstood upon a second or third reading and the odd formatting is something of a headache. Some things are resoundingly clear up-front: "Ornithology" relates to each poem in some way, whether superficial or upon a deeper meaning, and his inferences are worded strongly as ever, especially in regard to racial tension.

"Not Brought Up" is a perfect example of this, and I think it works especially well in citing the fact that Roberson isn't just writing about how everything is today (or a current observation, anyway), but how things became the way they are (the title, I think, helps frame this nicely). The imagery at use here provides the reader with a perspective that, though it's on a subject we're all very much acquainted with at this point, is nonetheless haunting. The whole idea of the Civil Rights movement gains a new bit of traction in my mind when I realize that most, if not many, African Americans simply stayed quiet, and politicians did nothing about the issue while in office, out of perhaps both fear and prejudice. And, obviously, things were much worse before anyone had the courage to stand up and speak.

City Eclogue, Part 1

City Eclogue, I will admit, was sort of baffling during my initial reading. The central ideas were all there, clear and understandable, but I sometimes had to re-read a poem multiple times in order to grasp all of the intricacies at work. I think the biggest theme behind City Eclogue lies in the fascinating juxtaposition of nature and mankind's footprint on it, how one can look around and purvey the world they live in and compare it (rather bleakly) to a "cleaner" world. Synonyms for trash and other unpleasant things are contrasted with the elegance of nature, and even entire poems are contrasts ("Sequoia Sempervirens comes to mind) between man and nature.

Culture is not left out of the picture, however. It's clear that Roberson is making an effort to detract from the lives of others around him, and to comment on the way the world is changing in an undesirable (to Roberson, anyway) way. This was admittedly kind of confusing on a deeper level in many cases, but Roberson does make his intentions clear on several occasions, where it doesn't feel necessary to evaluate every word on the page to get a grasp of his points.

One particular poem, "Platform Values" on page 46, emphasizes this nicely: it's a direct commentary on the state of politics and politicians, and how they really feel about the voting masses (and, hence, their supporters). The poem is fairly structured compared to the other pieces in the book, and flows well, and also makes great use of wordplay, such as equating "personal value" to "votes," demeaning the term and changing it to a mere buzzword. Roberson is making an important observation, of course, that politicians care first and foremost about the votes they're receiving to win, without much regard to the platform they're running under or actually following their values after they've won. It's sort of sad, but at the same time, I think most people have this same perspective of government-- even if it's not worded quite so poignantly.

Thoughts on the Poetry Packet

After spending some time perusing the poetry packet outside of a rushed in-class introduction, I've come to appreciate some of the writing a little better. I think poems always take a few readings to "click," even ones that you might immediately seem to enjoy or identify with; there are many layers of meaning to even the simplest poems.

Heather  McHugh's "And What Do You Get" exemplifies this perfectly, for me. The poem might initially come across as an eclectic piece of wordplay, entertaining the reader with its manipulation of the English language; however, the connotation underlining the words she's selected to manipulate are indicative of a much more ominous feeling. The initial stanza seems to deal with a general theme of loneliness and, perhaps abandonment, and it continues to evolve into a sort of mental evaluation of the human condition (taking the "w" out of "will" makes a person terrifying, for example). This culminates in an ending that's suggestive of rape, coupled with psychological references in "therapist" and  the "id." What initially looked like a simple play-on-words writing took a deep dive in such a short amount of space, and that is fascinating.

Some of the other poems have similarly playful overtones, but they too delve into some themes that are suggestively darker. I think the most striking one is the excerpt from "Montage of a Dream Deferred," "Dream Boogie." It's certainly upbeat, and the language and flow are indicative of the Jazz age that Hughes prevailed through, but the interjections by some ominous voice ("daddy" probably means a friend rather than actual father figure) puts the positive perspective of the writer into question-- "how can you be happy about this oppression?" is the essence of this. Knowing it's an excerpt, I'm certainly interested in going back and reading the full "poem" or book from which this came.

Introduction

Hey everyone!

My name is Adam Rockefellow, and I'm a senior here at Eastern. I somewhat foolishly decided to finish off my majors (English and Language, Literature, & Writing) and minor (History) before I touched most of my general education credits, so I'm trying to take classes that I have an interest in while I count the credits to graduation. Creative Writing seemed like a worthwhile course, as it compliments my interests nicely.

I grew up in South Lyon, and recently moved all the way out to Redford Township. Aside from a full load of classes, I also work full-time at an advertising & printing corporation out in Livonia; our main client is Kroger, so I spend all my time traveling to all 132 Kroger stores in the state, making sure they're up to the "advertising code" and helping them install anything they need. Maybe you'll see me running around one of the Ypsilanti or Ann Arbor Krogers sometime!

When I'm allowed a bit of free time amongst scholastic pursuits and work endeavors, I can usually be found playing guitar or enjoying what is probably an unhealthy amount of video games. Of course, I also read profusely, but lately my reading material seems to stem exclusively from school work.

I look forward to working with all of you as the semester continues!