Pood is Our Catalyst D ba the fle Anna Beth Carter ‘The kitchen is the first thing you'll see when you come through the back door ‘Beh has always been used as the front, never thought to ask why ‘There ae food splatershaked around the burners ofthe stove ‘Cob webs full of piers rho as) surely eles by now behind the rergerator An aging dining table with serafches Like deep gashes tal four comers ‘id chars that prom wien you sit nd sigh when you stand ‘We neve fill up the living nom ike we do the kitchen My sisters dance an sng as atthe moshrooms and Momma stirs the beans The sme of ress popping fom the ye fills phe nl space, ay nny ose Spy Hite Hearn) ptm oma Le Aragy 4 oy q por pan Ty Aaah wl ope that‘The Family Home Anna Beth Carter ‘Welcome to Magnolia Hollow, or Dogwood Acres, or the Carter Estate Momma never could decide But she knew that she wanted a fancy sign atthe top ofthe driveway ‘The kitchen isthe first thing you'll see when you come through the back door, Which has always been used as the front, I never thought to ask why ‘There ae food splatters baked around the bumers ofthe stove, ‘Cob webs full of spiders who are surely lifeless by now behind the refrigerator ‘An agitg dining table with soratches like deep gashes at all four corners ‘And chairs that groan when you sit and sigh whea you stand “Three generations have labored in this kitchen Rolling the dough and string the beans, frying the chicken and chopping the vegetables: For summer family reunions or just Sunday brunch Food is our catalyst My sister dances as she sauté the mushrooms The sounds of ABBA filling up the small space as my cousin Karen scrubs at the sink ‘Hands switaming in warm suday water Trying in vain to wash away the green stains of zucchini from the white cutting board‘The Family Home -Aena Beth Carter Welcome to Magnolia Hollow (Or Dogwood Acres Or he Carter Estate ‘Momuma never could decide ‘But she knew that she wanted A fancy sign ‘Ate top ofthe driveway ‘The kitchen is the First thing you'll see ‘When you come through ‘The back door ‘Which has always been Used asthe front {never thought to ask why ‘There are food splatters Baked around “The burners of the stove Cob webs full of spiders Who are surely lifeless >y now Bebind the reftigerator Anaging dining table ‘With scratches Like deep gashes ‘Atall four comers ‘And chairs that groan ‘When you sit And sigh ‘When you stand ‘Thrce generations Have labored in this kitehen Roling the dough ‘Ane stirring the beans Frying the chicken _Ané chopping the vegetables ‘For summer family reurions ‘Or just Sunday brunch ‘Food is our catalyst “My sister dances ‘AS she sautés the mushrooms“The scunds of ABBA “Filling up the small space ‘Asmy cousin Karen Scrubs atthe sink Hands swimming in ‘Warm sudsy water ‘Trying in vain ‘To wash away the Green stains of zucchini From the white cutting board“his yom sen many chang eu isin ins ten dion owl lines, then the deletion of whole stanzas. To begin with, I love the long lines in this poem. I tried the poem using short lines, and it really did nothing for it. This poem, though it does not explicitly state itis very much about Southern living, and I think the long lines do a good job of Jace svn ns dum antsy ngs ons et rc ee oe thy a ome ut kom egg ts gong oe a fr move ‘joe singly ensereas ftegal eron et ey mom pt tral nut once et ing lo hanger col tenor Up axa, le etd ce he ae at ny oem Socrates mc mre spelt cn, Te ih san il hg ow tn, eet po en ale tte isnot toking eee any ober pa be home Sobor rat ated oa Sony Stic elnino ory ay iat inane oo, ofa eating enemas Poon, Ary gtdt hg a id edn fn ester don of ksh, ‘elastase ond veson vu sone eg nit afo eee as ‘ou tng tpn ath ich, tmnt tne vey de Bea i pon Sia endian oe fies none st ite Ie at cu campru oft icone ya ea ‘aod cs their wend bwin ts wie ny rely he he inte sencnastane bred nts nd oy ures bated a fi ou hw hem Tite ean he elt cea ey {meh tal secmot gohan wit i wrens dite However rout eed poner med meso ah sy wor itern te tn mse he por eon nh halen he fou wih a ile its punt toca er nee el it rete Tomine Ins chennai fangs gps enon “lpm note, ada cnsont rere Ts eed seas he ‘clorsome cyte yet te ea sol be epgh il iesoe Sash cine ny bem I weno en ined mde ere Sune itt ning te er foc erSan Francisco Swoosh Anna Beth Carter Elementary school kids test Paper boats along the river Zoom, smack Rajeev's is the only one that floats Whooshd " bes asia Sos Saban ‘Sneakers pound against the sidewalk City Park a cacophony of children’s squeals Aad obscenities, bump ‘Thump, bump ‘Thu, car doors slam in the distance ‘Smack, thad Elementary schoo! kids test Paper boas along the river Zoom, smack + Rajeev's i the only one that floats Whoosh“This poem began in an attempt to use words that emulate sounds This was not an easy task for me, so I really strained wit te first raf of ths poem. I da't have fun geting it down fon paper ease Twas tn foented on making sre I was mesting the expectations af the assigament. So, in shor, Ivelly hated it Infact, | fl ike it was one ofthe weakest things I had ever writen. I mean there were redeeming qualities to “San Francisco Swoosh." To begin with, 4. te tefl really sold. Lm sll not sure that I know exactly what point I was trying to make, but I think I just like how it sounds, and with my later revisions, ike how it pairs with dhe oem, [had this vision of some kind of inner eity basketball game to begin with, but I kind of drifted in all kinds of directions inthe first drafts ofthe poem. It seemed to me thatthe beginning ofthe poem was kind of grungy and hard (adults yelling obscenities and car doors slamming, stuff ike that). Thre seemed to bea cleat sift inthe tone ofthe poem when I introduced the ‘idea ofthe elementary school kids, something about it was lighter, but there was definitely substance there vas surprised at that section of the poem, because it was really unlike anything Thad ever written before. Justin those few shor lines I had erated the leginings ofa pretty compelling story (1 do say so myselt) | guess what Lam trying to say i that most of the poem ‘eas TOTP fresh, but [thought the last five lines were prety fresh. I debated and played with the idea of trying to change some ofthe wording or possibly just the organization of the other half of ‘the poem, but | eventually realized that Iwas spending all of tha time on something tat | dint like and actually felt cheapened the parts that I did like. So, in the end ended up not making &s many changes as [had anticipated. Instead, I ust took out the beginning of the original daft. 1 have to say, though I am not particularly i love with incorporating sound in pocrs ike this assignment led me todo, Lam pretty happy with the sounds found in the final draft. Specifically, Thoth ike the parallelism between “swoosh’ in the ttle and “whoosh inthe lst ine. This poezn ‘went from Being something a was Telly unsure I ould salvage anything from, to something ‘Tam actually very proud of. just had to learn to cut away the parts so that only the lines with real energy could shine throug t 1 permed A bale oe" ey hairt belie Coal. ned hum domme!) Sha got tome!Last Night on the Town Anna Beth Carter [stare blankly in the hallway mirror Face once wrinkleless, no more unspent Reflections make the truth so much clearer 0 paint my lips maroon I step are, the lipstick shade too dark must consent, staring blankly inthe hallway misror Fyes lined wide with fight and terror Diamonds hang weighty on ears ‘The torment makes the truth so much clearer My knotty updo could look no queerer Sudan wd, opptelny oe Diesing up used tobe simple amen tasng blankly inthe alley ior [never had a courtier dearer to me ‘The wine glass in my hand further fermenting Reflections make the truth so much clearer My drunkenness is liable to error Much too late to stop me (Or help prevent, reflections Male the truth $o much clearer ‘As [stare blankly in the hallway mirrorLastNighton theTown Quiet HHls Anna Beth Carter 1 stare blankly inthe hallway mirror Face once wrinklles and no mere unspent Reflections make the truth so much clearer ‘To paint my psmarcontstep newer Palys tnyeat The lipstick shade too dark I must consent saa str lanky inh allay mero sys tnd ookindwide with eh and ear Diamonds Ming meghty on ere omnen Reetions make the tut so mach clearer “Monat bia cul ls no quer rosin peo be snp et Pare bay ine lay or ea, havewnever a courtier dearer ‘The wine glass inmy hand further ferments Reflections makethe tth so much clearer My drunkenness lable to eror ‘Much too lat to top me or help prevent = Spe Reflections makethe truth so much clearer 1 stare blankly inthe hallway mirror we — ylendle (2) Net pre! ben, Ge reget’Gone is the ville for, but am honestly not tat torn up about it because twas a real stage forme to wrt hat vay in the ist place. find tha when Tam stuck in a specific form or structure of poem, [end up saying things in ways that [normally would not jst preserve the narrative or ea that Iam writing about. n some eases hink tha canbe good, Ys. Sreclere Founding diffrent canbe fresh, but inthis case a lot of what [wasting to say became A Go aviward Because | lef out words to get my syllable count and also get the end thymes that as tying to meet. So, I have now abandoned the vllnelle though only made some mina changes sed much more enjambment (hough I will admit Tam till warming up tthe Hea of doing tha, need alot more practice), Beease ofthese changes inline break, | dH not keep the thymes atthe ends of lies. I sill obvious tha the poem contains rhytne, but now itis just intemal Iwill say that {have mined felingsabovt that. The itera tyme docs sem to make ‘the poem appear more mature, bt know tai ever wanted todo that type of hymingepan, T would honesty have to write it with end rhymes and then reorganize, because my bran just ‘does not work that way. do ike how it worked out in this poem, though. Also, on the repeating Tne, dip keep them exactly the same each time, making small changes in wording 4 actually really like this BRSMISE TS Keeping Up The repeated Theme, BUTTE Is hot annoyingly Tepeitve and cems fo show sor evolution inthe pom, There wee instances that {id some slight rewording so that the phrasing did not seem so outdated or outmoded and awkward, but ‘the than tha his poem just hada lot of reorganization satu rrp be mers onl mpatetet wa csSigh No More Anna Beth Carter “whatever our souls ate made of, his and mine ar the same” Emily Bronte, Warhering Heights ‘Oh, whether he be near or far He is always with me “The marrow in my bones HHums the sound ef My heartbeat and plants Sweet kisses on my brain] Yee He is the oldest sirit to Roam these halls My darkest demon Lurking inthe shedows A ghost ofthe past His touch sets my flesh on fire) be ar Cie Mer toe, Catherine Eamshaw’s Dramatic Monologue ) ¢ 4/2 set yank Pee Oe ‘Anna Beth Cuter We hater ou sus ae mad fis and mie wee ane Enily Bre, Withering Height Oh, whether be ner ofr Gres We mane is iff is always with me FT ino tae quetens | / a, acer Haale smarter . tapaactenaniiase ) reds elven fiom eines reece teen ohare es Gx, wheter be near rf Houbelisaaye wine) Hotsiecldengp Roam the halls GF Wuthering Heights) Ny dares Seon Lurking inthe aos my om mind) Pgh ofthe pst : Tutoachsetsmy Desh onfie ——= Praage Gouin bondiny, ? Lam a changed woman ‘And gto oman in oye wh me My fesngs for Healt Nowe cout dey . ‘Tohat him wool be 7 ‘Tohate mysel? Cptey tov th? ‘Bartolo his would be ‘Tolockinamior ‘Ande tha was ‘Bi decided ong ago “here woud Ben ning baktern gsc my tee ase hte of Cetin sin! anys aa cnn thas na ys areal tinal sy aceouptyshdcertea Ts aru ane fn cnet inh ell aed pee bd fen Te pld ay pm Soh ag hn ps was Sone id derbi Sowan van ti eto ia oa Soehirer ane Sumeaytistemewae evan heulesesset 2 (iittala coting genta seins eshte gs ye (fein who eens he oct san eosin U3 Tat let Soundren nl fcsct oarauyiknte en escola teen be samen eo dt stay to Rattler ce so heinous con onic ut nbc te Sorted aed na sy, be arn Sas Ba eee ihe comeing otf fied gs telacnciiatwoncstaa mac uncomenotiocbacss |code hele slat omowioshnge ci joer mae on ie om aul cists tebecnenh ard eo nds ie an See a caer ake tags Mele" neal scien tte tek RUSE be poeta sey ares Fee seer esi naltcmhig atte ee mB Toke Ra creichuceungelenatbndcie aikeat ehlicheloe aston mee TUideanle Gelou bebe sues mate ce ih bea he sane ag! Seuss tue cep in ns ve om sc ai of Soe ta eaten) anon ewan west tes kang‘Two Gentleman Undergraduates Anna Beth Carter ‘Aca Starbucks in Kalamazoo (Coffee is stirred and sipped as ‘Another round of the cappuccino debates ensue (One ofthe men studies philosophy and religion Being the thoughtful inquisitive type ‘Though never landing firmly on any one decision ‘The other spends his time drinking daiquiris Resigned to the fact that he ‘May not graduate with his class Though unlikely friends, they are thick as thieves Meeting every Thursday at eleven o'clock ‘To engage in laughs, cies, and reverie Discussion could begin with classes, advance and Peak with the impressive reiting of poetry. *. ‘And end withthe latest news of a mothers ailing fight with cancer Today's hot topic contered on a girl in lavender wt) both men were sure they could seduce yn? Their conviction like that ofa vicious erusader3 3 i. sy / \ “oo Gestnan Uap OSAP “in Bah Caer, e ‘Ata Starbucks in Kalamazoo (Coffee is stirred and sipped as ‘Another ound of the cappuccino debates ensue (One ofthe men studies philosophy and religion "Being the thoughtful, inquisitive type ‘Though never landing firmly on any one decision Theor pn i ine king ii Aeagesiote tt they Notpmlne witht a) AP ‘Though unlikely friends, they are thick as thieves eee ee Moan eons wor we wnt ie Spree”‘Two Geatleman Undergraduates Anna Beth Carter ‘Ata Starbucks in Kalamazoo Coffee is sired and sipped as Another ound of the eappuecino debates ensue ‘One ofthe men studies philosophy and religion Being the thoughtful, inquisitive type ‘Though never landing firmly on any one decision ‘The other spends his time drinking dsiquiris Resigned tothe fac that he may "Not graduate with the class; accepted but wary ‘Though unlikely fiends, they are thick as thieves ‘Meeting every Thursday at eleven o'clock ‘To engage in laughs, cries, and reverie Discussion could begin with classes, advance and Peak wih the impressive reciting of poetry and/or rap lyries ‘And end with the latest news of a mothers ailing fight with cancer ‘Today's hot topic centered on a gie in lavender ‘That both men were sure they could seduce With the conviction like that ofa vicious crusader ‘But instead they just sat quietly ‘Watching the other customers eat and drink Inventing stories about each of them; child's play ‘True there had been times of turmoil between them. Instances of raised voices, curses pulsing in their temples But atthe end of the day there was never a thought to condemn “Their brutherhood was irreducible in nature ‘They would consider it blasphemous to assume That they would grow apart as they further matured But they didnot spend time worrying About wat the future might hold ‘Today they just sat, neither one in much of @ hurryThis poem as gone ough many revisions, though i you compared the fit raf and the Sia dra may be hats thes ny changes, When is wos his pot 1 tid some things donot normaly do then wing poetry (ymin) uo yt sic tings up and treat something tat did pt sound 0 much ike my other ors | waned he ym tobe very Sig, and ot ely nieable nls beng clos analyod ik the Sor of Swing or hy that ge lends toa poem, bt thre iain ine betwee tha euding sng sony (which 1404 {Sdefiatey not what waned especialy fra poem tat as sopposed ob about mor serious things han ht ofa nursery shyme Taso dd ne want he tet or orm vas cretng 0 dae some othe meaning change or weken Ital comes back o what we dct in las: {Dund ve meting My fda of he poem was quite lon, something | was weary of Noto Sey there isanthng wong hong pers ut know th pest when wie ot, pg snc ofits otf beep endo wie ore tha {noe he ext eng vr linger |“ dian showing mst ofthe tine) and thn wl go back and gue ot what thee ofthe poem Be Ae really is, and cut the rest. My problem with the first draft ofthe poem was that I liked the story 178 4 ‘told throughout, so it was herder this time for me to tell what really did not strengthen the poem. - q Tetove ta air eoding Ue fst ra ia class you sougeted shortening ita pei poin, 27274, which sulted in what became the second daft. Iwas content with wha had then, bt fel fike Sa id ntl as much ofthe wry of the characters a hail hoped fr. However was - i246 trying okepin mind tha wanted oleae some vor tobe dneon tp of the rade 2 1 ‘Bride leaving the sry shorter would be aight s longa bull ston characters. Tat Being tid ina group werdshop, Em Dougher sid some tung bout my poem that I ad fk and wat rounured when ab aid hen swell She id tha, hving read the ere eso, se woul ke ce appy medium beeen he long nd short osm. She od me how Had st pe sory fhe earn dba, ut i ot ely nuns what wa upping, which ‘he inught would be ineretng to sce So, 1 went beck and nlued two moro my favorit Stra tat paves beer andrtanding of wit tet careces meting vas al abou Ths poom was very much experiment and I fel ik eared sever things om) 1am Capac of fyme and, 2) inte priclr esc ofthis poem, content and mening mpd all She Thad a sory el and bieve my Halal lin lentil. Teoud probably do ttre work on ts pom, bl his at woul nee to come moch la, For non, wl et alanis‘Neither Created nor Destroyed “Anna Beth Carter “Worlds are altered rather than destroyed!" ~Democritus “These days you're tacking sticky-notes to our bedroom walls ‘Carving images out of your brain and smearing them onto paper Plunging the pen into open wounds to scrawl crimson across the page Allin the name of sciense and a beautiful mindNeither Creates nor Destroyed Anna Beth Carter “World: are altered rather than destroyed" —Democritus ‘These days you're tacking stieky-notes to ‘our bedroom walls Carving images ‘out of your brain and smearing them onto paper Plunging the pen into ‘open wounds to serawl crimson across the page All in the name of seiense and ‘beautiful mind‘Neither Created nor Destroyed Anna Beth Carter “Worlds are tered rather than destroyed” Democritus These days you're tacking ticky-otes to our bedroom walls Carving images out of your brain an smearing them oto pager Cutting your wists and watching tem bled «onc Allintbename of seen and a beatiful mind (Dyya! Dbeee The remanent ay fe peal olin! Spy BeNeither Created nor Destroyed Anna Beth Carter “Worlds are etered rather than destroyed” Democritus ‘You sit at the desk, lamplight pooling at your hands While [lie in bed alone, watching from beneath my blanket fort As you shuffle through stacks upon stacks of paperwork “These days you're tacking sticky-notes to our bedroom walls Carving images out of your brain and smearing them onto paper Cutting your wrists aad watching them bleed Al in the name of seience and a beautifil mind ‘You used to write me love poems, tiny shreds of paper Placed like bookmarks or taped tothe bathroom mirror 1 keep them all in a shoebox in the bottom ofthe closet| am very proud ofthis poem. Its very seldom that I write something that Hike ints uae” totality, ut “Netter Created nor Destroyed” sa poem that I ean honesty say Tlove every word of. The orginal version ofthe poem featured two stanzas othe than this ane, bt that concept twas dropped prety quickly. As soon as bad finished writing tne thatthe el beat of the Story was inthe one sta, the other things {had writen were just filer and ber inorder to fetiotis point. After workshopping in elas it was brought omy atenion thatthe tid Tine tay need some attention in ord to low wi theres ofthe poem and eontnue the theme of Stsstion ar el ascent me up wih shin es tnd ong to rework what I already had there (besides, I write way too much about blood;0I wanted to. ‘7 take this opportunity to ty use tha somewbat unoriginal ides and writ about tina way T ‘wouldn't normaly). So, tried to think of things ina more abstract way a wel as keping the Cretivelprodutve ide in ming, [came up with the idea of writing with blood as nk. At fst fd the st word ofthe line as “pping.” but that jst id not elly match with words like “Carving and “tacking,” 0 ted look fora more violent word. am prety pleased with “plunging” pls Tike he alteration of plunging pn.” Some oer suggestions 1 heard frm the workshopping called for a new tile becuse itis relatively similar to what the epigaph Sungcts. However, Itespectflly decline to do tha, because T fea hat the poems tle i saying Something cifferent than the eigraph, though they dogo hand in and, Also, 1 decided that Stould at feast sive diften fps brea nn. thong the shore ins dino work. Tike the Jong lies because wher read alow it sounds moce conversational but ls has an add intensity that sem fo Be lost when you have to pase for added ine Deas. ' ard on loncten- AD