Ignorance

It is not possible to love

when we do not know of hate,

happiness can not exist

when there is no sad with which to compare,

calm means nothing

if anger has never struck,

peace is only appreciated

when war has been felt,

beauty wouldn't be noticed

if there weren't such a thing as ugly,

we can't know generosity

without seeing selfishness.

But how can we feel happy

we we turn our eyes from the bad,

shove the sadness in the corner?

We can't, it doesn't follow the law,

the happy is not whole.

Voice Assignment

Provisions

What should we have taken with us? We never could decide on that; or what to wear, or at what time of year we should make the journey So here we are in thin raincoats and rubber boots On the disastrous ice, the wind rising Nothing in our pockets But a pencil stub, two oranges Four Toronto streetcar tickets and an elastic band holding a bundle of small white filing cards printed with important facts. -Margaret Atwood This is a brief poem, but very interesting. The voice that comes through to me is kind of down and regretful. She is looking back at choices she could have made in the past that would have made her better of now. For example, when she says 'what should we have taken with us?' she is implying that they did not take the right things with them. She sounds like she's given up and accepted the situation when she writes 'so here we are in thin raincoats and rubber boots'. The list of what's in their pockets adds to the intrigue of the poem and is the main reason I liked the poem so much. The objects are so random and the reader wonders what the important facts are on the bundled notecards. The phrases 'disastrous ice' and 'nothing in our pockets' make the author sound a bit glum. I really like this poem because it's ambiguous, random and uses description and imagery sparingly and tactfully.

Performance Poem

Spectrum

It swirls with purple lies,
has gray memories not easy to keep
can be instantly overcome with red desire
or can be spinning with spots of white havoc.
It might flutter with irrepressible yellow excitement
a blanket can suffocate it with orange fear
or it can be coated in blue elation like fondu.
Yet even with these pathways, it can still wander aimlessly with pea-green boredom.

1. The voice in my poem is intense and contemplative. It shows creative personality and thogutful ideas.
2. I will try to express an intense and dramatic mood when I perform this poem in front of the class. However, I will be very embarresed so it might come off sounding unsure and timid.
3. Somehow I will convey 'swirling', 'spinning' and 'flutter with arm movements. I will also wander throughout the audience during the last line.
4. What scares me about the assignment is being alone in front of the class, looking stupid, and embarrasing myself. It will be exciting to watch everyone else perform.
5. Performance poetry makes it easier for the audience to get the mood and tone of the poem and interpret what the author reading it really means. The movement provides a more definate meaning to lines that could be ambiguous. Even just seeing the author and hearing their voice can add a lot more meaning and sense to the poem.