The Management of Grief - Activity

I heard a woman talking with another woman about how the ladies sons were good swimmers, so I decided to enter myself into the conversation, along with some information that might just bring them some hope. I told the ladies that with some luck if there were any good swimmers on board that plane they could have made it safely to some island by swimming. I also told them that they might not have been found yet because there are so many microscopic tiny islets scattered around where the plane crashed. One of the ladies asked me if I wasn’t just saying that like they thought I was joking. But I very much believe that some people could have swam to safety. I let the ladies know that its foolish to rule out possibilities that have not been tested because it is a parents job to hope, because our hope can’t bring anything, but good. I proceeded into the water, putting my hand into my pocket that had been filled with roses. These roses are my offering to all of the victims of the tragic crash and hopefully it will touch their sprits that remain here in this water. These roses reminded me of my wife, who loved the sweet scent of roses. I know my wife’s sprit is thanking me where ever she is. I tried to offer Mrs. Bhave roses to offer to the victims, but she had her own items, personal items from her boys. I never pictured myself wading in water with a jacket putting roses into the water in Ireland, but this is the path that God has chosen for me.

Lack of Senses

This is my censory poem

Lack of Senses

Nose blowing,
Snot flowing.
Feeling sick,
Medicine ick.
Watching cartoons,
Get well soon Balloon.
Hard to hear,
Infection in the ear.
Forehead burning to the touch.
How I want to go to school so much.
I feel lost without my senses,
Oh the pain is killing me,
Like doing homework with no answer key.

Response to Alice Munro's "An Ounce of Cure"

I thought that this story was very slow at the beginning and I didn’t really get into it until at conflict started which was disappointingly about three fourths into the story. Part of the reason it was slow is because the main conflict of drinking was only really mentioned once at the very beginning of the story. This made the story seem like it had no plot. However, when the conflict started I really enjoyed reading it. I also realized that I liked the writing style of Munro because of the way she uses the main character to narrate a lot more then characters actually talking.

Response to Margret Atwood's "Happy Endings"

I really enjoyed reading Atwood’s “Happy Endings” because it is a different style of writing that I would normally read. When someone reads a story, they will always have their own way they want the story to end, but it won’t always end the way you want it. In this story think it’s cool that Atwood has more then 1 ending for the reader depending on what they like. I think that Atwood is saying that authors are too plot-driven and they should instead focus more on the roles and characteristics of their characters. In Atwood's story she has 2 typical types of characters. One is in love with the other, and the other one is not in love with character 1, but instead uses character 1 to their needs.

Response #2

Creative City
to look, and not avert one's gaze;that is where all the art is, the passionand the city. people who do not look,cannot see canvas, or poems or
notes for happiness.
art does not begin with art,but in the eyes. the eyes are everything;when you look up at another, and look away without a smile,
you have killedeverything you want tobring home, oh citizen.
© Pier Giorgio Di Cicco

Response
I thought this was a really creative and unique poem. The author has a really creative mind and by reading this poem I get a sense that this author thinks there is more to every poem or piece of art then just what’s written or drawn or painted. I like how the author talks about the creative traces all the way back from the art right to the artists’ eyes. I think when he says “people who do not look cannot see canvas, or poems or notes for happiness”, he is telling the reader that to truly understand the art, you must trace it to where it comes from, and that is in the persons eyes, and until the reader does this, they won’t have a true understanding. The author talks a lot about eye contact and I think he is also trying to show us that not only does eye contact help us learn from and about one and other, but it is also needed in a community to live and work with each other. All in all, I think this is a great poem with a lot of messages conveyed by unique symbols.

Skate

Skate

In Canada we don’t want you to tie your shoe
Instead, please tie up your skate,
A nice snug fit sure feels great.
A sharpened pair of blades feels nice too.
Carving the ice right over the blue,
So much freedom on this giant white plate.
Skates pushing you forward like their transporting freight.
Your going so fast you think you just flew.

Gliding so gracefully around the cold rink,
The frosty air freezes your face.
Breathing so hard warms you up,
Your skates dig deeper and you start to think.
You must keep going like it’s a race,
With this amount of effort you’re sure to win the cup.

Sonnet

ABBAABBA CDECDE

Response to Diego's Sensory Poem

Sensory Poem
Sun rising on the East
Snow Freezing both my feet
The Cold, a Raving Beast
The Sun, Tricky Deceit
Wild Geese shouting at me
Bare Trees Surrounding us
In the lake, Ice Debris
Geese Had a strange finesse
The cold bit through my face
And went right through myself
Caught inside Frost's embrace
One could not be himself
The big frozen classroom
Reeks of Icy Perfume


This is my response to Diego's sensory poem.
I really enjoyed reading this poem. It is very descriptive and really brings all of your senses into play using phrases like "the cold bit through my face" and "Reeks of Icy Perfume". While reading this poem the use of descriptive words in this poem helped me picture exactly what kind of a day it was and what you were experiencing. I thought that the adjectives that you chose were very helpful in providing readers with the imagery. Examples of these adjectives are "Raving" and "Icy". Lastly I thought this poem had some nice rhymes which made this poem flow well. Great job!

Shane

Winter Snow

Walking in the winter snow,
My feet leave tracks that show where I go.
This snow has such fluffy feel,
I sometimes question if it's real.

Walking through this wall of white,
I cannot tell if it's night.
Wondering where i am going,
The snow just keeps on blowing.

Absorbing all this wet white powder,
I hear the winds howling louder.
Finding my way in the snow,
I wonder next where I shall go.

Canadian Identity

April Iceberg Off Bragg's Island

(from a print by David Blackwood)
The hand of God has hacked this shipfrom eaves of ice that roof the worldand now it floats in silent strengthreminding me of the cold, blind forcethat shapes our lives and feeds our fears.
We row at night in boats to feelthe new blue light of moon and icebeneath this cold and ancient dreamthat wants to test our own beliefs.It almost seems like holinessto stand this small beneath these cliffs,these vaulted walls of winter white.
You feel the weight deep down insidelike thunder or extinction's calm.Had I the heartI'd climb the sidesto meet the moonand leave a harsh and ragged landto float off south to other seastill nothing's left but warmthand waves.

The Real Meaning of a Canadian Identity

A Canadian identity can only be achieved by Canadians, and it means a lot more then just having a Canadian accent, living in an igloo, or even eating maple syrup on anything. The real meaning of a Candian identity is something people living in other countries don't understand. We say "eh", we play hockey, we can speak french, we have provinces and not states, and we live in the cold. Some of these things I mentioned are done by people who don't only live in Canada, but in many other countries. But it is the combination of all these that gives us our Canadian identity and also the passion we live with knowing that we are Canadian.