Week 2 Blog Poems

Kevin Kelly

The four poems I read for this week’s blog all have the same commonality. All of the poems dealt with love and the different aspects of love.
The first poem I read for this week’s blog was Memorandum by Billie Bolton. The poem is written in an email form, which I thought was unique and strange at the same time. She is sending a breakup email to her boyfriend listing his four major flaws. His first flaw his interests, which include Lucy Liu’s legs, Shania Twain’s bellybutton and even his fantasy baseball addiction. The next was his cell phone obsession and how he needed to be with it 24/7 talking to his countless dames (girls) and worrying about who is on his speed dial list. His third flaw is his adolescent son. He spends countless hours talking about what gangs his son is in, how many times he has been to court, his swastika tattoo and etc. The last flaw she names his how he always talks about how many women he’s been with like it is a big competition. She shows that she can really care less how many women he has been in contact with.
The next poem I read was The Flea by John Donne. The author and his lover are sitting somewhere enjoying the company of each other when a flea comes and bites them both. His lover goes to kill the flea and he stops her saying that “If you kill the flea, you will be committing a sin of three.” Interpreting this I found out that since the flea bit him, her and has its own blood inside of it, it is three people. He tells them that this is the only way their blood can be together since the parents grudge against their love. Eventually however the girl ends up killing the flea and the author tells her that she has “purpled her fingernail with the blood of innocence.” In his eyes the flea did nothing wrong, it only brought them closer together.
The third poem I read was A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning also by John Donne. The author begins by addressing his lover that he needs to spend some time apart from her. She is distraught by this but he tells her to be as virtuous men are and leave without “tear floods.” He does not want her to mourn his leaving. He assures her that their souls with always be one and they will stretch to fill the emptiness and distance that his going puts between them. He finally compares their love to a compass. She is in the middle, staying strong and steadfast while waiting for him while he is on the outside moving around, but never leaving the confines of the circle.
The last poem I read was Fox Trot Fridays by Rita Dove. In this piece the author states “Thank the starts there’s a day each week to tuck in.” From analyzing the title I concluded that this day must be Friday. The author loves that she can throw caution to the wind for one day and just have fun. She describes the smooth and graceful movements of the heel foot and ball to that of the smile of Nat King Cole, elegant and refined. She embraces the fact that one man and woman can be dancing together on a Friday night with no worries and “no heartbreak in sight.” She just lets the space of song take her away in dancing.