The Brutalist

By Benjamin Bloch

The line use in this poem is not exactly of a normal caliber, but not is it necessarily unique to poetry. Though I don’t know the particular lining method the poet Benjamin used, I am able to see the way the line breaks play into the stanzas, as well as the fact that there’s a broad use of both enjambment and end-stopping. I think the author rotates between these two line endings for the purpose of drawing attention to specific ideas within the lines he writes to add to the overall meaning.

To back up, it seems to me that the poem the author has put together tells of a person who was good at fitting himself into the situations that arose and to make himself into the image he desired to be. This was particularly evident to me in lines 7 through 9 “When I was hungry…up in a wristwatch,” as well as lines16 through 18 “And when the easy...I knew what that was too.” Having this in mind, each line break began a new part of the idea in its own separate line, giving it the feel of being its own idea while remaining still a part of the whole.

For example, the 4^th stanza, lines 13 through 15, reads “And the words that dissolved into hard letters, / hooked into me, harmless, but forever hooks, / I ground down after them.” Line 14, beginning with “hooked” is a continuation of that idea that the “hard letters” were hooked into the speaker, but when looked at as just its own line, it becomes the idea of simple hooks being forever in the speaker. Still, the line break emphasizes more than anything that the “hard letters” pack a punch and were more dangerous and impacting because the idea of hooking into someone is put up front and on its own.

The Immigrant's Song

By Tishani Doshi

I liked this poem for its story it told and the message it worked to convey. It had rather nice imagery in it as well, so that, of course, befitted me as well, considering the assignment. A poem is pretty much made, in my opinion, by the imagery it uses and the things that it tells the reader. It seemed to me that the speaker was a person - any person - who had gone through the harshness of war and violence and just wanted to forget. I think the intended audience was anyone who wanted to ask the speaker about war and what it was like when all that speaker wanted was not to remember. This poem has a way of telling anyone who's curious just how harsh these rough times can be and why it would be best just to forget. While I don't necessarily agree with that sentiment, I can understand where the speaker is coming from. I particularly liked the lines "Let us not name our old friends//who are unravelling like fairy tales//in the forests of the dead." To me, this particular part of the poem is the most descriptive and central to the purpose of the poem. It's saying that those who have died in fighting are left alone to rot where they are, and no matter how much one may wish otherwise, nothing is going to be changed about it. The lines "Let us not speak of the long arms of sky//that used to cradle us at dusk," are also cool because they describe a calm, relaxing night where there were no worries. "You might pray that the paper//whispers your story to the water,//that the water sings it to the trees,//that the trees howl and howl//it to the leaves." These last few lines where my second favorite, because they bring inanimate objects to life, creating a beautiful, calming scene of whispering sounds taking one's worries away.

Dining with Hitler

by Will Wells

This poem wasn't entirely what I was expecting, nor was it anything I wasn't. As interesting as the comparisons were, I think the author did a pretty interesting job explaining his family life. Not all families get along perfectly or are the most fun to be around. Through this poem, it seemed the poet was trying to explain - to anyone who would listen - what it's like to live in a hostile family who try to act civil but are decidedly not underneath. And even in perfect families there is usually that one. That being the case, I think the audience of the speaker (the author) was everyone, since families are such a universal thing. In some places and families, there are strict family rules that go along with meals and gatherings, and trying to break past them is frustrating, as is holding one's tongue when all one wants to do is be rude and snappish in return to others. I think the father in the poem did a pretty good job holding his irritation together until he could take his son out and away from everything- the last line was probably my favorite; it seemed he was mocking a specific family member, whom I think was Emma, saying she was so hard to deal with even Hitler couldn't have handled her. Interesting poem, to say the least.

http://poems.com/poem.php?date=15950

Writing Playlist

When I get in the mood to work or write, in particular, there is no special reason or rhyme to it, I just do it. There are a few times, though, that music inspires me with an idea to start a story or how to continue a story, so the songs I've chosen are because they remind me of specific stories I have in mind to write or am already writing. They are either the entire backbone to the story itself, or they have inspired certain key scenes. With general working that I do, I just turn music on softly and tune it out for background noise, so there are no specifics there.

For my 2 book series (which is untitled as a series thus far), the premise is of a girl who grew up emotionally and physically abused and traumatized and has developed serious trust issues (as to be expected) and the stories center around her shifting to a new environment and overcoming those problems and facing them. There are a few songs as a result that have inspired a huge basis for the first of the two:

• Inside Your Heaven - Carrie Underwood
• Some Hearts - Carrie Underwood
• Sorry - Sleeping With Sirens

Most of these songs come from the people around the main character, Anna, who are trying to help her.

I also have a vampiric series I am working on called the Immortality Series, which is much more action-based than the former series. I am most inspired to work on this series by listening to film scores from action movies. A few of those songs would be:

•  Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows (Part 1), Film Score: The Deathly Hallows - Alexandre Desplat
• Captain America: The First Avenger, Film Score: Fight On The Flight Deck - Alan Silverstri
• Robin Hood, Film Score: Fate Has Smiled Upon Us - Marc Streitenfeld

For my book, Lives of the Misunderstood, there is a particular band that stands as a backbone for the resolution: Black Veil Brides, particularly their song Sweet Blasphemy.

• Knives and Pens
• I Am Bulletproof
• Never Give In
• Tangled In the Great Escape - Pierce the Veil (more of the inspiration for a specific character)

The last series I've contemplated writing (but haven't figured out the kinks enough to actually start on), is more of a fantastical series filled with Fey creatures, though centered in modern times. This series, along with my book In Time of War (which is more historically and fantasy based), I am often inspired to write when I hear film scores from movies like Lord of the Rings or artists like Enya.

•  Evening Falls - Enya
• Pilgrim's Way - Phil Coulter
• How To Train Your Dragon, Film Score: Counter Attack - John Powell
• Deora Ar Mo Chroi - Enya 
• The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey, Film Score: An Ancient Enemy - Howard Shore
• May It Be (From The Lord Of The Rings) - Lisa Kelly

These are just a few of the many songs that get me in the mood to write my stories - if I can't do something extraodinary, why not have my characters do them?
Thanks for exploring my music with me! :)