Pub#5 Poetry

The poem “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco and “Choose the Right Path” by Vyasgowtham Prabhakar shares similar theme, decision making. Both the poem expresses the narrators taking a serious decision in their life. Both the poem uses extended metaphor. The poem “Mother’s Day” and Best Friend” shows similar themes of missing love. Both the poem express how simple things parents do reflect their hard work for the love they have.

The poem “Identity” is about the author Julio Noboa Polanco choosing his identity. He compares people around him to flowers to express how they are dependent and their life is defined by someone else’s choice. In the poem he says, “always watered, fed, guarded, admired” which is comparison of life of flowers to life of common people around him to show how their life is enclosed, protected and decided by someone else. In the first, the author confined people in general and the tone changes to freedom later. He expresses the way he wanted to be by comparing to an ugly weed. He wants to be free, rugged, and fundamental and have a basic life that does not depend on someone or judged by someone.

In the poem “Choose the Right Path” the writer talks about choosing his future. In the poem the heart first speaks of emotions, discomfort and fear of the unknown future. Later the soul calls for bravery, patients, commitment and perseverance. The poem is similar in theme to “identity”. Both the poem talks about choices in life and decision making and uses extended metaphor to express tone and thoughts to the poet.  In the poem, first the emotional heart speaks with fear and need for decision. Though the heart has a path of desire it is scared due to uncertainty, “Of all the paths, the one I desire is darkest”. The soul calls for confidence, determination and hard work along the desired path. The author uses uncertainty to darkness and clear, prosperous life to sun light. The environment of uncertainty is expressed with words like frozen, cold, darkness. And prosperity is expressed through words like pay, flower, blooming, scatter and morning.

In both the poems their choices are compared to their surroundings. In identity the author uses words like watered, fed guarded, admired and hardened to express the life of normal life and uses words like tall, ugly exposed, vast, external, sky and swayed to express the independency he desires. Similarly the poem “Choose the Path” words like terrified, alone, panicked, frozen cold and darkness shows the expression uncertainty of the heart. Words like brave, paddle, lightness, bloom and seed are used to express hard work and prosperous future.

The author of “Identity” is tired of being dependent and watched and wants to be dependent and free. In the poem “Choose the Right Path” the author is confused and scarred of decision making and motivates himself to be strong and choose the desired path.

The poem Mother’s Day by David Young is about adult child realizing his mother’s love and missing love. Similarly the poem “best friend” has a theme of missing fathers love. In Mother’s day the author starts the poem by recalling his past relationship with his mother. He refers his mother’s home duties as simple like paying bill. He regret considering those simple. He realizes those works shows love to them. The poet uses juxtapose in the poem when by using the word “modest lamp”. Modest represents simple unadorned, not calling attention to itself. Lamp represents light, happiness, direction and knowledge. The poet compares his mother to a modest lamp to show that his mother stayed unrecognized provided love and happiness to them. The poet, adult child dedicates the poem to his children to make them realize that love that a mother shows to her children which most children fail to understand soon enough.

The poem “Best Friend” has a similar theme of missing father and father’s love. The author shows how simple things father does shows the love they have for their children. The word “the good in me”, “the smile you gave”, “with the pin inside”, the love you had show’s how simple things he does shows his love. Similarly in the poem mother’s day the author says “simple, paying bills” though his mother does all simple things like paying bills it shows her responsibility, hard work to earn, to keep her children happy. Hence both the poem focuses on small acts gestures as expression of love.

Both the poem has a common tone of deep appreciation to it. Both the authors express their missing love in the poem. In the poem “Best Friend” author uses words to show the love his father had like the good, smile, pains inside, distance, silence, nearest, forever. In mother’s day her love to author is shown through words, simple, paying bills, understand, fullness and modest lamp.

Mother’s Day

David Young

        —for my children

I see her doing something simple, paying bills,

or leafing through a magazine or book,

and wish that I could say, and she could hear,

that now I start to understand her love

for all of us, the fullness of it.

It burns there in the past, beyond my reach,

a modest lamp.