Kisses Kept Are Wasted

Here's a blogpost from my friend Mirjana for our english assignment too :)

Kisses kept are wasted;

Love is to be tasted.

There are some you love, I know.

Be not loath to tell them so.

Lips go dry and eyes grow wet

Waiting to be warmly met.

Keep them not in waiting yet;

Kisses kept are wasted.

- Edmund Vance Cooke

           I choose this poem because it is very unique. It drew my attention and I fell in love with it the first time I read it. This poem has a message behind it that I believe to be true. The author is trying to tell us that we won't ever find the perfect mate but rather we should give love a chance. Often we grow to love someone although we don't find them attractive at the first sight. On the other side, the author is sending an important massage by telling us not to waste love. He is saying that love is here to be shared with others and love that is not shared is ultimately "wasted love". As the poem goes on, we come to realize that those who waste love also suffer inside. Often, people are afraid to express their emotions and how they feel. as a result, they are wasting their love and are not happy themselves.

         Some of the poetic devices in this poem are repetition, personification,  and symbolism. Repetition is used because the author starts of the poem and ends it by saying "kisses kept are wasted". Throughout the poem he is able to elaborate onto this main idea. However, by starting and finishing the poem by this stanza he is letting the readers know that is hat the poem is about. Next, personification is used when Cooke says "love is to be tasted". Love can not be literally tasted but by saying this Cooke is helping the readers connect to the poem an understand the deeper meaning of love. Lastly, throughout the poem, love is the symbol. The word love is only mentioned once throughout the poem but it is the symbol throughout the whole poem. Everything is associated and comes back to love.

Mirjana Vujosevic

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Recently I was given a school assignment, and I had an option to write a blogpost about a poem that I found interesting. The poem that I want to analyze because I enjoy the meaning it has to me is called "Where The Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein.

There is a place where the sidewalk ends,

And before the street begins,

And there the grass grows soft and white,

And there the sun burns crimson bright, 

And there the moon-bird rests from his flight

To cool in the peppermint wind. 

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black

And the dark street winds and bends.

Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow

We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And watch where the chalk-white arrows go

To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,

And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,

For the children, they mark, and the children, they know

The place where the sidewalk ends.

I chose this poem because when I was in grade school, I remember choosing this poem from a book and memorizing it so I could recite it in front of the class with no paper in my hands. I still read over the words and can say many of them without looking, though do not hold me to that. I also chose this poem because it reminds me of my childhood. I makes me think of playing in the tall grass of my back lawns, and drawing on the driveway with chalk until my clothes were covered in it. I feel like I connect to the poem on a personal level when I read it because I can relate my childhood between the lines of it, but I also feel like I can connect it to the real world. These days, you do not see as many people playing outside in the grass, or dancing around outside with no care. Children are stuck inside, playing video games of some virtual world, not enjoying what the earth has given to them. It also connects to environmental and urbanization issues, because the lines "Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black; And the dark street winds and bends; Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow" show that there is a city that seems to be trapping the people of the planet inside of it. oblivious to what it does to our minds and what the city can do to the health of our planet. Some interesting things I noticed about this poem were the repetition of "We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow" and I also noticed the very strong imagery in the description of the "asphalt flowers" and the grass growing soft and white. It makes you have a different perspective, that maybe the world isn't as we see it. I personally feel like the poem is about choosing the right direction in our own lives, and making the decisions that suit us best. The arrow represents being pointed in the right direction and leaving the place we always knew is like us going off to university, or just leaving to live on our own and seeing the dangers that lie in the world around us. The poem is relevant to every child that is leaving home to become an adult. I personally feel a deep connection to this poem because I feel like it is a huge description of what me and my friends will be going through in the next month, when most of us move out of our parents houses and into residence at university, left to our own devices. The point of poetry is not to just be words, but to give words meaning into other peoples lives and change people's perspective and if we cannot have or make opinions of our own, can we change others?

reality.

         For the past year, I have been thinking long and hard about getting a tattoo. I have had many ideas cross through my mind such as quotes or symbols, placement of the tattoo, and colour. My first idea was for get a white ink tattoo. I wanted it on my finger, but the tattoo artist wouldn't do it unless it was in a place that was barely touched, otherwise it would fade, So I changed my pace, and decided that I would get a quote on my finger in blue. But after a while, the quotes I loved all ended up being too long or having purpose. In February, I got my birthday gift from my mom early: A gift certificate for my tattoo, to be done on my birthday in two months. I got cracking, and in a matter of days, I had an idea. I wanted to get an origami bird, because over the past year, they have been a significant part of my creative process and just in helping me find freedom. I began to look all over the internet for ideas, and I came upon an outline of an origami bird that just spoke volumes to me. Origami is meant to be crisp, clean and precise, so this drawing fit perfectly. I sketched out the bird a million times myself so I had an idea of the process and soul that went into the idea. Now it was just time for the positioning. I wanted it to be visible when I got it, so that whenever I looked down, I could be reminded of it's beauty. I eventually told my father I was getting a tattoo, despite the fact that I know he hates them. He went on a long speech about how I'll regret it and all, but he also went on to tell me that he would never stop me if I got it. I eventually decided that I would get it behind my left ear, because my forearm would be hard to cover for employment and I knew my father would hate my shoulder, seeing it was very open and revealing, and I knew that it would have to be bigger there, and I may not be ready for that ind of commitment. I get the tattoo on my eighteenth birthday, and I am absolutely in love with it now. My dad still doesn't get it, but that's ok. As long as I love it. Every time I look in the mirror, I take a peek behind my ear and just smile. I have a bird to carry me where ever I may go in life, and give me the freedom I need to find my life and passion. Here's the initial sketches I did for the tattoo, and then a picture of the actual tattoo the day after it was done. I decided to get it in blue ;) Enjoy.

sunsets.

Ripley's Aquarium Extras

Here's the photos not posted to flickr from my trip to Ripley's Aquarium with my biology class in no particular order.

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