For my blog on Chicago Poems, I’ll just comment on a few of the poems that made an impression with me.
1) Chicago: I love how this poem refers to the old Chicago, but still makes sense today. I especially noted the attitude – the poem talks about Chicago being so violent and dirty, but then turns around, “Come and show me another city with lifted head singing so proud to be alive and coarse and strong and cunning.” I don’t know why this really seemed to stand out to me, but I feel like we still have that same pride. Chicago is a lot better now and we have more to be proud of, but Chicago still has that attitude – so what if the Bears suck, they’re the Bears goddammit. And yeah, it’s a tough city, but if you don’t like that then it’s YOUR problem. If you can’t hang, get out of town. We’re Chicago.
2) Picnic Boat: I really enjoyed how visual this poem was. It’s as if you’re looking at the lake, and as you read the poem, your eyes are adjusting to the darkness, and details begin to fill in. You see the lights, the boat, and it really transports you.
3) Happiness: Everyone in class liked this poem and I can see why. How true of anywhere and any day it is. Most of all, this poem is just relatable. It’s makes me think of stupid corporate buzz words from my previous life, like “work-life balance.” We should all just read this poem once in a while. How clever.
4) Mag: Wow. That’s all I wrote next to this poem in my book. It makes me sad, really, to think this is someone’s true feelings (is it?). I thought that people who messed up and had kids when they didn’t want kids always ended up not regretting it anyway, once they see their babies and all... but not this guy apparently. I can’t really imagine someone this miserable writing the rest of these poems. I feel really sorry for Mag. Jeesh.
Overall Chicago Poems is 5 Stars for me. I’m not a poetry person but this was a nice read.
Brenda
Ha! It worked!
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