Monday Muses

 In class we looked at a poem called My Childhood by Matthew Zapruder. The poem made me think about all the things I have in my life now, it also made me think about what I need never to forget. The poem also made me think deeper into the authors words, and find my own meaning behind them. 

A line I really thought about and struck me deep in my heart was the 10th line of the poem. The line goes like this "one square of light on the wall waiting patiently". This line reminded me of when my parents would leave me with a babysitter while they went out, and I would never be able to fall asleep. But when they came home, they would always talk in the hall outside my bedroom door, and I would wait for them to come in and check on me. Before my parents came in, my door was ajar and I could see a small patch of light against my wall, but when my parents did come in, they would block the light, and to me, that always meant that they were really home. This line shows that I found my own meaning behind the poem because that light the author was talking about, brought me back to those nights, the nights when I was younger, and for me, that's what a good poem should do. 

"I will learn my multiplication tables." This is a line that every kid can relate to. The learning of multiplication tables is like an act of growing up. I had a very hard time learning my multiplication tables. In fourth grade, each week we would take a timed multiplication test to see how much and how fast we could do 100 multiplication problems. I would get 60's and 70's and then I would get so upset, I would take like ten practice tests each night and then take out all my anger after I got a question wrong, on my dad. Yep, that's right, I got really mad, like red face about to blow mad, whenever I would get a bad grade on my multiplication tables! To me this was the worst thing that could have happened, and that is the case for most any child. Now, even though I haven't gone through any serious trauma, I still know, that is not nearly the worst thing that will happen to you. The author used this line to show how things become more and less of a priority as you get older. 

This poem makes you think, it lets you relate. That's, in my opinion, what makes a great poem. A person who can write about his own life, but make it kind of vague so everyone can relate to it. People really only can understand something if they know what they think the poem is trying to say. For example, if the entire poem is about how the author got raped or something, through out the whole poem, you won't be feeling what the author is trying to get you tho feel, you'll be feeling bad for her. Poems are supposed to make you feel, make you think.

My Childhood

by Matthew Zapruder

the orange ball arcs perfectly into the orange hoop

making a sound like a drawer closing

you will never get to hold that

I am here and nothing terrible will ever happen

across the street the giant white house full of kids

turns the pages of an endless book

the mother comes home and finds the child animal sleeping

I left my notebook beside the bed

the father came home and sat and quietly talked

one square of light on the wall waiting patiently

I will learn my multiplication tables

while the woman in the old photograph looks in a different direction