In Elizabeth Acevedo’s poem “Iron” she explores the complexity of the world with love and intimacy. The poem uses vivid imagery and metaphors to show the speaker’s experiences of love and the intricacies of relationships. One line from the poem that shows this is “ I have clasped this man inside me and released him again, listening to him die thousands of little deaths” ; capturing the emotional depth of the speaker to their partner highlighting the idea of the painful nature of love that it is not always the perfect happy thing.

lways the perfect happy thing.

The poet I chose was Langston Hughes poem “ The Negro Mother” write in 1931. This poem is about how the mother is telling “ children” why she is coming back to tell them a story of how her life went and how she was getting treated. The poem reflects the generation of sacrifice of African American Women and the unwavering dedication to find freedom and justice. 

Both poems showcase the theme of struggles , perseverance and resilience both focusing on African American history one on more women history and the other on deaths of the African Americans.Both authors share a deep connection to info readers and create a deeper understanding on struggle and perseverance. 

The structure of Acevdo’s poem helps the reader understand how using stanzas and line breaks can not only create a visual impact but a emotional one with how the pace of the poem is read the space in the poem create moments of tension, release , and reflection on what you just read as the reader. She also uses emphasis and contrast on the placement of center stanzas such as the continued use  of the phase “ I am not”  . It is isolated within the poem and when you read it you can feel exactly how She is feeling in the moment, how she isn’t the thing that the African American people are having done to them.

The shift in the poem happens very early on. I feel as though in the first stanza the initial tone of the speaker is set on their perspective on love and intimacy. The speaker says that they are not a “bullet” and will not hurt others, setting a thoughtful and self observing tone. Then we see a shift right away in the second stanza when the imagery changes to examining a body and exploring the physical aspect of the intimate relationship making the tone become more darker showing the complexity  of real emotions and human connection : how she is connected to the incent people getting killed. 

In conclusion, Elizabeth Acevedo’s Poem “Iron” and Langston Hughes poem “The Negro Mother” bring use a better understanding of the feeling and true history on the part of being African American writers. Elizabeth Acevedo showcases her feelings through her speaker of the poem’s feelings through the videos and pictures of the deaths that happen. (480)

In Elizabeth Acevoedo’s poem “After He’s Decided to Leave”. She skillfully navigates  the emotional aftermath of a relationship’s ending. It captures the complexities of  damaged and challenging relationships. One line that represents this  is, “ The red stain on my chest bloomed pungent, soaked any apology”.

This line vividly capaperts the aftermath of a moment of rupture , both literal and metaphorical. The imagery of the red stain symbolized the physical remnants of a broken bottle but also the emotional scars that were left behind . The suffocating scent evokes a sense of lingering regret , highlighting the complexity of forgiveness and healing.

The song that can relate to her poem is “Someone Like You” by Adele. Its iconic song explores heartbreak, longing and then acceptance in a failed relationship. The haunting melody and moving lyrics mirror the emotional idea of Acevedo’s poem. The emotion and vulnerability in both creates a powerful movement between the woks. They Both show a depth of loss and longing for an ending of a relationship.   

Acevedo uses metaphors and smiles throughout her whole poem.She compares the stain to a bloom and likening the emotional burden to a weight adds complexity to the speaker. She also uses personification to inoculate an object with an emotional connection such as “ pale-colored kitchen floor” this adds the sense of inner feelings and external environment.

She also creates a vivid picture of what is going on around her. The speaker points out how she used his t-shirt to clean up the mess on the floor. Also on how he prepared boxes to leave, Showing a passage of time as well. She uses this to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. 

The theme throughout the poem is love , loss and resilience drawing on the universal experience of heartbreak.  Through these allusions of the speaker’s journey there is her own heartbreak and how she had to experience the griff and loss of a lover.

The relevance of Acevoedo’s life is what makes the poem so heartfelt.Her abilities to draw a personal experience and emotion in her writing creates a deep connection  for the reader. As she writes she takes in mine her personal experiences to make such a powerful and moving piece. 

In conclusion, Elizabeth Acevedo’s “After He’s Decided to Leave” and Adele’s “Someone Like You” are powerful examples of a human experience through heartbreak. These both complement each other. Elizabeth Acevedo also uses her skillful poetic persona and vivid imagery. Acevedo lets her readers in on a journey of the speaker as she figures of the pathway for her heartbreak and self-discovery.

(431)

In my search for the perfect poem to analyze from my pick of a poet Elizabeth Acevedo I came upon the poem “date”(pg.75). This one seemed too easy. It was a simple exploration on a date but it was not a date. They were just hanging out so it was a “non–date”. It was simple to read and comprehend what was going on.As I Continued to find my perfect poem i came upon “ The Last Fifteen-Year-Old”(pg.126) , was powerful in its portrayal of adolescence and how growing up is complicated for a young girl, however i did quite get the full meaning of the poem this one was on the harder side for me to comperned. The One that caught my attention that was just right for me was “Diplomas“(pg.171), with it its exploration of identity and societal expectations.
The poem “Diplomas” is a powerful and provocative route to explore the expectations and the pressure to conform. This is all shown through imagery and evocative language.Acevedo is highlighting the importance of education and self empowerment.
The poem begins with the speaker addressing her desire to go to college. She wanted to pursue higher education and her independence however the speaker quickly states the societal expectation that going away to college means that she is going to “ open your legs for any boy with a big enough slime,” this challenges He woman’s worth will always just be tied to her sexual availability.
Acevedo introduced that the speaker comes from a immigration background which also Acevedo has , both her parents come from the Dominican Republic.The speaker state that was her parents coming to a new country the reason that she questions the sacrifice her parents were solely for the purpose of bearing a child coming from the line “ so you can carry a diploma in your belly but never a degree?” Highlight that she doesn’t want a degree and stereotyping women to only want motherhood and not education.
The poem concluded with the line “Tu no vas a ser un maldito cuero” which means you are not going to be a damn whore this is challenging the expectations of women in our society that we are just toys that everything is based on looks or our body. That women could want to have an education and the speaker’s refusal to conform to those expectations.
The structure of the poem is free verse and in the shape of a pregnant girl. It’s shaped like this to draw you in on how someone can talk about the reason women go to school is so they can sleep around and not have an education to finish to actually receive their diploma. Therefore the title contexts the poem as she wants to grow with her education and receive her diploma but her mother thinks it’s for her to have a “ diploma in her belly”.
Overall the poem is challenging the work of society norms to the self importance of an education. That everyone should be able to get a degree and an education over wanting to go into motherhood.(515)

“Playground Elegy” by Clint Smith is a moving piece that explores the themes of childhood, innocence, and the harsh realities of growing up. Smith uses the playground as a metaphor for the integrity of childhood and the inevitable loss that comes with growing up. 

Smith’s use of imagery is unique. His mom telling him to “Hold my hands towards the sky” is the opening sentence, creating this picture with his hands raised, which you will see again throughout the poem. You have this vivid picture of a child or you when you were little with your hands up in the air having the time of your life going down the slide. the Slide is a symbolic reference to childhood and growing up.

  Smith uses the title “Playground Elegy” as a metaphor to explain how time changes everything. A playground was once a place of joy and laughter. Now, it is a place of sadness and grief where “When I read of the new child, his body strewn across the street, a casket of bones & concrete, I wonder how many times he slid down the slide.” this sense of incense that has been taken away.

The use of the question “Does my mother regret this?” The middle of the poem shows the growth he has learned and the curiosity he has experienced when he sees the little kids getting killed, wondering if he raised his hands. Does she regret “that she raised a black boy” to think that the only way to survive is if the hands are held to the sky? The use of repetition at the end of the poem ties back to the beginning of the verse, where it talks about the hands being raised and how they were taught from a young age that the “raised hands meant I was alive.” 

He structures the poem diagonally downward to represent going down a slide. He also symbolizes that as you move down in life, and this slide, the tone gets deeper into how life will not always be all fun and games. 

In conclusion, The poem reflects the loss of innocence as you get older and the harsh realities of growing up. It is a reminder that growing up is inevitable, but the memories and the lessons learned from your childhood will forever remain.

This assessment that we were given has opened my eyes to all the fantastic books I read, from Cruise Gorge to the latest book, black hearts, white minds. All these books have played a different role in my reader’s journey and how I have grown as a reader. I am not your average reader; I would rather listen to a book than hold a copy in my hand, but these four books I have picked for you will hold a special place in my heart.

Book one: Pinkilicious was one of the few books where I had all the series memorized from start to finish, but the first book will hold a special place in my heart as it was the book I read for story time before bed. It is about a little girl named Pinkerton who is obsessed with everything pink and would only eat pink foods, mostly pink cupcakes. She went to bed and woke up the next day. She couldn’t eat any more pink foods, only green and healthy things. The story’s moral concerns are the foods we put in our bodies and how if we don’t eat healthily, “we could turn pink.” This book is one of the reasons why, at a young age,I watched what I ate, did not eat crazy, and ate healthily

Book two: In the third grade, I got diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome, a visual perception processing disorder that causes headaches, Slow or inefficient reading, Poor reading comprehension, and text and environment look different (another way of saying I have a terrible case of Dyslexia.)My 7th grade English teacher (finding out) recommended the book A Fish In a Tree. This book meant a lot to me because the character Ally Nickerson has Dyslexia as well. She faced many troubles and got bullied for it. She did not know why she was different and could not read as well as her classmates.This book shows that great minds do not think alike.  This book shows that great minds do not think alike.  The book’s title, A Fish in a Tree, was trying to show that you should not judge the abilities of others, just like you should judge the fish’s abilities to climb a tree.

Book 4: This final book is significant to me and my family. My great Great Aunt was a survivor of the Holocaust. I am a person who loves to know about her heritage and what my family has been through. The Journey of Abe and Renia Schwartz: From Darkness to the American Dream. This book is about their \survival from the Nazis’ brutality, Auschwitz, and Bergen Belsen. We discover how they met after the war, rebuilt their lives together, journeyed to America, and achieved the American Dream. I was blessed that I was able to meet Renia, although I was too little to remember. Their life story will always be a critical factor in my reading journey as I got to read what they had been through as I got older. If they can change their lives after serving the Holocaust, we can push through everything.