Only a Grandma

Every year the same.
They show up
just a couple days before.

The suitcases drop
and to the kitchen she goes.

The roller is pulled from
the dark depths
dusted,
and dropped into
a pile of supplies
that we're brought
just for her.

Counters are cleared,
flour sprinkled,
and the show begins.

Not a recipe in sight;
it's all over in 20 minutes.

Green, crisp apples for my dad
rhubarb and strawberries and blueberries too.
Chocolate if we're lucky.
Cinnamon and sugar over the extra
strips of crust for a midnight snack.

Now we have dessert for the next two weeks.

Human Condition by Thom Gunn

The first thing you notice about this poem is the way it is set up. In every stanza there are 6 lines and the lines are relatively short. There is also a interesting rhyme pattern of A, B, C, B,C, A. The combination of these things makes for an interesting rhythm. When you read the first line, there seems to be a rhythm, but as you keep reading, it seem as though the author is justing writing down thoughts and the rhyme scheme seems forgetten. The result is a little bit unsettling. I feel like I want to rhyme at different times than the author does and it makes me feel uncomfortable. This feeling goes very well with the idea of the poem which seems to be the discomfort the author feels with being exposed and alone. It is implied by the title that this feeling is a very normal and almost an expected part of living life and being a human.

For the Sleepwalkers by Edward Hirsch

I thought that the main theme of this poem wasn't really discovered until the second half where the author starts talking about our hearts. At the beginning, he makes it seem that he is talking only about the interesting idea of sleepwalking, but then he mentions that "our hearts are leaving our bodies." Our hearts are out in the world trying to get to certain things, but then they are forced to "fly back" to our bodies. This comparison goes back to the safety the sleepwalker feels. They go where they want to without being afraid just like our hearts do. So then, the theme the author is trying to tell us that we need to just let our bodies have a little faith in what our heart wants. Sleepwalkers welcome things that are normally scary like darkness. In the same way, we need to welcome things that our heart wants even they are scary. And the whole reason we need to do this is so that we can find nourishment from a place that we never would have found if we hadn't tried. It's kind of like the saying "You miss every shot you don't take." In the second stanza he uses the comparison between a stairs and a window, and a doorway and mirror. It's the difference between just watching and actually doing something.

Another sidenote that I just thought was kind of cool was how the author started the poem with the word "tonight". That really emphasizes the sleepwalking and darkness idea that starts the poem.