"All Sorts" by Melanie Albanese

As I look towards the ground,

I see all sorts of brands.

Jimmy Choo, Nike, and more.

But I also see my bare, dirty feet.

As I look up,

I see all sorts of styles.

Ponytails, dreadlocks, and more.

But I also remember my choppy, dirty hair.

As I look to my right,

I see all sorts of bags.

Coach, Adidas, and more.

But I also can feel my worn out, dirty sheet sack

I don't know what to think,

when I see these people.

But I do know one thing.

I'm tired of this mournful, dirty lifestyle.

Literature Circle Blog

          
            First They Killed My Father Blog
       
           For our book, "Fist They Killed My Father", our essential question was "What obstacles does Loung have to overcome before and after the war?". We now know the answers. We know this answer due to multiple quotes and exhibited emotions. One of many quotes that helped answer the essential question was "The Khmer Rouge lied. They have won the war, and we cannot go back. You have to forget about Phnom Penh.". I believe that this quote is a great demonstration of overcoming obstacles because it is a quote that is about sacrificing your home, which is a hard thing to do. It also is a quote that stacks on a lot of other actions and emotions for the main character that might relate to sacrifice .
___________________________________________________

     Although this book was narrated from a first person perspective, different people can inform people on topics, the Cambodian War in this case, in different ways. But can all these ways be successful in doing so? Yes, they can! In the following writing, I will demonstrate why.

  Let's say I have access to two different ways to understand more about the Cambodian war. The "First they Killed my Father" book and "The Khmer Rouge and Cambodia", an article about the Cambodian war. Upon reading this book, I automatically know that the book is about the war, much like the article. But can it be possible that these two sources are alike in information? It can certainly be possible! I know this because of multiple quotes that have true details on the war. Quotes such as "The organization was headed by a man named Pol Pot." from the article and "I hate the soldiers now as much as I hate their leader, Pol Pot" from the book obviously have a strong correlation that can tell almost any person that you can get information on the same topic in different ways.

      


    

Poetry Reflection

     
 Superman has the power to fly. Spiderman has the power to climb walls. But poetry has the power to take over someone's emotions. One reason poetry can be a vital part of one's life is because it allows you to express your emotions and feelings without being ridiculed and mocked by your peers. Poetry can be about anything. It can be about love, freedom, independence, depression, and much more. It can be expressed through a whimsical, rhyming poem or a deep, spine poem that pulls at your heart strings.  Poetry has also played into my life. I has allowed me to share deep, contained secrets about me without being an object of scorn or mockery. It has allowed me to let my true self be displayed in a way that make others second guess their assumptions and misconceptions about me. It has allowed me to be myself.

       If a poet has experienced real life events that have made a major impact on their life, I believe that it does affect their writing and creativity. The reason I believe this is because of the millions upon billions of different topics addressed in poetry. A lot of poets right about different things with different tones. For example, you see one poem about the poet's unrequited love. This story is most likely very sad. The poem right next to it is about the poem's experience with meeting the love of their life. This story is most likely very cheerful. So, if personal experiences have absolutely no impact on one's writing, then how come a poet's tone depend on the experience.















Above, there are two poems. The first is about being hurt by others. The mood is obviously sad and negative. The poem to the right is a nonsense poem. The mood is obviously comedic and positive. But how come we know which poems mood and intentions are right after reading the first sentence? Well, it is both the format and the poem's content that set it's mood. For the poem on the left, a color that is very present is black. This color is normally associated with depression and loneliness. Another indicator that the poem is intended to sadden are the buzzwords used in the poem. These include pain, push, shield, etc. These words can make people feel negative emotions. For the poem on the left, a color that is present is bright green. A color that can be associated with natural positivity. The buzzwords in this poem also can be associated with comedy as well. These words are nonsense and whimsical.

Poems written by me:
Nonfiction Poem
Bio Poem
Where I'm From Poem
Spine Poem
Found Poem
Nonsense Poem

Where I'm From Poem

As I walk through my neighborhood,

people in the distance stare at me with a curious look on their face,

I know what others think about me.

They think i’m spoiled. Careless. Selfish

I know they’re wrong.

I must overcome adversities like everyone else in this world.

I’ve had to bounce from house to house.

I’ve had to sacrifice my valuable items.

I’ve had to overcome.

Found Poem

 "I hope that I was the one to say a compliment that let you get to the top"

   The message I tried to convey was that you should and aspire to not only let yourself succeed, but help others too. I did this by giving an example of someone that is trying to recall a moment where she asked the reader and self-reflect's her past actions.

Bio Poem

Nonsense Poem

"A Company Changed Forever"

 "A Company Changed Forever" by Melanie Albanese

 Über was once a company of praise 

that provided people transport on good and bad days.

But soon that changed forever.

You might be wondering, what happened one day,

that sent flocks of average travelers away?

Well, it starts with a person, like you and I,

who felt a little too trigger-happy that very same night.

The man started his "pickups" at 5:42,

but what was coming up, the passengers hadn't a clue.

Bang! Shoot! What awful sounds,

that were heard from almost everyone around.

After the seven hour shooting spree,

6 people remained dead, newcomers to the deceased.

After this rampage was heard nationwide,

people had know Uber was involved with this sad homicide.

It got people questioning the safety of others.

Wouldn't it be easy for a driver to kill my brothers?

So like geese in snow, people fled the app.

Leaving the system with no one to clap.

Spine Poem Blog

"It only takes a moment,
The notebook,
The kite runner,
The cottage,
lost and found"

The main message that I tried to capture is that different items, no matter how important, can be lost and/or found in a second. I chose the three spines in the middle to give an example of objects that can be lost or found. I also tried to make sure the objects differentiated from one another to make the main message more visible in the spine poem.