For this poem I had to connect a topic from Shakespear to my own life. I chose to write about my mom because my topic is about love. I look forward to reading your comments!
The Universe Within Us
Ever since
you left the sanctuary
of your home,
Gunshot after gunshot
Scream past your ear
But all you do is run.
You run and run because although half of you
Is trembling with fear,
And dripping with tears,
The other half of you wants nothing more
But to hear the cries of tu primera hija
At least once more
before the tears of being separated from the arms that once held her and blocked the dangers of the world out
Become deeper with the pain the other half of the world has to offer
Before,
The border splitting the earth,
Splits you too.
You haven’t stopped running since.
The borders haven’t stopped splitting your body either.
Sideways, upwards, downwards.
Parts of you filled with fear,
Some filled with shame,
And yet another filled with the spanish you’ve learned to silence
Because something about the sharpness of your tongue
And the thickness of your accent
Brings out the bravery beneath the cracks,
The wholeness beneath the broken,
And the beauty hidden by the hate.
Y todos sabemos,
That borders cant stand
If there’s something stronger and taller
Capable of breaking them down.
You haven’t stopped running since.
Parts of you running with the brightness within you
Trying to drive out the darkness that surrounds you,
Trying to close up on you
Just like all the other borders
orbiting around you.
You haven’t stopped running since,
Trying to get ahold of the world
That was taken from your hands
By hateful eyes,
And too many people
Forcing your nights
To be filled with cries.
You’re trying to get ahold of the world that was once in your hands
Just to give it to me.
Because despite the tornados spiraling inside my body
And the black hole in my mind trying to to grab on to any negative thought
That brings out the darkness in my eyes,
All you see is the sun,
The planets orbiting it,
And the stars that decorate the universe with the light you believe I deserve to feel instead.
Ama,
You see the light in the world
And inside me too.
Ama, when will you stop running?
When will you let us finish for you?
When will you realize that the world
You want to get ahold of
Is already inside of me
Because it’s inside you too.
Dear Jessica,
Thank you for reading and replying to my poem! The part of your comment that stood out to me was when you wrote “This stood out to me because I think it really brings out your topic”. Can you ellaborate on what you mean by that? Also, do you think those lines mean anything? If so can you explain because I’d like to know what others get out of my poem and if it’s different than what I was trying to say. Look forward to hearing back!
Dear Judith
I am very touched by your poem, “The Universe Within Us”, because the relationship that you show in your poem of you and your mom is beautifully shown with all the metaphors that you use of the universe. One part of your poem that stands for me is where you wrote, “And the stars that decorate the universe with the light you believe I deserve to feel instead”. This stood out to me because I can tell that you really put a lot of effort into this poem. Also, I like how the title of your poem matches the poem really nicely. Another part that I stood out to me is the last six lines. This stood out to me because I think it really brings out your topic. Thanks for your poem. I look forward to what you make next because this poem was amazing.
Dear Judith, I think your poem is really interesting because it’s crazy to think that people have had to go through these experiences. I really like how you included a lot of metaphors into your poem as well, it’s really creative and meaningful. My favorite line was “Trying to get ahold of the world
That was taken from your hands
By hateful eyes,” because it made me think about how we really have this problem in the world right now. The hate part is also true and I like how you put in the word “eyes” because they don’t see some people as human.
Dear Calvin,
Thank you reading and replying to my poem!:) I wanted to adress what you meant when you wrote “…it made me think about how we really have this problem in the world right now”. Can you elaborate on what problem you are talking about. Also, a line that stood out to me in your reply is when you wrote “…because they don’t see some people as human” because your perspective on that line and what you think it means is a little bit different than how I would describe it.
-Judith
Dear Judith
Thank you so much for sharing your poetry. A line that stood out to me was “Trying to drive out the darkness that surrounds you,
Trying to close up on you
Just like all the other borders
orbiting around you.” because it really described how Trump is separating families and taking away kids.
A connection I made to your poem was close to an movie I saw.
Your poem also reminded me of a beautiful description of a love movie.
Thank you so much for writing and I look forward to reading your next post.
Mikayla
Dear Mikayla,
Thank you for reading and replying to my poem! A line that stood out to me was when you talked about the connection you made with my poem and a movie you saw. What movie is that? Why did it connect to my poem? Did it connect in a good way?
Thanks!
Judith