Classmate Response [week five]: Lucas Chance

pants are too tight
and my ass creaks in them
like geriatric door hinges
muffin top turns to mushroom cloud
and folds over and swallows the belt
like a glutton gulps spaghetti

my cellulite is dynamite
it blows up and over
like deep fried atom bombs covered in cheese
my skinsides cracked like pavements
by the purple, vined witch fingers
called stretchmarks

huff up stairs, into cars
make dressing rooms cramed
pools overflow
benches break
i am fat, cracked, and a land yacht
but i cna dman well cook





This poem is awesome! The phrase land yacht makes me think about class last week when you said if you had to choose what boat you could you would choose a yacht. The bluntness of the poem is what I think makes it pop. My favorite lines are “and my ass creaks in them like geriatric door hinges muffin top turns to mushroom cloud”. Your poetry is very descriptive. The last line “but I can damn well cook” is a really good ending to this piece, it shows that while the person in this poem is describing this, they are okay with it because they can at least cook. Maybe you could further progress this piece by explaining more about the hips of this person.

Random impulse [week five]

Speak Now

Sitting in old Phillies’ Diner, I glance at my watch. 8:37 pm and still not here. The young waiter asks “can I get you something”? “No, they’ll be here, you just wait” I reply. I watch as John nervously glances over to Sally, knowing his time with her is almost up and she’s going to be $4,000 dollars richer. John loves her so much, but to her this is just business. The milk is stagnating in Sally’s coffee as the men covered in black burst through the doors, guns pointed high, screaming “give me all your money”! The waiter is frightened; he reaches for his gun as the robbers take point. Waiter down, Sally screams as another one bites the dust. At least Madge and Veronica were late; I couldn’t bear the idea of them dying too. I’m the last one standing, as I wait to feel the penetration of the bullet to my body, I glance outside and to my dismay Veronica’s horrified eyes are in lock with mine.

Random impulse [week five]

Like a Fish on a Line

You cast your line into the water again. As I start to get away you reel me back in. The hook pierces through my skin. As you pull me above water I slowly start to die. Trying to break free from the hook, I flail around in the air, but it’s to no prevail. Suffocated by air, my scales slowly start to flake off until there are none left and I am raw. You cut the flesh off my bones. Pick me apart piece by piece. Into your stomach I descend as nothing more than yesterday’s fresh meat.

Reading Response [week five]

The idea of the unvoiced intrigues me, stating that writing is not in what is said but more in how it is said. The idea of swift reversal is a good way of catching the reader’s attention and I actually tried that method and the writing that I came up with was very interesting. The more I read this book, the more I find that there are certain aspects of the writer’s opinions that I do not agree with. I enjoy reading this book, but it seems to go slowly in most sections.

Reading Response [week five]

The poem Burn Ward by B.H. Fairchild captivated me when we first read it in class. The poem is so beautiful in a dark sense. I enjoy the fact that an abstraction is being described by concrete ideas. “Empathy was an insult” could also be looked at when the nurse calmly “pours the gasoline on like a balm”, in order for her to understand how the patients in the burn ward were feeling she did the same to herself, which could also be considered an insult because the people in the burn ward did not elect to be put in that situation but the nurse did, so now that she has the ability to empathize, her empathy is insulting to the other patients who are going through the same situation. The fact that “a kind of fog or frozen lake lay between her and the patient, far away” is the state of limbo that is between the two forms of consciousness and being. The idea that the nurse is “lost and searching in the frozen dark” is describing the place in the journey where she is at in order to be able to truly feel the empathy for the patients.

Junkyard quotes [week five]

1. I don't like your world being so volatile. It's definitely not condusive to keeping your head from exploding. -Megan Kelley

2. Just got a call from Sloan-Kettering today informing me that while they were impressed with my application, the committee did not feel comfortable with granting a fellowship to someone so young. They did tell me that it would be a "privilege to work with someone so talented in the future." Hi, there Disappointment! I'm Justin, and I have a feeling you and I are going to be spending an awful lot of time together! -Justin Puckett

3.Got an email from Emory University's Research Program today. To quote the message "Dear Emory Applicant [Insert Last Names O-S]." It's nice to know they care. -Justin Puckett

4. Just got a 95 on a test I barely studied for. I feel like I'm in high school again. -Cami Rose

5.Someone just asked how the professor got -1 from i^2. Someone's failing.... -Zack Danielak

Classmate Response [week four]: Yeeva Cheng

Backward To Do List


Walk
Run three laps at the gym (check)
Copy the alphabet in cursive
Sign divorce papers (check)
2+2=
Review Tommy’s math homework (check)
Major in Anthropology
Leave for the office by 7 (check)
Eat mango ice cream
Buy mango-scented bath soap (check)



I found this very entertaining; while at some points can be a little confusing. It seems very jumpy; in a good way, which I understand is how it is supposed to be, but at some points it can be hard to follow where you are going. I like how this piece has some things that are done and others that are not. It is easier to understand reading it from the bottom to the top. I really like how the “2+2=” jumps to “review Tommy’s math homework”. The idea of the problem not being finished just as the list is not is probably one my favorite things about this piece. After reading the lines “copy the alphabet in cursive” and “sign the divorce papers” a couple of times I finally understood how you got from one idea to the other, which I actually really like how the reader is brought from the first idea to the second. Maybe adding another line before or after the “major in Anthropology” line could help further explain the idea of that specific line. I enjoyed the lightheartedness of this piece and the personality that is given to the person in this piece. Good job!

Random impulse [week four]

The Devil Wears Prada is no longer playing on our radio. Instead of intense music, Christopher Drew spouts out songs about cliché situations. The phrase “that word just wears me out” constantly repeats itself, wearing me out.



As I place my USB flash drive in my computer, fresh with music Kyrk downloaded last night, the first band I notice is The Devil Wears Prada. Closed Casket Requiem forever repeating itself on my computer and in my head. As the sound reverberates out, the first memory that comes to mind is of that blazingly hot summer day. While I’m driving down Clem Lowell Road, you ask if I have any of The Devil Wears Prada. “Yes”, I reply. Closed Casket Requiem is the first song chosen. The car tires fresh with air, lackadaisically bounce up and down the hills, while the windows slowly warp due mainly to the heat. The car is full of hot air and music as, for the last time, I drive down that familiar road to your favorite store, Walgreens.

Random impulse [week four]

Day job? Why only that?

Now, why stay unhappy here?
Leave, enjoy, explore.

Junkyard quotes [week four]

1. Remember, art is about figuring out which mistakes to keep. -Leah Johnson
2. I have now officially carressed your ankle. -Leah Moore
3. It's a new Tuesday and everybody is orange. -Leah Johnson
4. We sing what we know, not how it goes. -Kelly Johnson
5. My arches are killing me.

Reading Response [week three]

Homage to my hips is an awesome poem. Lucille Clifton is an interesting poet. I really enjoy her eloquent and direct way of speaking. Her direct manner of speaking makes her poetry easier to understand, this poem is not something that a person needs to read over and over again and breakdown to understand, but on the other hand rereading the poem can help a person dissect what Lucille is trying to say and what voice she is speaking in. My favorite lines are “they don’t fit into little petty places” and “these hips are magic hips. I have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top”. Her poetry makes her very relatable. I feel that she describes what women who have big hips think but never really say. This woman that is being referred to is very empowering, she says she does what she wants, “these hips are free hips”, while never letting them be “enslaved”. I enjoyed the kind of light-hearted sentiment of the poem. Chapter three voice in Word of Mouth was an intense read, while I enjoyed reading the chapter, some of the things mentioned took a while to set in, but I am looking forward to going back and reading this chapter later on in the semester.




I feel so far that chapter four, style, in Word of Mouth has by far been my favorite chapter to read. With the other chapters, I felt that I was in a sense just drowning in the words on the pages, but with this chapter I did not find myself in the same position. I also really enjoyed the fact that this chapter was semi-short. I liked that the first section in this chapter was Styles versus Style. I felt that this was a great way to introduce the chapter. The recursive method was really enjoyable to try out; the idea of “the power of repetition” is an awesome one. I enjoyed starting to write and seeing where that led me in the sense of letting my words repeat as well as letting them evolve into their own work. Gertrude Stein’s recursive style of writing is fun to read and tricky to say at the same time. What she writes does not really make sense, but she also lets the reader follow her ideas and shows them how she got to where she was going from beginning to end. Professor Ellison’s poem was a good read; I like how she talks about rifles and men leaning on towers.

Classmate Response [week three]: Joshua West

To be sublime is to be aware. To be aware anywhere. Anywhere one can be sublime. Or one's Third Eye can be Blind(ha). Blind is what is not sublime, blind is an unseeing third eye. One blind eye is better than three. But three is where I wish to be. Beside you, with all my eyes, that would be sublime. On the docks fully aware of the way your hair is not blind, but sublime. Anywhere, anywhere, anyone, anyhow, anytime, any place, any plane, one can be sublime. One in line of one long line of lyrical logic. Like leprechauns leaping like lemurs lapping liquid LSD. One can be sublime.


I really enjoyed reading this piece. You very clearly outline your train of thought, the lack of jumping around into ideas that the reader cannot see happening is very much appreciated. Sublime means impressing the mind with a sense of grandeur or power; inspiring awe, veneration and I like how you referred to sublime as an awareness that can happen anywhere. My favorite line is “anywhere, anywhere, anyone, anyhow, anytime, any place, any plane, one can be sublime”. The part where you mention “any plane” is fascinating. I feel that you could expand more on that idea to maybe lengthen the thought even more. The “like leprechauns leaping like lemurs lapping liquid LSD” fits well with LSD because that’s kind of a trippy statement. I enjoyed how sublime started out as an action that a person can do ended with sublime meaning something a person can be. I find the kind of metaphysical aspect of the third eye being mentioned and how it can be blind, and which for a lot of people is the case. Maybe you could expand on the idea of three being where you wish you could be. This is a really interesting and fascinating piece.

Random impulse [week three]

Meg and Sally have been best friends since they were little. They consider themselves “soul sisters” because they’ve been connected at the hip since the day that Sally’s mother, Sharon, moved next door to Meg and her family in May of 1996. Rarely has anyone found one of the girls without the other. For their eighteenth birthdays they had matching tattoos done on their wrists that were two hearts side-by-side with the words best friends in the middle. One day Sharon briefly mentioned to Sally and Meg that the local skating rink Dazzles was hiring two people for stocking and cleaning. The girls applied for the job, and knew they were shoo-ins because Sharon is really good friends with the hiring manager. That fall the girls started working at Dazzles. One Saturday night Dazzles was particularly busy and the shift manager, Dana, never showed up. Sally was worried because Dana always shows up at least an hour early to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Outside was cold, damp and dreary. Sally started confiding in Meg her fears for Dana, because something just didn’t feel right. Meg agreed and called Dana’s phone but received no answer. Meg and Sally started stocking the shipment of food that came in earlier that day, trying to ignore their impending fears. As Sally placed a crate of Cherry Coke on the top shelf, all of the lights went out and the fire alarm turned on. Sally searched to try and find Meg so they could evacuate the building together. Try as she might, Meg was nowhere to be found. Sally figured that Meg left without her and she would find her outside. When Sally finally got outside, all of the workers were off in the corner discussing something that was inaudible to Sally. Sally frantically ran over to her coworkers and realized that Meg was not there. All of the employees decided that they would go back inside and try and find Meg. Sally jumped in her car and got her flashlight to go back inside with. The second Sally walked something just felt wrong to her, Meg was not alright. Sally started walking into one of the backrooms. With her flashlight she looks around and spots something on the white wall. All of the sudden, the lights come back on. Sally breathes a sigh of relief until she notices what’s on the wall, blood everywhere. She lets out an ear-piercing scream. In the corner of the room there is an arm that has a tattoo on the wrist with the words best friends in the middle of two hearts. Sally decides she is going to find Meg if it is the last thing she does. She starts running through all of the stock rooms and finds Meg’s limp body hunched over a shipment of soda. Sally runs over to Meg and starts shaking her. Meg’s eyes widen and the lights cut out and the last thing that is heard is the sound of someone’s scream.   

Random impulse [week three]

I particularly enjoyed the activities we did in class this week, and this is my piece that I made in class on Wednesday. Professor Ellison mentioned that we should try and take something cliché and see where that goes, which is exactly what I did.

 Broken heart. Heart breaking. Taking lives, breaking lives. Shaking doors, breaking broken. Broken tokes. Token broken. Showing token. Token showing. Token toked. Smoked the broke. Broke the broke. Taking breaking. Shaking, taking down the sea. Sea of dreams. Dreams of knee. Broken foot, broken knows. I’ll show you broken toes. Toes? Too many knows, cat broken. Vat token. Broken heart, breaking hearts. Darts to broken cat, knowing that. Knowing known, showing shown. Time has taken, always breaking.

Junkyard quotes [week three]

1. It sure is a sad reflection of our society when the people who go above and beyond academically are criticized, threatened, and painted poorly by our "unbiased" media, but congrats on your achievements! We're all here for you -Nneoma Ahuruonye

2. I'm pretty sure I'm more excited about the prospect of having good spaghetti when I get home tonight then I was about getting a car... I really want some good food. -Matthew Kelley

3. If anyone sees me around campus and I don't say hey, it's because I'm not wearing my contacts and couldn't tell it was you. -Matthew John Anderson

4. In the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces. -Zap Brannigan

5.  I have definitely been partaking in a bit too much college experimentation....yesterday I had my first Pumpernickel and Everything bagels ever, and today I've had my first Poppy Seed bagel and Egg bagel. So much cream cheese was consumed. There were no survivors. -Brennan Ross