Gazelle: Post Two

      For the second half of the book I chose to focus more on word play and deeper meanings in poems as I felt her style leaned more this way. It seemed she became more honest and passionate about the world and it's current state. She reached out and grabbed my attention in new ways this part of the book.
      The first poem I chose was "Jerusalem". For once she discusses what she wants in the first lines, and lets you actually read something that points directly at her ideals. She then looks back to her father's childhood when a rock is thrown at his head. This leaves a scar that she could still feel for years after. When explained, the book who through the rock claims he was throwing it at a bird. The last line of the stanza claims, "And my father started growing wings". This alludes to the fact that it wasn't a mistake and that the boy still indeed was aiming for a bird. This could represent the fact that in some way or another her father will always be a "target"; if it means for his religion, his migration to the U.S, or for other reasons.
      She then goes on to claim that we all have a tender spot such as this one, and that it is something our lives forgot to give us. Which I took as a physical reminder that we have a weakness, or a part of us that is different. The little boy in the next stanza is painting yet another bird with wings, after he claims that he doesn't like wars. She uses the word "monument" twice in the poem, once to represent a memoir from a war, and another to explain how slow we are to stop the awful wars and such in the world. I believe she is drawing a connection here by using the word twice.
     Her last stanza points to the future. This is her way from her father, to a current little boy discussing wars, to tomorrow of creating an essence of time and how little has changed.
     In Nye's poem "The Tray", she shortly and sweetly describes the way that tea is carried out on trays in the same ways, no matter what is going on in the world. She talks about how it is an actual form of communication, and in passing tea, they pass their feelings and opinions. While the last poem addressed time periods and things not changing in a bad way, this poem discusses consistency in something good. There is a comfort in the form of tea and company that is correlated with the ritual, and it always seems to be the same for her, whether it is sorrowing or not. The circle on the tray that the cups appear in represents never ending connectedness, like a ring. They are always connected and understanding with one another as long as the tray is there. I liked that this was a good example of something that never changed, whether it was for her or for her culture it was unknown. I think that's nice, as it was solely about her comfort, and there were not many poems in which she really paid attention to herself.