Response to "This Is Just to Say"

This poem is in response to William Carlos Williams' poem "This Is Just to Say" which can be found here

thank you for getting me breakfast

I accidently took
the entire bag
that I found in 
the fridge

I didn't realize
til much later
that there were 2 bagels
in the bag
one for me and
one for you

I ate them both
Forgive me TJ
but thank you
for getting me breakfast

When I read William Carlos Williams' poem it instantly reminded me of the time my boyfriend woke up at 6:30 am and went to Brueggars to get me breakfast.  Once I woke up for class, I grabbed the bag from the fridge in a rush and didn't realize til I'd gotten to school that it had both his and my bagels.  I didn't have any time to get his bagel back to him, so I just ate it (not wanting it to go to waste, of course). When I told Tommy about it he just laughed and wasn't mad, and I felt sort of silly.  Williams' poem really put me back in that moment, and I love the "sticky note message" sort of style of this poem.  

Response to "Barbie Doll"

This poem is in response to Marge Piercy's poem Barbie Doll which can be found here

Doctor

Now, this is the doll that

every little girl must have!

The sales girl slides the box

closer towards my hands.

I squint my eyes

and look at the plastic princess-girl

beneath the cellophane.

So this is what good mothers

give their good daughters? 

You bet!

These dolls will inspire your daughter-

see this one!- she's a doctor- 

don't you want your daughter to be a doctor?  

Especially in this day and age-

it's a man's world.

A doctor.

I place the pink and purple box in my cart.

My daughter's going to be a doctor.

We Uncertain Step

As we go through our daily activities, weekly promises, and yearly goals to get to where we want to be- we soon realize that life doesn't bend around us.  Life doesn't actually care whether or not we are emotionally prepared for a road block.

When that road block inevitably springs up and we are caught without any preparation- we must adjust.  Emily Dickinson illustrates this adjustment period in her poem "We Grow Accustomed to the Dark" (“419” (H 174) from Fascicle 15).

But it's so much more than that! It's not just a flat tire on your way to work, or a long line at Starbucks- this is DARKNESS.  Think about a time you were immersed in darkness.  This darkness is internal darkness,"Those Evenings of the Brain / When not a Moon disclose a sign".

Dickinson shows us that with some adjustment, if we allow our eyes to correct themselves, (even with some "groping") there is a way to get back on track- "Life steps almost straight".  Not 100% straight, but almost- just straight enough to handle the next road block.

So, are we in charge of what we know?  Or are we purely reactionary? What sort of control do we have?  Dickinson does allude that the Darkness can alter.  One side, either fate or our sight must give a little.