Poetry beyond words
In the poem “To this day” by Shane Koyczan, he describes his
encounters with bullying as a child. He explains that “we are not what we are
called”, that we are not defined but what other people say. He concluded
stating that “they were wrong”, that the people who made fun of him and all the
other children who unfortunately had to face this horrific lifestyle as they
grew up. They soon started to believe that “[they] were not beautiful”. But as
they grew older, they began to believe that “they were wrong”. Shane uses several
examples of similes, metaphors and analogy’s such as “kids used to say that she
looks like a wrong answer someone tried to erase but couldn’t quite get the job
done”. The way his passion and true feelings erupts when he speaks about
his past, which makes this poem truly touching and inspiring. This poem emits a
feeling of darkness and sadness, but also inspires and makes you realize that
people do not define your worth. I really enjoyed this poem, as I do with the
majority of Shane’s work, is how passionate he is, and how he speaks with
feelings of anger and sadness almost as if writing this poem brought back
memories of how he felt at this time. I also related strongly, because
everybody has gone through tough times and been told or called things that make
them question who they really are. This poem is a great example of how
everybody needs to watch what they say because something you said to someone
three years ago may stick with them until “to this day”.
In the poem “what do teachers make?” by Taylor Mali, he is asked as a
teacher, what he makes. Of course, the person asking meant how much money, but
Taylor twisted it around and told him all the things he makes his students do
such as “spell definitely beautiful, over and over so they will never again
spell those two words wrong again”. The message being portrayed from this poem
is that “teachers make a difference”, they make a difference in students’ lives
and teach them life lessons they will take with them for the rest of their
lives such as to “apologized and mean it”. He proposes that if "somebody ever tries to judge you by what you make, give them this." It does not matter how much money
you make, if you can affect somebody’s life in the best way possible,
that is what matters. "Teachers make a goddman difference! Now what about you?" is my favourite line because of the brief amount of words it contains but the impact it has, is tremendous. His point of view really made me consider what the important factors are in life. Society paints this image in our heads that people who are most famous or make more money in a year, are the most important. The valuable moments come from the heart not from a dollar bill. Those who donate their time and love, make a larger impact than those who just give away cash. For example, a homemade card means so much more than a dollar store one that has ten other replicas. " I make parents see their children for who they are, and what they can be."