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."

In the poem “instructions for a bad day” by Shane Koyczan, a story is told about how to deal with bad days.  Bad days are inevitable, but you can and will get through them. That “every bad day has an end.” The line that says, “They will tell you; you can stack misery, you can pack disappear you can even wear your sorrow – but come tomorrow you must change your clothes” is an exampled of a metaphor as it compares changing into fresh clothes to beginning a brand new day. Remember the times you could have pressed quit – but you hit continue is another metaphor comparing a movie in which you can pause and push play to your everyday life. Like I said in my previous explanations of a one of Shane’s poems, after listening to his voice and the way he expresses his feelings throughout the entire story, I feel very moved and motivated. I was first shown this poem last year in one of my Monday morning leadership classes, and it has stuck with me ever since. I went home and made all my family members listen to it, that’s how much I loved it. It happened to be on one of my bad days as well so it related very closely me. I go through several days in which I have learned from this, that you have a choice on whether to make it a good day or bad day just by changing your frame of mind. If it happens to be a bad day, know that it is not the end of the world, that “by tomorrow, today will have ended.”