Blending

 In listening to the poetry panel presentations last week, I found that I really liked A Foreshortened Journey, which I really enjoyed because of its form. It was prose-like, which made it speak to me more. Similar to books like The House on Mango Street, the form made it feel particularly poignant and impactful. It didn't have the traditional structure that is often associated with older forms of poetry and in doing so, I felt it could explore the realism of a midlife crisis in a way that brought the reader closer to the topic, even if for students like us, we haven't yet dealt with this. Its form, which is close to the speech that we’re normally used to, honestly brought me back to some of the pieces we read in the POV unit. The lack of quotation marks creates a flow that’s unique to the poem and blends the man’s thoughts with the surroundings.

In times of change, outside thoughts and ideas can have a uniquely penetrating effect as illustrated in this poem, where they merge directly with the inner self. This supports the idea that the grandmother states, where she notes that they cannot help the man. He must figure out his next steps by himself and the grandmother leads the girl away. 

Somewhat like the person in A Foreshortened Journey, I'm dealing with a life transition as I'm moving towards becoming an independent adult and away to college. Although people can see me as I progress, and there can be spectators, this rite-of-passage is something that I'll have to complete myself, even if I want to stop in between.

During this time, I appreciate how this sense of blending that I enjoy in poetry, that I can’t usually get from traditional prose, can create a connection that helps me relate to similar, although different experiences. In a way, it helps me reflect on where I am right now, while starting to understand what may come later.

My time here has come to a close 

faster than I anticipated. And yet,

There is so much more that I haven't

Yet explored or finished. But it seems the

Phases of life are all like this.

Not quite complete, before

The next one begins.