I Have Seen Responses

I read You Can’t Defend Yourself which was written by Cheyenne Bailey. I think that this poem is about depression. The line “nails painted blacks” creates imagery of jet black nails. There is also alliteration in the line “I have pestered and poked until no one can bear it.” I think that in the first stanza the line “I have made people kill through my hurtful whisper” means that depression can lead people to kill themselves. In the next stanza every line starts with “I watch..” I think that she used this because it shows what depression sees, plus the repetition shows how often depression happens. In the next stanza I wonder why Cheyenne used the word “expressed.” I like how she brings up the idea that depression is unstoppable and that it knows what it is doing, personifying depression. 

In the fourth stanza, every line starts with “I’d rather...” I think that this shows how depression would anything but itself. I wonder why Cheyenne chose to use the words quicker, wind, dark, and truthful? What does it mean for depression to become quicker, and truthful? In the last stanza there is alliteration in the line “I will pester and poke at you” I think that this line means that depression can nag on you until you finally give. This stanza shows how some people can’t stop feeling like that and the depression just pulls them down until they can’t get up

The other poem I read is called Endless Shadows Hovering Over Deppression by Noa Riemann. I think that this poem is told in the point of view of sadness. The first line in this poem is “I have seen clouds for as long as i can remember” I think that this line shows the idea of time for an abstract noun such as sadness. This line gives imagery of sadness looking up at the sky only to see a blanket of clouds. In the next stanza she says

Trapped in this soulless figure

Craving happiness

Seeking light

Just a goal

Just a dream

I think that this stanza has a really good rhythm to it. She uses the words Trapped, Craving, and Seeking which all relate to trying to get what you want and need. I think that the line “I send my thoughts to light” shows how sadness would feel hoping that it could be a happy thing rather than something people dread.

Throughout the poem Noa compares sadness to clouds and rain. I really like the line “A maze engraved with bad memories” it shows imagery and it is a metaphor. The next line is “As hatred raps around me” I think that this is a clever play on words because in many rap songs the speak of sadness and hate. I think that this shows how people don’t like sadness. The line “Trying to cut through these ropes” gives me the imagery of confinement and a cage. In the next stanza the line “But instead I see endless mirrors behind my dark thoughts” creates imagery of an endless row of mirrors. I think that she chose this because mirrors reflect images so if sadness has dark thoughts it can see rows and rows of it. In the last stanza it denies that there is something. The last line “This feeling where only a smile can free me.” is really great. To me it means that although sadness can sometimes take over your body, if you just smile things could get better.