Kern+Clarke

Kern Clarke

"Poetry is the universal language..." -William Hazlitt

** Ode to Sleep ** by Kern Clarke

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. oh how I love to sleep, under my sports inspired sheets. the dreams the nightmares i will never shed tears.

The sheep that i kill, under the werewolves power source. My pillow is my ship, my blanket is my armor.

When I try to wake up, you pull me back for another round as if i hadn't had enough. When I go out I think about you all day. Your like a drug I cant stay away.

by Kern Clarke
 * Car Dealers **

The new car smell oh it makes me sick They appeared in vast numbers lined up like an army They shined so brightly almost blinding like the sun The excitement, the choices, the demanding voices Which one do I choose the red one, the silver one Cold and metallic is what my tongue said I would have to agree for it was already dead.

by Kern Clarke
 * Rainbow **

The colors of the rainbow shine brightly Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet they all are bright Superman wears it so red is mighty The bulb on my celing shines yellow light

As i look through the window when it rains I wait for the rainbow to come out soon To get feeling of warmth through me veins I run outside into the blue lagoon

A portrait of perfection shimmers joy So excited like a kids christmas toy You're more beautiful than the rising sun Why do you hide your joy, or is there none? ** **My poems are more free versed and don’t follow a pattern with the sonnet being the exception. I really hate when I have to write a poem and follow a list of set rules. It makes it harder for me to write poems when I am trying to fulfill certain requirements. The poem that I had the most fun writing was the memory poem because I had to do was describing a memory and includes all of the five senses. Even though this contradicts what I said before, the requirements for this particular poem were very little and ask me to describe what I usually would. I sonnet was the least favored poem for me because you needed a specific rhyme scheme which limited my creativity while writing. The rhyme scheme would sometimes restrict what I can write for the next line.**
 * Analysis Of My Writing

** The New Poetry Handbook ** by Mark Strand

1 If a man understands a poem, he shall have troubles.

2 If a man lives with a poem, he shall die lonely.

3 If a man lives with two poems, he shall be unfaithful to one.

4 If a man conceives of a poem, he shall have one less child.

5 If a man conceives of two poems, he shall have two children less.

6 If a man wears a crown on his head as he writes, he shall be found out.

7 If a man wears no crown on his head as he writes, he shall deceive no one but himself.

8 If a man gets angry at a poem, he shall be scorned by men.

9 If a man continues to be angry at a poem, he shall be scorned by women.

10 If a man publicly denounces poetry, his shoes will fill with urine.

11 If a man gives up poetry for power, he shall have lots of power.

12 If a man brags about his poems, he shall be loved by fools.

13 If a man brags about his poems and loves fools, he shall write no more.

14 If a man craves attention because of his poems, he shall be like a jackass in moonlight.

15 If a man writes a poem and praises the poem of a fellow, he shall have a beautiful mistress.

16 If a man writes a poem and praises the poem of a fellow overly, he shall drive his mistress away.

17 If a man claims the poem of another, his heart shall double in size.

18 If a man lets his poems go naked, he shall fear death.

19 If a man fears death, he shall be saved by his poems.

20 If a man does not fear death, he may or may not be saved by his poems.

21 If a man finishes a poem, he shall bathe in the blank wake of his passion

and be kissed by white paper.

** Eating Poetry ** by Mark Strand

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth. There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.

The librarian does not believe what she sees. Her eyes are sad and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone. The light is dim. The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll, their blond legs burn like brush. The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand. When I get on my knees and lick her hand, she screams.

I am a new man. I snarl at her and bark.

I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

by Mark Strand
 * Keeping Things Whole **

In a field I am the absence of field. This is always the case. Wherever I am I am what is missing.

When I walk I part the air and always the air moves in to fill the spaces where my body's been.

We all have reasons for moving. I move to keep things whole. ** Analysis Of Poems In the poem "The New Poetry Handbook" by Mark Strand, he writes about the consequences of associating with poetry. Each stanza is only made up of two lines. Each of the first lines start off with "if a man" followed by an action. The second lines start off with "he shall" followed by the result or consequence of the first lines action. The first stanza caught my attention the minute I read the poem it says "If a man understands a poem, he shall have problems." I believe that that line is saying that poems are not meant to be understood or to have one meaning but should always be an open subject. I think that "he shall have problems" is saying that if someone interprets the poem as though it is giving him advise on life, it is bad because as I said before they will always be open subjects with different meanings to everyone. In the poem "Eating Poetry" by Mark Strand, he writes about his growing hatred for poetry. This poem has know rhyme scheme but it is a cleverly written free verse poem. When he authors says " The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up." I think that the author is saying that consuming the poetry has brought him to his animal like state. Anytime he describes more about the dogs he is becoming more and more like a dog when it comes to eating the poetry. In the poem "Keeping Thing Whole" by Mark Strand, he writes about what he contributes to the world. Each stanza is about five lines, but the lines are mainly composed of about three or four words. There is no rhyme scheme in this poem or a pattern because this is a free verse poem. This poem is presented in the first person to put feeling behind certain thing that he said such as "I am what is missing.", "When I walk I part the air", and "I move to keep things whole." I think that it helps because not only does it give feeling it make you say those things as though you were him to feel what he's feeling. When the poet says "When I walk I part the air and always the air moves into fill the spaces where my body's been" I think that he's saying that know matter how many times you mess up someone will always have you back and fix what you did.**