Poems and their quotes + themes

California prodigal

1) ‘star jasmine and old vines lay claim upon the ghosted land’

2) “cold phantasmatalities”

3) “lupin fields" spurn old deceit and agile poppies dance in a golden riot”

notes:

free verse, repeated personification, long , about man bringing life and culture into california 

Kin

1) “men ran naked, blue and black … into the warm embraces of Sheba, Eve and Lilith”

2) '‘silent walks in Southern woods”

3) “fireflies bursting into tiny explosions in an Arkansas twilight 

notes:

free verse, stanzas explore different things about their relationship, pronouns represent gradual isolation, enjambment 

Men

1) I used to watch behind the curtains

2) Wrench out a smile that slides around the fear

3) It is your juice that runs down their legs

notes:

free verse, first stanza is extremely long which could represent how that traumatic event all feels blurred and doesn’t quite make sense. the poem is cyclical, starts with open curtains then an open window. “maybe” is an isolated line at the end.

themes:loss of innocence, violence, trauma 

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