What the mirror said

listen,

you a wonder.
you a city
of a woman.
you got a geography
of your own.
listen,
somebody need a map
to understand you.
somebody need directions
to move around you.
listen,
woman,
you not a noplace
anonymous
girl;
mister with his hands on you
he got his hands on
some
damn
body!                -Lucille Clifton

Lines 1-6: There is complexion to this woman's body. Clifton is describing a girl, but not just any girl. He does not put her in any classification, she is a one of a kind.
Lines 7-11: Once again, the woman he is describing and unique. What may work or what he may know about other woman will not work on her. I find humor in these lines.
Lines 12-16: This woman is special to him and deserves the utmost attention. She didn't come from "noplace" and she won't end up there either. This entire poem can be seen as a confidence booster.
Lines 17-21: These last lines twist the entire poem. My first thought was a prostitute. If this is true, it creates the entire poem to be a plee for this woman to stop soliciting herself because she is "some damn woman." This leads me into the last three one word lines. These lines do not hold any negative connotations. By "some damn body" Clifton is expressing that her body is fantastic, it is a compliment, and that she shouldn't be abusing it like she is.

I like this poem, I didn't at first until I pulled my own understanding from it. I also really enjoy the "slang" in this poem. It adds to the meaning and the tone and also to the humor in lines 7-11. Nice upgrade from my last poem!

A Poison Tree

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

                                                -by William Blake
 
The first stanza is explaining how when Blake is angry with his friends he tells them of his anger and it is resolved but when he has frustration towards an enemy it only grows larger because he does not tell them of his anger.
 
The second stanza goes on explaining how he treats the anger for his foe. It reminds me of a plant. He waters it with tears instead of water. And he suns it with smiles instead of, well, the sun.
 
He cared for his anger so well that it grew evidence. His foe found this evidence (the apple) and knew the meaning behind it.
 
At night he went to the tree(anger) and tried to discover the meaning (apple) but it ended up killing him?
The ending confuses me terribly but the moral to this poem is to tell people when you have problems with them.
 
I didn't like this poem. The imagery was really nice but it made me think cliche.