Poetry Library Assignment

So for this project I chose the theme, "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" I really liked the concept of it and thought it would be a lot less of a broad theme then I was originally going to pursue.
I found two poems that debuted my theme nicely;

The first is called Penmanship by Asterus
The Rhyme scheme in this poem is very light and almost whimsical in a sense, which in turn makes it very easy to read and listen too. It also played on the concept of never truly "dying" as long as something you have written lives for you and you are never gone because others can take your work and constantly read it and read it over again. 

What weapon holds the most potential?
To me, it is the pen
Though literacy may be essential
The effect is most telling then

With words one can easily slander
Twist truth and lies and ties together
With naught but strokes of ink and thought
Reality is changed forever

In print the flow of ideas is changed
Spun round and round as you will
Those who know not know all to know
Though they may not understand still

Though swords and guns can end your life
They cannot put end to your mind
For it will persist even if you cease to exist
When another reads your words in kind

But words are not weapons, in fact they are tools
Used for deeds both well and ill
They take up all spaces and reach many places
Until the “I”s all have their fill

Consider this page, and what it can do
What are you doing right now?
No matter who you are, no matter when it’s read
I’m sure I can guess somehow

You’re reading these words, some portion of me
You’re letting them through all defenses
You take what I give, so effortlessly
And let it change your pretenses

Consider the power I have in each line
Look what I can do with these words
“Now think of sweet candy! Now think of a lime!”
“Now think of all these things absurd!”

Though might may be right, it is thoughts that pull strings
To control the actions you take
I say pen over sword in all manner of things
With limitless things you can make

And the second is The Pen is Mightier than the Sword by Jarette Thomas Frazier
I really enjoyed this poem firstly because he uses a lot of very intriguing vocabulary, as well as he really personify s the pen and the writing as appose to implying he does it all, I feel like I am almost in the "mind of the pen" and feeling how maybe the author feels when he is writing. 

My heart is filled with ink HYPERBOLE

My pen with flowing blood HYPERBOLE 
From the fountain of my pen 
These golden flowers bud
Forget-me-nots and yellow roses
Impervious to age
The queen of thought proposes
Unto the written page
My words are flesh and blood
My thoughts something divine
Breathing life to dead-end trees
With every SCryptic line
Veiled self expression
My intrinsic write
ConFusion and confession
DisTension and DeSpite
Manipulate my words
With my pen I paint the day--------Personifying the pen
Surrogate’ son fire
Oh, pen it anyway
Witch, ever path you chews it
Over, now at your own pace
Whichever door you take you don’t 
Belittle Spittle on your face---------------Repition of the "itle" 
All of these Contrite ConTours
An invalid in-doors this pain
This ever falling cleansing reign
Upon the satirical lyrical moors 

A Poem of my very Own. 

The pen.

The pen is more wicked than the foulest of Villains

Tougher than the strongest of Heroes

More brilliant than the brightest of stars,

The pen.

It can heal the deepest wounds,

and carve the hollowest holes.

Give new light to a concept,

and relive old ideas.

Can start a Revolution,

And end a war. 

The pen.

The pen that is mightier than the sword. 

Ted Talks Poetic Response.

Sarah Kay: How many lives can you live?
http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_how_many_lives_can_you_live.html

I watched the Sarah Kay TED talk and was pleasantly surprised with it. She opened with an enchanting poem about an astronaut who wanted nothing more than to be a scuba diver. After the poem she spoke about how she used to think she could be anything and everything she wanted to be as a kid. Yet as she grew up she realized how she could only live one life and be one person. I tried really hard to find a connection to this talk but I couldn't, she had so many ideas of what she aspired to be but I never did. I was constantly asked what career I wanted and where I could see myself in 5, 10 or even 15 years but I would do nothing but shrug it off, I still have time, I would think. Eventually it will hit me like a ton of bricks and I will know. But so far nothing. It scares me to think that one day I will no longer be a student, I will be an adult and I will have to know what I want to do and be. My mom tells me of all the things she says I could do, things I could be successful at but they do not appeal to me. "Go to school, take a trade" she would say, If I changed my mind I could switch but why? Why waste money and time for something I do not want to be. Its not even careers that scare me but where I see my life going in general, I am not crazy intelligent. or an artist, a basketball star, a dancer or a wonderful cook. I want to live so many lives and be so many things yet I find extreme difficulty in just being me, how could I bare to be more than that? Lately when the question comes back to me about what I want to be all I can do is shrug but in the last little while I have come to a conclusion, happy. I would like nothing more than to be happy, but hopefully one day a career will come to me, until then I will remain trying to live one life, mine.

White Poppy

I like the idea of keeping with traditions, that's how I was raised but in my personal opinion I don't understand the complaints associated with the White Poppy. The concept of Remembrance Day is too remember our fallen soldiers as well as honor the living so if wearing a White Poppy is what will make you think of them then power too you. In no way do I see us "glorifying war." The white literally is meant to stand for peace, so how people can take that and make it a glorification of wars is a complete absurdity. The idea that it is "Offensive" is quite absurd as well , we constantly associate the white dove as a symbol for peace, so is a white poppy really that much different?  People need to stop putting so much thought into these things, if people feel that a white poppy is how they choose to honor someone or support peace then they should have the freedom to do so, isn't that what the soldiers are fighting for? If a white poppy is the perfect way for them then let bygons be bygons. Just as a concluding remark I think if you choose to wear the red as it is tradition then do that and if you would like to wear the white and focus more on the idea of peace then as well that is completely your choice but in no way do I see it even remotely offensive, I think we should all just be thankful these people still choose to honor the passed.

Response to Chernobly and Home.

It just amazes me how someone can have such a dramatic tie to something as temporary as home, I don't consider any specific place home as I tend to gravitate away from my house and more towards other places, prefer to wander then stay in one place. I want to travel and experience too many things to stay planted. Alas I consider my "home" as somewhere I know I am cared for and hopefully it's a place where my family and friends are, may it be the town I grew up in or across the globe. I couldn't imagine putting my "Homeland" above my health but I still really admire the woman who did it. They went through so much and were dealt such terrible cards that when they found their ideal home I can understand why they would choose to stay. Home is home and when you find it then you will always have a piece of it with you.