Spoken Poetry assignment

When you have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder you don't really get quiet moments, Neil Hilborn explains in his poem, "OCD". Hilborn creates a happy mood when he explains about his love for a girl and how "all the ticks, all the constantly refreshing images just disappeared." However, this mood becomes quite depressing when the girl he loves has to leave him. Neil tells their story and how he is so infatuated with this girl that he has to "kiss her goodbye 16 times or 24 times if it's Wednesday." Neil explains how he is in love with this girl so intensely that he can overpower his OCD and he doesn't have to watch his hands after he touches her. I enjoy how during the reciting of his poem that when he speaks he will repeat a line over and over and you can't tell whether he is repeating it on purpose or it's actually his OCD. Love has the power to make OCD weaker than it actually is and love is the reason that Neil can "leave the door unlocked" when he goes to bed, hoping that she will come back.

Notice how you never hear the term "Woman Up"? That's because women and the Woman's movement have realized that being ordered around by [the media] is dehumanizing. Guante discusses his pure hatred for the phrase "Man Up" in his poem, "Ten responses to the phrase 'Man Up'." Guante has the looks of the average tough guy but quickly drops that image when he reveals his inner sensitivity and how he "wants to be free to express himself" or how he "wants to be weak sometimes". The theme is that society should stop teaching boys that the only way to become a man is to "eat steak, drive a big truck and have lots of sex with women" but rather allow them to express themselves. I definetly like how Guante start's his poem very mean tough but later transforms into an emotionally charged poet.

When Patrick Roche counts down from twenty one he isn't expressing his ability to say the numbers from twenty one to zero; he is saying an age and relating his thoughts and feeling about his father for each age. Roche's poem "21" begins on a heavy note when he explains that his dad got hit by a car with a "blood alcohol level 4 times the legal limit" but Roche didn't cry. He immediately sets the mood and it is a mood of sorrow and self-pity. Roche continues to count down from 21, repeating his thoughts at the age of 15 because that is the age when his "dad found [he] was gay", his dad "began drinking again" and his entire family began blaming others for why his dad drinks. The theme is that acceptance is mandatory, in some cases such as Roche's, if his father had been open ended and accepting towards his son's sexuality a life would have been saved and Patrick's family would be as happy as they were in his younger years.

Brody Hormes
3 Banana Avenue
Guam, United States of America
H1 M0M

February 30, 2014

Inspector Clouseau
Chief of Police
123 Rue Justice
Paris, France
1A2 R3T

Dear Inspector Clouseau:
I assure you the choice to save the Mona Lisa instead of Ava Artlover was not an easy one. After meeting Ava Artlover I discovered she was a sweet old lady who did not deserve to perish in a fire. However, after seeing the Mona Lisa I discovered that it was a timeless piece of art that had to live on. The Mona Lisa is the most renowned painting that has ever been skilfully brushed upon a canvas and it would be a crime to take away the pleasure of viewing the original copy from millions of people worldwide.

Ms. Artlover was 92 years old and she requried a motorized wheel chair to move. I can't put a price on a human's life but I can find a price for the Mona Lisa and it is around 780 million dollars. Now I can assume that Ava, as an avid art enthusiast, would not price her fragile life at more than 780 million dollars. Therefore, in a economic view I made the correct decision.

I want to remind you that my choice was rushed. As I saw the flames dancing on the walls and leaning around the corner I could feel them staring at our trio. I heard the whirr of Ava's wheel chairs engine so I instinctively hopped the velvet rope and grabbed the Mona Lisa. My thoughts were hoping that Ava could make it to the potentially operating elevator and as I galloped up the stairs, Mona Lisa in hand. Unfortunately, due to safety hazards, the Louvre's elevators had an automatic self-shut down system when it's fire alarms went off.

Sincerely,


Brody Hormes