Welcome to the blog for Prof. John Talbird's English 102 class. The purpose of this site is two-fold: 1) to continue the conversations we start in class (or to start conversations before we get to class) and 2) to practice our writing, reading, and thinking on a weekly basis in an informal setting.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Grief Runs Untamed
The poem "Grief Runs Untamed" explains the experience of people in Guatemala who have been forced to relocate due to an ongoing gang crisis. Throughout the poem, the common theme is the important things these families had to unfortunately leave behind, some examples are their pets, homes and even their own family members. One significant part of the poem was the first stanza, "In one hand the exiles hold a bundle with a blanket, medicine, and a comb; in the other, a door handle. They attach it to every mountain and wall, hoping the handle will conjure the door that will open and let them in.". This stanza explains how quickly most of these families had to leave and how little they were allowed to take with them. The part of them attaching the door hand to evert mountain and wall was to signify in my opinion several places they wanted to make their homes but sadly couldn't do so.
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Great reading of the poem, Afolabi, esp. the first few lines. Re the last two stanzas though, it seems that Tworek is writing about the plight of refuges in general. She refers to the Guatemalan refuges, but also the couple from Syria and and the one from Sudan/Africa. Does this change your reading of the poem at all?
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