I would tell you to find a larger box, or to give up, but I get the feeling that fitting this poem in your box is important to you. Maybe you are shipping this box to your family abroad, maybe you are moving house. A larger box would mean paying extra for shipping, and what kind of a friend am I if I make you pay extra for shipping. So maybe I will try to help you in another way. You could tie the poem to a chair and beat it with a hose and then stuff it into a box. But the letters and spaces might escape and you might be left with a poem with no e’s or s’s. You could stack this poem up and send it outside to freeze. It still might not fit. You could talk to the poem gently, as if talking to a baby bunny, coaxing it into a box. You could give it an ultimatum. If you don’t get in this box, I will never read you aloud again. Or make it go on a diet. Vegan is in. But I think what the real solution here is that you should put this poem in a book, and not a box. Would you like to go into a box; a lonely pit of despair, shrouded in darkness? I don’t think so. But think about a book. A book brings the poem to it’s friends. A book you can easily put in a box. A book can be opened and shared easily. No duct tape required. I promise you that this poem will be happier in a book than in a box. This is my solution for you.
Now this is all considering that the poem has to go in the box. But what if, it didn’t? After all, this is the 21st century, I’m sure you could email it to whoever you wanted to send this poem to. Or maybe you are a person who wants to store this poem away forever in a box in your attic. Maybe you are not a feminist and you support putting women and poems in boxes. Whatever it is, I urge you to reconsider your life choices, and think about whether you really should force this unwilling poem into this box. Let this poem roam free, follow its own path outside of this box.
I think this is an interesting way to approach the problem. Treating the poem like a living creature with emotions was a creative way of addressing the problem. The solutions offered, such as coaxing it or compromising with it, really highlighted this approach.
ReplyDeleteThis post/solution is very funny and playful, and yet offers some serious messages. And it offers a real and practical solution! The idea of a poem in a box seems somehow wrong––that message is emerging on a number of our "box" posts. But putting a book in a box doesn't seem so wrong. And putting a poem in a book seems perfectly natural. So if the poem doesn't, won't, fit in this box, put it in a book that fits in the box, and there you have it.
ReplyDeleteI love how Sankhya interweaves her post with both a poem from the first day of class and an upcoming problem in maybe my favorite passage in this post: "You could tie the poem to a chair and beat it with a hose and then stuff it into a box. But the letters and spaces might escape and you might be left with a poem with no e’s or s’s." Well done, all around!
I loved the idea of this! I also like how you related it back to things we've talked about in class. You gave a lot of thought and many different options for how to fit this in a box. It seemed almost like a manual. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting. I like that you decided on the book instead of the box because it makes it easier to share the poem. It makes sense that a poem shouldn't be contained; it should be shared or enjoyed instead. It was also interesting how you said "Would you like to go in a box?" because it relates back to Ms. Majerus' analogy that poems are like people. Overall, it was really funny and I enjoyed reading this.
ReplyDeleteOh man you really don't want that poem to be in a box XD
ReplyDeleteI really like how you start out kind of like a counselor and trying to help whomever is trying to put the poem in the box and show various methods that DON'T work. Then you present a different method, one where you take into consideration of the poem's feelings and put the counselled person (and us) into the poem's shoes. Finally, you consider the basic morality of tying up ANYTHING down and in a subtle way say "wow screw you a******".
For some reason it also reminded me of extremely strict parenting, where the father or mother basically decide the child's road for them... hmm that sounds familiar in the uni community doesn't it?
I really like how you mention that the poem can be with its friends when it is in a book. I dont think this has been mentioned by other groups, but it is very true that poems can have friends! Countless works of poetry (and literature) in general reference other pieces of writing that creates a huge network of poems that "know" each other. I don't know if that was what you were going for, but I thought that was interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe book was a genius decision, combining two pieces of literature that can often intersect in real life was a great idea. Also, if I was a poem...I would definitely want to be put in a book if anything.
ReplyDeleteCreative way to put it. I totally agree with putting the poem in a book so it can have company and not be by itself, roaming. Would you like to be in a world with other creatures surrounding you? I don't think so. The same goes to the poem in a book. It is more comfortable there.
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