While making this found poem, I wanted to explore the topic of not being able to let go of the past. I felt that this was a really strong topic to cover for my poem, since people have all different kinds of views and standpoints on how they deal with grief and sadness.
Some people chose to accept that something has gone wrong and will move on with their lives within a blink of an eye, some it takes more time than others, but eventually they do find their way to cope with grief in a short-medium amount of time, while others can’t seem to move on for a long lasting time.
This is a difficult process for many of them to deal with. They can’t process this grief and it stays with them.
So, I chose a poem entitled, “Changing the Past”, by a girl who goes by the name of Donna from the website familyfriendspoems.com under the section life lesson poems. Donna writes this poem about her brother who was going through a difficult time. Her brother was dealing with a lot of grief and sadness, however she believed that his grief could be ‘fixed’, since other people have it worse than him.
I felt that I needed to write about this poem since dealing with grief is a very touchy subject, and writing a poem to try and show someone that they don’t have it ‘as bad as someone else’ in the long run isn’t going to help the other person heal.
Donna had an overall very strong poem and it seemed like her message could resonate with her brother and many others who suffer from depression, however, her message throughout her poem was to basically ‘get over it, because someone has it worse than you’, so I cut and paste words from the poem and I reshaped in a way where the typical phrases about not being able to change the past were in the middle, and the shorter more meaningful sentences were cut out and centered or pasted to the side to show that there is hope for the poet’s brother and other out there. I wanted to reshape what she did in a way to show these people suffering that they weren’t alone and if they took more ‘out of the lines’ ideas, and one day at a time, it could get easier—however not fixable, which is why the stanza is not together.
I created my found poem on an article that had different quotes that people used to justify rape based on womens clothing. In this poem I wanted to focus on the fact that people feel that they can justify the action of rape just because a woman left her house in a tight dress or just wanted to feel beautiful. The fact that many people feel this way and still think like this makes angry, no woman should ever feel like it is her fault that she was raped. These are all words that people used when talking about sexual harassment and how it has to do with what a woman wears. I started off by going through the quotes and picking out all the words that made me angry, or that I did not agree with. Then I cut all those words out and placed them in different orders to try and see which order I liked best. I also left a lot of space to show all of the information that the speaker is missing while making such strong statements. The article I found also included their apologies but I decided not to include them because I felt they were all genetic, they said the same thing and that even though they apologized that doesn’t mean that what they said was right or can be justified. I decided to have the last line be “she’s asking for it” because this is a common statement that you hear now a days and people feel it is okay to say that and that it somehow is a magical statement that erases everything else. I felt this was a good way to end it and use it as a way to leave the reader with something to think about.
When putting together this poem based on a New York Times article about the U.S. recognizing the Armenian genocide in 1915 by the Ottoman empire, I couldn’t help to think about how long this resolution took and the amount of criticism and disrespect to the civilians who died at the hands of an empire ruling over them. While writing this poem, I specifically choose the words I did to convey the amount of time that had passed before being recognized as a genocide and as well as Turkey’s denial of the tragic event as a genocide as a whole. Turkey’s hateful pushback, and not being able to own up to a tragic event of killing innocent people bothered me, so writing this poem portrays the feeling of the word “genocide” based on the article and actions taken upon Turkey and the United states.
While putting together the poem, I realized the inhumanity that leaders and people in the world have with similar events such as this and how the U.S. as well essentially really passed the bill to recognize it as genocide, in order to prevent Turkey’s continued attacks against the Kurds. Between both sides, using mass genocide as a political ploy and the pushback by Turkey to not recognize the genocide proves to show the ignorance of people when discussing a devastation to a number of Armenians over a century ago. Replacing words the way I did in my poem also made me think about how Zong! was constructed and written, expressing such an act or event in a different style and fashion to the reader where we can interpret different feelings from where we place our words and what words or sentences we construct. I felt genuinely upset and mad for the fact that the Armenians didn’t have a choice against the Ottoman empire, but someone like me does, in this time and in this country? It makes you appreciate the life and choices we may have over others, even if we have our own issues here too.
Works Cited
Edmondson Catie, Gladstone Rick. House Passes Resolution Recognizing... New York Times. 29 October, 2019.
While making this found poem, I wanted to explore the chains that racism and segregation and prejudice create on people. So I decided to explore En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” because it had a main idea of being open to everyone and their ideas. Ironically, I used this song to show prejudice and what comes with racism. I decided to cut out most of the positive words in the beginning of the song, because I wanted the reader to go through a transformation while reading. The transformation I had in mind was to show the reader what would happen if we weren’t so caught up in our ways, and if we were colorblind. The beginning goes over the hatred of other races and the societal norms of that hatred. The middle is the turning point, where there is a resistance to change, but it’s also welcomed, and then finally towards the end, there is the full change to being colorblind and to beings accepting. And also in a way, it’s freeing your mind. While I was creating this found poem, I had to bring up uncomfortable thoughts of racism, which helped me to find what I wanted to talk about in the beginning of the poem, and as I entered my thought process in today’s times, I was able to easily conclude the poem with a freeing tone. While making myself think of racism, I made myself upset. I wondered why anyone would think it would be okay to discriminate against someone else just based on the color of their skin or their background. They have done nothing inherently wrong and it made me upset to think about the way these people are treated. This ultimately became a learning experience for me as well. I can now understand why Zong! Is written the way it is. It invokes a certain type of feeling to not only the reader, but to the writer as well. I can finally understand how she felt while making this and it hurts to see how much pain this topic had brought her. However, that is exactly what she wanted us to feel, and that is exactly what I went for in writing my found poem.
I created my found poem from a transcript of Donald Trump’s speech about building a wall at the southern border, between the U.S. and Mexico. While I was creating this found poem, I knew that I wanted to focus on what was happening to the people, instead of the actual physical creation of a border wall. I immediately cut out all parts of the speech that had to do with the construction of the border wall and its cost. Then, I took all of the instances where Trump referred to people, both illegal immigrants and american citizens, and collected them all together. Since I was trying to focus on people, trying to emphasize the fact that we are all people, I started the poem with the word “who.” I wanted to ask a question. I tried to imply, who are we? I then put a list of different words used to describe people, trying to group them all together. But in the section after that, I asked “who” again. This time, I separated words and phrases where illegal immigrants were referred to and where Americans and America was referred to. This was intended to show the separation that is already there, without the border wall. We are all people, but we are separate.
In the second section of my found poem, I took phrases and paragraphs and blacked out certain parts of them. Again, I was trying to focus on the similarity, on the fact that we are all people. I cut out any references to who was being referred to in these sections. The “266,000 arrests” or the “killing, beheading, and dismembering” are all events that have happened, but we do not know to who. Did it happen to the immigrants? Or to the citizens? Is it more justifiable if it happened to immigrants? Is it worse if it happens to citizens? Again, I ask “Who”. After that, I ended the poem with the phrase that ends all presidential speeches: “Thank you and good night.” This felt like a powerful closing. It was powerful enough for the president to use, than it was powerful enough for me to close the poem with. Thank you and good night.
This song is misogynistic. Eminem commands girls to shake their butt at the club. Eminem and Nate want sluts. They are looking for a girl that will do whatever they say. This shows how Eminem and Nate are degrading towards women. Nate calls girls retarted. They don’t care about love, they only want sex with sluts. This song makes women look and feel horrible. These girls are so drunk they do not know what is even going on. They do not know their surroundings. Eminem and Nate are very offensive to women. Eminem and Nate are very immature men. Nate died in 2011.
Eminem does not respect women this is why he does not have a wife. He only stayed with his wife Kimberly Anne Scott for a year. Eminem’s real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers the third. He had a horrific childhood, he was abused and was poor (Eminem American Musician). “At age 14 he began rapping in clubs in Detroit, Michigan, and, when unexcused absences kept him in the ninth grade for the third year, he quit school, determined to make it in hip-hop music” (Eminem American Musician). He dropped out of school in the ninth grade, he does not have a proper education. He is very irresponsible he had excused absences and he quit school.
Nate dogg had a wife. His wife is named LaToya Calvin. Nate Dogg has six children who are now adults. When Nate Dogg died, he did not leave a will. He was divorced by the time of his death (Shapiro). He did not pass anything down to his wife nor children. He is a selfish man, he had all this money he could have helped support his wife and kids. “Among the assets that will be split between the children is his real estate property in Pomona, CA that is valued at $350,000. However, $150,000 is still owed on the property so that only leaves $200,000. And even then there are substantial outstanding debts to the estate. One of those being medical bills from an Orange County facility that total nearly $300,000” (Shapiro). Nate Dogg did not pay his medical bills and he owed property bills as an adult he is not doing his job. This is another reason why his wife would divorce him.
Work Cited
Shapiro, David. Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney. Rapper Nate Dogg Died Without A Will. Law. 25 July, 2012.
The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Eminem American Musician. 13 October, 2019.
SHAKE THAT BY EMINEM AND NATE DOGG original lyrics
Shady, Aftermath
(Look at that bitch! Ha, yeah!)
There she goes shaking that ass on the floor
Bumpin’ and grindin’ that pole
The way she’s grindin’ that pole
I think I’m losing control
[Verse 1 – Eminem]
Get buzzed, get drunk, get crunked, get fucked up
Hit the strip club don’t forget ones get your dick rubbed
Get fucked, get sucked, get wasted, shit faceted
Pasted, blasted, puke, drink up, get a new drink
Hit the bathroom sink, throw up
Wipe your shoe clean, got a routine
Knowing still got a few chunks on your shoestring
Showing I was dehydrated till the beat vibrated
I was revibed as soon as this bitch gyrated
And hips and licked them lips and that was it
I had to get Nate Dogg here to sing some shit
[Verse 2 – Nate Dogg]
Two to the one from the one to the three
I like good pussy and I like good trees
Smoke so much weed you wouldn’t believe
And I get more ass than a toilet seat
Three to the one from the one to the three
I met a bad bitch last night in the D
Let me tell you how I made her leave with me
Conversation and Hennessy
I’ve been to the motherfucking mountain top
Heard motherfuckers talk, seen ’em drop
If I ain’t got a weapon I’ma pick up a rock
And when I bust yo ass I’m gonna continue to rock
Get your ass off the wall with your two left feet
It’s real easy just follow the beat
Don’t let that fine girl pass you by
Look real close cause strobe lights lie
[Verse 3 – Nate Dogg]
We ’bout to have a party (turn the music up)
Let’s get it started (go ‘head shake your butt)
I’m looking for a girl with a body and a sexy strut
Wanna get it popping baby step right up
Some girls they act retarded
Some girls are ’bout it ’bout it
I’m looking for a girl that will do whatever the fuck
I say every day she be giving it up
[Chorus – Nate Dogg]
Shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
Come on, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
Oh, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
Come on, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
[Verse 4 – Eminem]
I’m a menace, a dentist, an oral hygienist
Open your mouth for about four or five minutes
Take a little bit of this fluoride rinse
Swish but don’t spit it, swallow when I finish
Yeah me and Nate D-O double G
Looking for a couple bitches with some double Ds
Pop a little champagne and a couple Es
Slip it in her bubbly, we finna finna have a party
[Verse 5 – Nate Dogg]
Have a party (turn the music up)
Let’s get it started (go ‘head shake your butt)
I’m looking for a girl I can fuck in my hummer truck
Apple bottom jeans and a big ol’ butt
Some girls they act retarded
Some girls are ’bout it ’bout it
I want a bitch that sit at the crib with no panties on
Knows that she can but she won’t say no
Now look at this lady all in front of me, sexy as can be
Tonight I want a slut, would you be mine?
Heard you was freaky from a friend of mine
[Bridge – Eminem]
Now I hope you don’t get mad at me
But I told Nate you was a freak
He said he wants a slut, hope you don’t mind
I told him how you like it from behind
[Chorus – Nate Dogg]
Shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
C’mon, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
Oh, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
C’mon, girl, shake that ass for me, shake that ass for me
We ’bout to have a party (turn the music up)
Let’s get it started (go ahead shake your butt)
I’m looking for a girl with a body and a sexy strut
Wanna get it poppin’ baby step right up
Some girls they act retarded
Some girls are ’bout it ’bout it
I’m looking for a girl that will do whatever the fuck
I say every day she be giving it up
[Outro – Eminem]
There she goes, shaking that ass on the floor
Bumping and grinding that pole
The way she’s grinding that pole
I think I’m losing control
God, come on
[Eminem makes noises]
I ain’t leavin’ without you bitch
Coming home with me
And my boy, and his boy, and his boy, and his girl
