THESIS:
Todd Davis mainly connects with his audience by writing about scenes that many people could relate to. He generally sticks to three main concepts he uses are love, memories, and nature as bridges to connect with
his audience.
BIOGRAPHY: Todd Davis was born in Elkhart, Indiana on March 29, 1965. In 1987, he earned a B.A. from Grace College and M.A. and Ph. D. degrees in English from Northern Illinois University in 1991 and 1995. He is currently a Professor of English and Environmental Studies at Penn Sate University's Altoona College.
He is the author of four books: Ripe (2002), Some Heaven (2007), The Last of These (2010) and Household of Water, Moon, and Snow: The Thoreau Poems (2010).
Wife
Imitation: Husband
This
evening
you
came home from the lumberyard.
I
smelled sweet wood
and
perspiration
as
you kissed me gently
ticking
me with your beard.
Where
the sunset cast
its
shadow, like a streetlamp,
you
kicked off your boots
and
hung your hat.
Splinters
fell out of your pockets
onto
the beige tile.
Now,
as I prepare
your
dinner,
the
smell of you
fills
the room.
When
I wrote this poem, I had a scene in my mind, almost like something
from a painting or a paused moment in a movie. By crossing borders
using the idea of love is a powerful one. This certain poem
emphasized the love of a husband and wife; a marital poem. Setting
the scene while describing it was something that I enjoyed as well.
Crossing borders fluently and smoothly is something that I
appreciate.
Beginning
of The Eighteenth Year of Marriage Imitation: Grandfather
Yes,
your wrinkles are
more
visible, but that
shows
how much you
laughed,
and yes, your
skin
has discoloration
from
the sun, but that
only
shows how much time
you've
spent building houses.
But
I love you more than
gold,
I treasure your hugs
and
kisses more than I
love
eating your chocolate
pudding,
and I value your
Godly
wisdom more than
this
poem can express.
This
poem made me visualize my grandfather in an observant way that I
haven't done before. Connecting physical characteristics of him to
his past life is definitely a bridge! Writing the second part of my
poem was something that was at a level past physical traits and his
past. It was a way for me to bridge my feelings for him and
communicate things that I've never said before.
Summer
Storm: Gary, Indiana Imitation: Snow Storm: Goshen, Indiana
Wind
howls,
a
gray cloud
stretches
as far as
the
eye can see,
blunt
as a scream
of
a woman being raped.
A
soft medium plummets
from
the sky with one mission:
to
provide the beasts of the
world
with an overstayed
sense
of warm chestnuts,
mistletoe,
and gingerbread men.
This
poem was very easy for me to write since this expresses my feelings
about the weather! Using similar emotions and feelings is a bridge
that many people can relate to. Especially when the weather should be
different than the way it is now. I think a lot of people in Goshen
could relate to this poem too. This poem may even relate to other
parts of the world other than Goshen, IN.
Bibliography:
Davis,
Todd. Some Heaven. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press,
2007. Print.
Davis,
Todd F.. Ripe: poems. Huron, Ohio: Bottom Dog Press, 2002. Print.
"Goshen
College | Healing the world, peace by peace." Goshen College |
Healing the world, peace by peace. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.goshen.edu>.
Hostetler,
Ann Elizabeth. A cappella: Mennonite voices in poetry. Iowa City:
University of Iowa Press, 2003. Print.
Mennonite
Quarterly Review. Goshen: The Mennonite Historical Society, Goshen
College, and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 2003. Print.
"Todd
Davis." www.personal.psu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.personal.psu.edu/tfd3/>.
Davis,
Todd. "Tweetspeak Poetry - The Best in Poetry and Poetic
Things." Tweetspeak Poetry - The Best in Poetry and Poetic
Things. Todd Davis, 25 Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com>.
Olivia,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your poems, but I think you could elaborate more on some of your concepts. In the beginning, you say "love crosses borders," and I know that through the poem you attempt to continue with that, but I think that you could write more about how exactly your experience with love (or love in general) helps to cross borders. What types of borders are crossed?
On a positive note, though, your poems create much imagery, and I think it simply adds to it when you yourself say that you were visualizing a scene before writing it. I think that is beautiful and majestic, and I'm glad you decided to share this with the class.
I really enjoyed your poems, Olivia. The first two poems do a great job of painting a picture in the reader's mind. Your descriptions of the husband and grandfather in these poems helped me cross a border by reminding me of my own grandfather, and I'm sure it does the same thing for others. I also related to your third poem because I too hate this weather. You use very strong imagery and sense-based descriptions, like the scream of the raped woman. This image was hard for me to picture because it's so strong and emotion-evoking, but it shows how strongly you feel about the topic of the poem.
ReplyDeleteYour poems were just absolutely lovely. I found it very easy to relate to the things you were writing about, even though some of the things were personal. Your use of specifics and imagery and emotion add to the universal concepts of the poems making them reach a variety of readers. You do a great job of crossing borders in your poems as I'm sure Todd Davis does in his.
ReplyDeleteI think the thesis is a little farfetched in concept, as I couldn't find myself connecting to the poems as much as I expected to. Maybe because they're imitation poems and they're drawing on your experiences, but I feel the general audience might not connect with the idea of nature being a bridge, especially with "Snow Storm: Goshen, Indiana". Overall though, your interpretations of Todd Davis are good, though I think the execution could've been slightly stronger. It might just be word choice here or there, and they could relate on a much better level.
ReplyDeleteOlivia you did a great job with your imitations and actually making them relate to your experiences, just makes it that much better. I found your thesis very interesting too. I also did Todd Davis and I like how you use the ideas of him using love and nature to write his poems. I see a lot of love and appreciation towards nature in most of his work. One of your poems that stuck was Husband, I like the imagery that you use. I felt like I was witnessing all of this in person. Again good job Olivia! :)
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