The Third of May

Third of May:By Freedom and Smith(West Harlem Amtrak tunnel)

Guns blast, BANG!

Kneel before them as they overpower

Rifles shouldered as your family dies

If only these people knew your story, how you've already suffered.

Twilight surprise, not so great of a present

Outskirts, debris everywhere.

Organized while you all spread apart, maybe to confuse them?

Not possible.

They're too trained.

You're tattered rags, and desperate pleas, are nothing compared to their orders.

Orders of "Halt" and "Kneel". Identical coats

Background bystanders look on at the massacre.

The Lost World

Derrick Poem (The Lost World)
by Terrance Hayes
I take my $, buy a pair of very bright kicks for the game at the bottom of the hill on Tuesday w / Tone who averages 19.4 points a game, & told me about this spot, & this salesman w / gold ringed fingers fitting a $100 dollar NBA Air Avenger over the white part of me–my sock, my heel & sole, though I tell him Avengers are too flashy & buy blue & white Air Flights w / the dough I was suppose to use to pay the light bill & worse, use the change to buy an Ella Fitzgerald CD at Jerrys, then take them both in a bag past salesmen & pedestrians to the C where there is a girl I'd marry if I was Pablo Neruda & after 3, 4 blocks, I spill out humming "April in Paris" while a lady w / a 12 inch cigar calls the driver a facist cuz he won't let her smoke on the bus & skinny Derrick rolls up in a borrowed Pontiac w / room for me, my kicks & Ella on his way to see The Lost World alone & though I think the title could mean something else, I give him some skin & remember the last time I saw him I was on the B-ball court after dark w / a white girl who'd borrowed my shorts & the only other person out was Derrick throwing a Spalding at the crooked rim no one usually shoots at while I tried not to look his way & thought how we used to talk about black women & desire & how I was betraying him then creeping out after sundown with a girl in my shorts & white skin that slept around me the 5 or 6 weeks before she got tired of late night hoop lessons & hiding out in my crib there at the top of the hill Derrick drove up still talking, not about black girls, but dinosaurs which if I was listening could have been talk about loneliness, but I wasn't, even when he said, "We should go to the movies sometime," & stopped. Observation: I observe from this poem that there are a few themes. The first one I noticed was the poverty. He talks "ghetto" but he almost seems like he longs to be with the upper class people who "smoke 12 inch cigars" on the bus and get to call the driver a fascist. At the end he seems to reach that at the end of the poem. Interpretation: I think the others voice talks from the lower class up to the upper class, and makes it seem almost sophisticated so that he can get his message across. He gives detail, which he thinks make it seem nicer. And it is. He shows us his life with the detail. Extension: I think this poem speaks for a lot of people that long for a better life. People want new friends and new people you know and new clothes and new privileges. I think that's what this poem talked about. I think this is the kind of poetry people should be writing.

It's pretty hard writing about Holden Caulfield when I haven't finished the book *SPOILER ALERT*

Holden Caulfield (from "Catcher in the Rye") is a sophisticated character. I've only known him for about 70 pages, but it's almost been a lifetime to me.There are two things I know about Holden that I would really like to get out.

I think Holden is egotistical, if that's the right word. For example, his hunting hat. He uses his hunting hat to display his feelings, and to be cool. He puts it on forwards and backwards, expressing different security levels. I think this shows Holden likes to make it obvious that he's afraid, but I think he likes to show that he's never afraid, because he mainly keeps it in front, showing security of some sort.

The next thing about Holden, is that he thinks he's above it all, even though he flunks out of everything. What is wrong with him? If you want to be the man, you have to act like the man! He thinks he's above all this education nonsense, so we can cut to the chase. Hate to rain on your parade Senor Caulfield, but everyone else went to school, so so must you!

My conclusion is that I hate Holden Caulfield. I wish I could run away to New York and live in a hotel and be carefree. Oh, wait, I already live in New York, and theres bed bugs in hotels. So honestly, I conclude that Mr. Caulfield is a self absorbed, snobby, moron. (But it's a good book)

Is Darren Shan really a vampire?

I read the book "Cirque De Friek" #1, but I'm still trying to figure this one out.

Is Darren Shane really a vampire? He said he was, but I think he made it up. If he is, hes probably writing the books during the night, because vampires come out at night.

I kinda hate it when these writers pretend like stuff was true. Fro example, Jk Rowlings "Beetle the Bard" book and "History of Quidditch" were so dumb, because it made it less realistic by pretending it was true. Although Darren Shan's books were good, the idea that it actually happened to him killed it

Unscrew the doors themselves from their Jambs!(*SPOILER ALERT*)

I just finished a book, "Paper Towns" by John Green, and I have to say, after reading two of his books, he's my favorite author. I realize now that what he writes is teenage mystery. The only difference is that his mystery is way better than actual mystery.

He writes about teenagers. And from the two books I've read, I can tell that theres a climax between the male and female character, and then something happens to the female. Normally I would try not to spoil the book, but I can't give a juicy response without it. The girl in this book, Margo, runs away. It's not the first time, but it's the first time that Quentin, the main character, knows about it. It's drawing closer and closer to high school graduation, and Q is getting worried that Margo wont be back in time.

He starts to investigate. He looks everywhere within 50 miles of Orlando, exploring, investigating, and sniffing to see if he can smell Margo's almond butter skin lotion. A series of uncoveringes occurred, and Q found where Margo was, so he packs up a car with all of his 4 friends, and travels to upstate New York.

Eventually he finds Margo, but that wasn't the point of the story. The point was the journey. He learned about Woody Guthrie, and Walt Whitman, and whatever the heck a Paper Town was in the first place. And that's what made the book beautiful. The mystery of it. That's what makes all this guy's books great.

The Pain of Finding out you have to change topics to Harry Potter a day before the post is due...

I would like to start this post by saying that Harry, as someone in "HP 7" described Bathilda Bagshot, is "nutty as squirrel poo!" He has so many internal issues, and JK Rowling really should have fleshed them out better.

Harry is parentless. This proves bad on few levels. In the material world, Harry didn't know what the fairy tale book in the the story had anything to do with their quest. And this was really bad, because it took them half of the book to find out about them. And I like how Hermione is the one who figured it out, and she's muggle born!!!!!

On the other hand, Harry lacks the parental guidance he needs to be a grownup. His parents would have showed him, but without them he's stuck in the 11 year old mind state he had when he entered Hogwarts. Not good! He's impulsive, but this brings me to another theme I noticed.

Harry's dad's friends, such as Lupin and Sirius, are like fathers to him. They lived on, so that he could grow up learning lessons from each one of them. The only issue is they all died, so he is basically tight, because he had a father figure, and he got deaded(killed) in the battle for Hogwarts.

A Great Perhaps

"Looking For Alaska". Three words that sound like the worst book ever. I mean, who would want to read about an explorer looking for a state that no one cares about?

Wait. That's not what the books about. At all.

Miles Halter(Pudge) is attending a new boarding school. The weird thing is his parents have no idea why, because Pudge is friendless, and who wants to go boarding school anyway? Immediately after arriving at school he meets his roommate,The Colonel, who given his living situation, is insanely smart. But more importantly he meets the the books namesake, Alaska.

Alaska is everything Miles is not. She drinks cheap wine, and smokes entire cartons of cigarettes. She is the master of pranks at their boarding school. But for some strange reason, Miles falls in love.

Miles' reason for going to boarding school ties in with his obsession for memorizing peoples' last words. Francois Rabelais said "I go to seek a great perhaps" and while trying to hold back tears a realize that I'm in 8th grade.

Next year, we'll all be going to different schools, meeting new people, like Alaska or the Colonel, and most importantly we'll be leaving 51 behind. There's a scene in Charlotte's Web where Charlotte's children go off into the world to build their own webs. Even though Francois Rabelais' "great perhaps" was death, my great perhaps is a new world.

Going off into high school wont be easy, but I don't think dying was easy either. We are just like Charlotte's children. We are venturing out into the world to build our own webs, although Rabelais' words were mor poetic. "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." No one could have said it any better.