Naomi Alazar: Sweet n’ Sour Combo
Polished Poems
Phenomenally
Our unseen beauty is on the face
With such perplexity and enigma
The many wonders held within are equivocal
Our elegant curves ought to catch eyes
As we hide our fulsome
Our eyebrows bend
As our eyes narrow
Our noses twitch
As our lips fight a battle
Our chest lift and rise
Our shoulders slouch from the endless hours
And soon uncurl for the endless days ahead
Our pulchritude is alluring
Few are tall, cadaverous
Short, brawny
Muscular, petite
From a single strand of hair
To the one broken nail
From the tiniest of pimples
To the one wrinkle we despair
The smallest of imperfections,
Are our biggest problems
We notice the unnoticed
The hatred we pour upon ourselves
The beauty we prevail
The magic of powders and chemistry
Our true beauty is held within
Our true beauty is phenomenal.
Maybe Not?
I had a dream,
I fell, and fell
Deeper and deeper into the hole of darkness
Of the deep blue sea night
I had a dream,
I jumped into the suns rays
And caught a glimpse of the heavens that lay above
Silently awaiting my arrival.
I had a dream,
I saw the man with his head in the clouds
His eyes as green as the swampy waters
Holding my life by a thread
I had a dream,
A dream like no other
It was so vivid and realistic
Like a never ending book
I had a dream,
But from the eyes of many but myself
My body lay lifelessly
As a cold hard stone
I had a dream,
My eyes would not open
As gravity pushed harder on me than ever
I was lost in a pool of nameless faces
A dream.
Maybe?
A nightmare.
Most certainly!
Slam Poem Performance
Clichéd
I know what your thinking
I’m thinking it too
What could this black girl possibly have to say?
I try to not let it get to me so here goes
Stereotypes.
It’s always subconsciously directing me.
These stupid ideas’s shadowing over us.
These rules, guidelines, if I may, that we all choose to follow.
Because, I am part of ‘we.’
You are part of ‘we’
He, she, him, her,
All of us
Are part of this ‘them’ that society has created.
We are slowly morphing into these faceless beings.
Psychologists (No, they aren’t Indians)
Say that its part of our human behavior
But no, lets not bring that into this
Lets face facts
You are never you.
Not on the outside at least
Our identities are lost.
Gone.
Never heard of again.
And no, a black teen did not steal them.
Because before you realize it,
You are literally handed a personality.
You can’t take it back.
No refunds allowed.
Here, take it!
Happy?
No. Well no one cares.
No, its not made in China
Yeah, you can say that deep down inside that you are you.
But if you are you, then who am I?
Because we are “supposed to be the same”
In this society that we (not only Mexicans) have built
with our own hands, sweat, blood
and minds only see’s you as part of ‘them’.
Sameness is slowly building its way up into our comfortable lives
You dress like society wants.
Act like society wants.
Speak like society wants.
You live like society wants.
You are trapped with judgmental people.
Always judging.
But who are you to judge me?
But wait, hold on.
No.
It’s not just you judging me.
It’s not just you’re opinion.
Because you speak for ‘we’, for ‘them’.
For those who destroy individualism.
Your brands.
Your stereotypes.You labels have stuck.
Well done. Congratulations.
I’m trying to leave
I’m trying to disagree
I’m trying to differ
For that split second, I am finally me.
But wait hold on, there society goes again.
Now I’m sorted.
I’m put with people who are evidently like me.
My uniqueness taken from me.
Stripped.
Torn.
Crushed.
Which ever way you want to put it
It’s happening to you too.
You just haven’t looked above the hole of sameness to see it.
It’s like a virus created by man.
The simplest of man.
Like a Russian spy
Oops!
Sorry, I’ll stop now
I don’t think you know.
I don’t think you know you’re being judged.
But I know why you don’t know.
It’s because it’s everywhere
Much like apple products
You’re too scared to jump out of that hole of sameness and enjoy you.
Just you.
Because with 7 billion judges, I know it’s hard.
With 7 billion judges, I know it doesn’t feel safe, look safe.
Here’s a secret, it isn’t.
Here’s another secret; it can be.
Yeah, all this negativity can go away.
This is a wake up call for some change.
Be different.
Be unique.
Because 7 billion people could break this mindset,
But don’t because they are clichéd.
But you can.
Be the change people want.
Be the change people talk about.
Step out of your stereotype.
Be. You.
Reflection
The progression from a five minute made poem, to my final draft felt really good. It showed that with a little time and effort, there were many improvements that can be made.
While writing, I had the opportunity to show my learning of the different poetic devices like metaphors, similies, and more imagery. I also learned to use stronger words, and be careful with my word choice as this affects the poem greatly.
This assignment was both difficult, in a sense that it got me thinking critically, but also quite enjoyable being able to start from something small and poor to creating a strong polished poem.
Figurative Poem:
The most difficult of my final poems was my figurative poem. I started off with something simple which I had done within a couple of minutes while not knowing much about how figurative poems were structured or how they functioned.
Then, after learning more about what should be included in these kinds of poems, I decided to restart my entire but keep my general idea of dreams.
Slam Poem:
This poem was, hands down, my favourite one to write and be able to perform it. My first draft started off pretty strong, but after getting some feed back after my first preformance from peers, I decided to add a little more emotion and irony into to make it more interesting to listen too.
Descriptive Poem:
This poem was at first quite hard because, firstly, I could not find anything to write about. And also, when I did find something I couldn’t really find the right words to describe it by. I started off by using short simple words, and as I continued on progressing and polishing my poems I found newer, stronger and more descriptive words that gave more emotion to the poem.
Digitalized Draft Poems
Clichéd
Yeah, I know.
Everyone’s thinking it.
Even me.
I wish I wasn’t, but I am.
It’s always subconsciously directing me.
These stupid idea’s shadowing over us.
Stereotypes.
These rules, guidelines, if I may, that we all choose to follow.
Because, I am part of ‘we.’
You are part of ‘we’
He, she, him, her, all of us are part of this ‘them’ that society has created.
We are slowly morphing into these faceless beings.
You are never you.
Not on the outside.
Not to society.
Our identities are lost.
Gone.
Never heard of again.
Because before you realize it, you are literally handed a personality.
You can’t take it back.
No refunds allowed.
Here, take it!
Happy?
No. Well no one cares.
Yeah, you can say that deep down inside that you are you.
But if you are you, then who am I?
Because we are “supposed to be the same”
In this society that we have built with our own hands, sweat, blood and minds only see’s you as part of ‘them’.
You dress like society wants.
Act like society wants.
Speak like society wants.
You live like society wants.
You are trapped with judgmental people.
Always judging.
But who are you to judge me?
But wait, hold on. No.
It’s not just you judging me.
It’s not just you’re opinion.
Because you speak for ‘we’, for ‘them’.
For those who destroy individualism.
Your brands.
Your stereotypes.
You labels have stuck.
Well done. Congratulations.
But then when I disagree I differ.
For that split second, I am finally me.
But wait hold on, there society goes again.
Now I’m sorted.
I’m put with people who are evidently like me.
My uniqueness stripped from me.
It’s happening to you too.
You just haven’t looked above the hole of sameness to see it.
It’s like a virus created by man.
The simplest of man.
I don’t think you know.
I don’t think you know you’re being judged.
But I know why you don’t know.
It’s because it’s everywhere.
You’re too scared to jump out of that hole of sameness and enjoy you.
Just you.
Because with 7 billion judges, I know it’s hard.
With 7 billion judges, I know it doesn’t feel safe, look safe.
Here’s a secret, it isn’t.
Here’s another secret; it can be.
Yeah, all this negativity can go away.
This is a wake up call for some change.
Be different.
Be unique.
Because 7 billion people could break this mindset,
But don’t because they are clichéd.
But you can.
Be the change people want.
Be the change people talk about.
Go out of your stereotype.
Be. You.
