Project 2
I heard a Fly Buzz
The fly audibly buzzed by the woman
The stillness around her form
Was like the stillness in the air
Between the heaves of the storm
My eyes had been wrung dry
And my breaths were gathering sure
Her chance to meet the king
Witnessing his divine power
The woman willed her keepsakes away
Not anything left of her identity
Nothing left to distinguish herself
Then, the fly interjected recurrently
I heard its uncertain, stumbling buzz
As the casket began to close
My eyes began to well up again
I could not stand to see her go.
Michiko Dead
I manage like someone carrying a box
that is too heavy, first with my arms.
When my strength gives out,
I hook my hands around the corners,
pulling the weight against my
chest. I moves my thumbs slightly
when my fingers give out, and it forces
other muscles take over. Afterward,
I carry it on my shoulder, until the blood
drains out of my arm an it goes numb. But now
I can hold underneath again, so that
I can go on without ever putting the box down.
Artist Statement
I chose to emulate I Heard a Fly Buzz by Emily Dickinson because I really enjoyed the poem. I like its traditional style of structure and how it rhymes. I also chose to emulate Michiko Dead because I like the message of the poem. Explaining that one cannot just simply let go of someone they lost, they have to learn to bear with the burden. I modified the pieces by changing the point of view. For the I Heard a Fly Buzz, I changed the point of view to someone who was attending her funeral witnessing her in her casket. For Michiko Dead, I changed it to a first-person point of view so it could address the reader better. Changing the point of view was more difficult for the first poem than the second one. I had to significantly adjust the story told in I Heard a Fly Buzz to make it understandable. While in Michiko Dead, I changed only a bit of the story and just adjusted the pronouns to first person. Changing the point of view can significantly affect the message of a poem. So in the future it is to my benefit that I implement some of the tools of POV in order to enhance my writing and my messaging.