Monday in class we finished the final poetry recitals.  One of my favorite poems that I heard was Swathi’s second poem “Broadway” by Sara Teasdale. I appreciate how this poem perfectly captures the magical experience of attending a broadway show. She talks about the stars and the charms of the night, and it makes me remember all of the  broadway shows that I have gone to and the excitement that I felt.  However, the thing that strikes me most about this poem is that it doesn’t only have to be about going to a broadway show.  The idea that magic is fleeting and that you should enjoy it while you can can be applied to any number of experiences.  When Teasdale writes “We live a little ere the charm is spent” I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold can Stay”.  In this poem Frost talks about how fleeting life is, and how nothing lasts forever (Which reminds me of a cute saying I saw on Facebook the other day.  It said, “Lets be nothing, I hear it lasts forever.” but I digress). Live in the moment, and fully immerse yourself in the magic of life, because there is so little magic in the world.  I think it’s a good motto.  Personally I think we all care too much, and waste too much time getting upset over stupid things…myself included.  However I think that after hearing this poem I’ll try to live a little more…”ere the charm is spent”.

In addition to “Broadway”, I enjoyed Corinna’s poem, the third part of “In the Village” by Derek Walcott.  The speaker in this poem talks about this woman that he is in love with.  Without her he can’t write poetry without her and he feels as though the music of his life is just outside his window, but he can’t reach it.  I liked this poem because it reminded me of the song “Agony” from Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into the Woods”.  In this song the princes sing about the women that elude them.  One of the lines of the song is “…Agony, Misery, Woe, Though it’s different for each, Always ten feet behind, always ten feet below, and she’s just out of reach…”

~Naomi