14.02.12 Fiction Packet - Wallet by Allen Woodman : A Response

   I thought that this short story was lighthearted in nature and enjoyable to read. There wasn't too much dwelling on the description contained within the piece. Though the descriptions used were done so in an effective way to create a reaction from the reader.(Me) There also wasn't an over use of metaphor the way I have grown accustomed to, after reading so much poetry.

   The concept of catching a criminal in the act reminds me of those 'bait car' television shows that you see on 'truTV' every once and a while. The police officers will set up a vehicle to make it appear to be unattended with the keys left inside. Sometimes the door is even left open! Now if I was a criminal looking to perform an act such as stealing a car, I don't think that it would be that easy. In this short story a 'bait wallet' is created to entice the criminal to steal from this seventy year old man once again. 

   The very idea of stuffing the said wallet with expired coupons, losing lottery tickets and fortunes you pull out of fortune cookies gives a good description of how a 'bait wallet' such as this would look and feel. I imagine they gathered an older wallet just for the sake of making the situation appear to be more 'realistic.' The folds in the wallet have been worn due to age. It's stuffed almost too large to fit into this old man's back pocket. You can see the stress being put on the leather, since it has never been filled this full before. It's contents are peeking over the edges beckoning the curious to come and take a look. This is the kind of image that I was given by reading just the description itself in the story. 

   Towards the final paragraphs I began to feel slightly confused. I'm not quite sure why, but I will explain. 

I loved the image created of the author's father as he carefully browses through the department store. He is fumbling around on purpose. Acting 'feeble' and over the top so he can draw attention to himself and the contents in his back pocket. It's a humorous scene to imagine. Now, when the elderly man reaches down to pick up what he has dropped from the store shelves, the thief takes action. To his dismay, by standers are quick to take action as well. This to me was sort of interesting because in my mind I envisioned the entire 'population' of the department store had completely enveloped this thief in their rage regarding his immoral actions. Finally the old man makes a run for it before the store clerk can even discover that the wallet was indeed a decoy. The story then cuts to the diabolical duo of father and son as they make their get away. THIS is where I became slightly confused. What were these two trying to get away from? I wasn't sure. At first I simply thought these two were just in a whirl of excitement that they themselves had caught this criminal red handed. And that was enough for them. I then begin to think...While the attention of everyone else was averted toward the thief in question, whose eyes were on the elderly man? Had he himself slipped a few store products into his now empty pockets and was able to make a quick get away because no one would suspect such a feeble old man for committing an act of thievery. He was successful in fooling everyone into believing that the man who made attempts to steal a wallet from a weak old man was the worse criminal than he was. 

   Perhaps the hero of our story is in fact the very criminal we are trying to capture. 

14.02.05 City Eclogue - Beauty's Standing pg 37 : A Response

   Ed Roberson's collection of writings overall is something that I consider to be very interesting. He uses very visual descriptions to place the reader into the setting that he is trying to convey. These visual descriptions are what give the writing the ability to immerse its readers.

Sequoia Tree<3

    I was torn between two poems that I wanted to reflect on. The first was a poem was titled Sequoia sempervirens. The first reason I had chosen this poem was because simply the word Sequoia has a special place in my heart and has always provoked fonder memories in my mind.
The reason being for this is because a couple of years ago I was crowned as the 'queen' of my hometown. (Where I am from 18 year old girls are encouraged to compete as representatives of their hometowns) If you are selected as your town's representative then you are awarded a scholarship for college. Being your town's representative also allows you to travel and meet many new people.

Mr. and Miss Coloma 2012 (THAT'S ME!! :)))

 I was lucky enough to meet a lovely woman. I won't reveal her full name just for the sake of privacy. But her  middle name was Sequoia. (I know you were probably wondering where I was going with all of this huh!?) I believe her mother found the tree to be beautiful and thought it fit to incorporate into her daughter's name. She was one of the most memorable and genuine people I have come to know; and anytime I think of, or hear the word 'Sequoia' I think of her and the memories that I have made because of her. So due to my previous experiences, the piece that's entitled Sequoia is going to grab hold of my attention. The piece that I had ended up going with was entitled Beauty's Standing. (pg37)
   This piece spoke to me in different ways. The title itself to me is an important component in this particular piece. (Not just because it's the title.) But because the word 'beauty' is given the potential for possession. If that makes sense? Normally one would not put an apostrophe -s after the word beauty. That is unless you happen to be the second grade version of myself. (Back then I had no idea what the apostrophe was for and simply used it anytime there was use of a plural noun) But for the title of this poem Beauty's Standing, this is implying that beauty itself has its own standing on something. OR it could mean that beauty IS standing ON something? I'm not quite sure, but I believe that my first assumption makes more sense. Within the first two stanzas I notice Roberson somewhat creating a connection. Now what do I mean by that?
Well...
"Only eye lives in this
no place anything else can
come to rest on

Chairs sit in visual positions
proposing your sight
on the room as beautiful"

   I'm not sure if my train of thought is too strange to understand, but the way the first stanza ends with 'come to rest on' and the second stanza begins with 'chairs' I wonder if that was done purposefully. When I think of taking a rest, I envision a chair or a bed of sorts. Just thinking about it could allow my shoulders to loosen, and perhaps not be so tense. I think that this creates a vision of a full room. There is nowhere to sit, or even allow your eyes to rest. Perhaps there is too much beauty filling the room. Much like many of our grandparents with their antique furniture and floral wallpaper...it's too much to look at. Your eyes find it difficult to rest in one spot for a long period of time because there is so much to take in.
Even when Roberson says "...in visual positions proposing your sight on the room as beautiful."This is also a play on composition and/or arrangement. We arrange our furniture in the most 'appealing' way possible so that we can invite guests into our homes. We create works of art in order to capture the viewer's/buyer's attention. AND we photo shop magazine ads in order to gain profit from our products.
   Moving onto another eye catching segment of this piece. I noticed that a particular stanza was spaced in a very odd fashion.

"A practical place to sit
cities      cities the always where
      cities have been"

I took note that there were three mentions of the word 'cities.' Every mentioning of the word, when placed together, forms into an 'upside down' triangular shape. I'm not quite sure why this is, but it caught my attention and seemed to be interesting to me. It is uncertain that this was also done purposefully, but it seems that most of the peculiar spacing throughout this poem appears as intentional.

This piece to me is taking a stand on what is considered beautiful, and what the onlookers deem to be so. Perhaps a tip of the hat to the old saying of 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder?'
All in all, this piece stood out to me and I found it enjoyable to read.