Review for Poetry Festival

Vanessa Gaston
AP English Literature
Mr. Gallagher
October 12, 2008

Poetry Festival Review

Art and literary poetry are one of the things that I never really appreciated or enjoyed, as a matter of fact—until October 11, 2008. Who would've thought that me taking a like to these things would have just been taking an hour drive to a city far from Malden, Massachusetts. Lowell was where all of this took place. I've never actually been to Lowell. That morning, I haven't even reached the poetry festival and I began to notice art and history within the city itself. Honestly, it was amazing and I'm not just saying that to get a good grade on this assignment. But anyhow, it was a little boring when we first got inside the art gallery—when Ed Sanders was speaking. It was dragged and he had no enthusiasm, of course my opinion. I lost interest fairly quickly and I was relieved when Mr. Gallagher allowed us to leave and roam about for about an hour. I went down the mini-staircase that led to the art gallery. I was impressed. I thought going to art galleries were for squares, old people, and rich folks. But, when I looked deeper into the picture, I was...I'm not sure what word to use. I experienced a mixture of emotions: shocked, baffled, warm, and imaginative. I was shocked because I didn't expect a painting or a mere photo of for example to old women from a distant country to make my mind explore through the possibilities of the meaning of the photograph.
I'm pretty sure it was just a typical thing in the coffee shops in Lowell to have poetry readings aloud by the locals. But, even though, I thought it was interesting how people who most likely didn't know each other could gather in one place and share their ideas—that's how much poetry had on people, which leads me to the poetry festival. Just like the coffee shops, the poetry festival brought many people from all over to gather in different places yet at the same time, to share the similar ideas. At the high school, where Ed Sanders and Marjorie Agosin read out their literary work, brought many interesting types of people in one place. I think our group, from M.H.S., was the youngest group out of all the attendants, which was fine with me, because it made us look even more intelligent. Marjorie Agosin's poems were in my opinion, historical, and at the same time, cultural. My two favorite poems by her were “Dear Anne Frank” and the poem dedicated to a woman's granddaughter. “Dear Anne Frank” was in its own way inspirational because this woman, the writer, is from Chile, and she wrote a poem about Anne Frank, which her experiences occurred in Germany. It just goes to show how much of an impact Anne Frank had on the world. I liked the other poem by her because I thought it was sweet. This old woman is looking at a picture of her granddaughter and reminiscing on old times she used to have with her. Next, I liked Mr. Gallagher's introduction for Ed Sanders because it was humurous in it's own way. He looked like he enjoyed reading it. Both Sanders and Agosin were different in their own way. Ed Sanders seemed more down to earth, because some of his work, especially from Poems from New Orleans, was more relatable to society, especially with Hurricane Katrina and the most recent one. They were depressing because the themes for all of them were based mainly on how everyone lost their most prized possessions and also each other. I thought it was a little out there with his William Blake's “Song of Innocence”, which was the laughing song. It was comical, a little scary, but still a little out there. I personally enjoyed his “Send George Bush to Jail” poem. It just proves how in school we are taught that writers sometimes instill their opinions on politics into their work—except Ed Sanders made it quite obvious. All-in-all, the poetry festival was a good experience because it opened my eyes into a different perspective. I never liked art or literature based poems where an assignment would be given to analyze it or writing about it—especially when half of them don' t make sense. Now I see that not all of them are like that.