Our Guest Reader : Sheila!

    I loved all of Sheila's poems, but my favorites were the first three that she read--"Self-Portrait with Roller Coasters,""What My Grandmother Told My Mother on Her Wedding Night," and "Dear Aliens." The first poem was like the story of one person't life in poetry form. Each section was comparable to a memoir, in my opinion, because they were certain times in her life that had a particular effect on her. They were all at different places, but the analogy of the theme park was steady throughout. Using the idea of a roller coaster to describe her life intrigued me because there are good and bad times, ups and downs during one's life and a blood-pumping, adrenaline rushing ride is the perfect way to depict it.
    The last two poems probably interested me the most because they were types of poems that I had never heard of before, which was another reason why I liked them. Not only did Sheila share pieces of her life with us, but she also taught us new things about english and literature. "What My Grandmother Told My Mother on Her Wedding Night" was a sound poem. It sounds just like it reads. The poem is exactly the advice her grandmother gave her mother before she got married. I like it because it's real. There's no metaphorical meaning behind it. It's just short and to the point.
    The last poem, "Dear Aliens," was a letter poem -- it was written in the form of a letter. It's sort of a love poem about a woman and her husband. He has an obsession with outer space and aliens, but she doesn't mind. When he says that they're going to come and take him away, she says, "If they take you, I'm going too." What I liked most about this was the loyalty. No matter what her husband believed in or how crazy he may have seemed, she stays by his side and believes too.