Imitation Poem

I could see them sitting on a roof from where I was falling.

I was coming fast, but they couldn't see a thing.

It was dark out. 

I think they went to look at a clear sky, but I just wanted to fall.

I told my cloud I wanted to leave.

Angry, it spit me out.

I landed on the hand of one of them and my friends followed with me.

"Gettin' His Twang On" by Patricia Smith

The premise of this poem is talking about George Bush going to play music with a country singer for an audience's amusement when others were suffering in New Orleans because of the effects of Katrina. The structure of the poem is set up is short stanzas. Almost as if they were lyrics to a song. The final lines in the first two stanzas cut short in the middle of a sentence like a vocalist would while singing a song if he or she wasn't able to fit all of the words in with the music. They would simply stop on a word, and begin with the next once the next movement came in.

A line in the third stanza sticks out above the rest. "Look like this country done left us for dead." It's italicized, showing importance in the poem. Like the title of a song or a chorus that is repeated. The next stanza talks about how the line is the soundtrack and the lyrics are shadow in everyone's throat. Expanding on the song/situation comparison.

Three Snapshots

Arriving at Lake Tahoe

- I woke up in the loft as Sigur Ros' song "Hoppipolla" blared through the speakers of the van. Four of my best friends pressed their faces up against the window. Curious, I did the same. I rubbed the cobwebs out of my eyes to find mountains covered in snow and the most beautiful lake I had ever seen. Summer was good to us that year.

Driving home from Warped tour 2007

- My body ached. I was sunburned so badly that I didn't want to move. I could hear two of my friends in the front seat joking about what they had seen earlier in the day. A song once again coming through the speakers. A song that I still associate with this day. I was in so much pain, but at the same time, this is my fondest memory of that summer.

Trapped in a run at work

- I was stuck in the back of a run. A rottweiler and a great dane, but this time the rottweiler wanted to be my friend. Afraid, the great dane bit my arm and my back. I bled on my shirt. Alone, the timed lights faded to black. I couldn't see a thing, so I crouched in the corner, hearing nothing but the growl and the lunging of the 200 pound dog. With no other options, I called the veterinarian. He sped from his home to get me out.

Questions for Terry Tempest and Williams and Rick Bass

Terry Tempest Williams

1. What I have read of Terry Tempest Williams shows that she has a great appreciation for where she came from. Has she always been so fond of her home?
2. Do you believe that your dreams of an explosion, even though you had actually seen one, were a sign?


Rick Bass

1. What sparked your interest in wolves?
2. How long have you been interested in them?

Mapping - University of Northern Iowa Campus

I spent two and a half years at the University of Northern Iowa. When I was young, I thought I wanted to be a businessman, but as years passed, a life at a desk or in a suit became less appealing. All of the buildings are here. The Curris Business building, McCollum Science Hall, Maucker Union. All buildings that I am proud to say were a large part of my life for the past three years. My friends still roam these halls, but for me, they are a memory. A good memory. This map shows the general shapes of the buildings from a birds-eye view, but what it doesn't show is the wonderful architecture of the buildings, or the interior design. They were always so clean and open. No matter how new you were to the school, you never felt out of place.

Hometown Assignment

Cedar Falls, IA is a home to around thirty thousand people depending on what month it is. During the summer it is home to a significantly fewer amount of people because of the amount of UNI students who go home or go to work internships for the summer.

This image is of one side of our downtown area. It recieved some major renovations six or seven years ago and is now the oldest, but nicest place in Cedar Falls for shopping, eating, attending a play, etc.

I chose this image because I believe it encompasses a nicely sized town with a small town state of mind. We have a mall, a Wal Mart, and countless restaurants, but I feel like it has a very strong sense of closeness and community.

"The Compost" by Walt Whitman

What specific details stay in your mind? Why? How do these small details lead to larger ideas?


The Compost, written by Walt Whitman was a poem about the earth giving back to us in the form of crops, beautiful landscapes, animals, and other gifts even though we don't treat it like we should. We let our waste and decaying organisms run into the ground, but the earth still gives back. I remember this poem being very repetitive, but repetitive in a good way. Many of the sentences were very similar because he was listing different gifts that are given back to us. I believe this style of poem writing adds to the overall effect of the poem. If Whitman were to leave out the extra sentences and only use a few examples, it would be very easy to forget about other areas that are worth mentioning, making the overall poem feel and read as if it was missing something or not very convincing. I believe Whitman did the right thing by adding repitition into his poem because it is a much more interesting and thought provoking read.

100 Word Photo

Northwest Cove of Walden, Ice Breaking Up (Train in Distance)

The black and white photo shows an iced over body of water almost identical in color to the sky, suggesting that it could begin snowing at any point. The crack in the ice spreads all the way down the right corner of the picture. Smoke from the chimney of a train in the background imitates the shape of the train itself, like a snake. Slithering through the countryside over top of the train and its several cars. Trees surround the outsides of the picture. Although thin and slightly bare when it comes to branches, they fill what we would consider to be open space.