Project 2

I heard a Fly Buzz

The fly audibly buzzed by the woman

The stillness around her form

Was like the stillness in the air

Between the heaves of the storm

My eyes had been wrung dry

And my breaths were gathering sure

Her chance to meet the king

Witnessing his divine power

The woman willed her keepsakes away

Not anything left of her identity

Nothing left to distinguish herself

Then, the fly interjected recurrently

I heard its uncertain, stumbling buzz

As the casket began to close

My eyes began to well up again

I could not stand to see her go.

Michiko Dead

I manage like someone carrying a box

that is too heavy, first with my arms.

When my strength gives out,

I hook my hands around the corners,

pulling the weight against my

chest. I moves my thumbs slightly

when my fingers give out, and it forces

other muscles take over. Afterward,

I carry it on my shoulder, until the blood

drains out of my arm an it goes numb. But now

I can hold underneath again, so that

I can go on without ever putting the box down.

Artist Statement

I chose to emulate I Heard a Fly Buzz by Emily Dickinson because I really enjoyed the poem. I like its traditional style of structure and how it rhymes. I also chose to emulate Michiko Dead because I like the message of the poem. Explaining that one cannot just simply let go of someone they lost, they have to learn to bear with the burden. I modified the pieces by changing the point of view. For the I Heard a Fly Buzz, I changed the point of view to someone who was attending her funeral witnessing her in her casket. For Michiko Dead, I changed it to a first-person point of view so it could address the reader better. Changing the point of view was more difficult for the first poem than the second one. I had to significantly adjust the story told in I Heard a Fly Buzz to make it understandable. While in Michiko Dead, I changed only a bit of the story and just adjusted the pronouns to first person. Changing the point of view can significantly affect the message of a poem. So in the future it is to my benefit that I implement some of the tools of POV in order to enhance my writing and my messaging.