A Brave and Startling Truth

A Brave and Startling Truth (Poem Post #2) 

We, unaccustomed to courage exiles from delight

live coiled in shells of loneliness

until love leaves its high holy temple

and comes into our sight

to liberate us into life.

If we are bold, love strikes away the chains of fear from our souls.

Love costs all we are and will ever be.

Yet it is only love which sets us free.

A Brave and Startling Truth.

It is possible and imperative that we discover

A brave and startling truth.

When we come to it

We, this people, on this wayward, floating body

Created on this earth, of this earth

Have the power to fashion for this earth

A climate where every man and every woman

Can live freely without sanctimonious piety

And without crippling fear

When we come to it

We must confess that we are the possible

We are the miraculous, the true wonders of this world

That is when, and only when

We come to it. 

Maya Angelou

In A Brave and Startling Truth, Maya Angelou expalisn how everyone face hard challenges. Everyone has that day where they just don't want to do anything. But, there are also times when people are let down, or are unhappy because of someone being aggressive towards them. No one is strong enough, there will be one time when someone will be fed up. There is always a boiling point for people, for everyone, even the thoughtful people, there is always a melting point. 

Maya A.'s poem treats racism as a hard topic. The poem also gives good examples of people waiting for change. Her examples are precise to those being discriminated for being of a certain ethnicity. 

     

In the poem, Maya Angelou gives a really powerful message at the end of her play. She wants to help those who are not strong enough to stand on their two feet. She wants to give encouragement to those who need it to move on. A intriguing part of the poem was when:  

When we come to it

We, this people, on this wayward, floating body

Created on this earth, of this earth

Have the power to fashion for this earth

A climate where every man and every woman

Can live freely without sanctimonious piety

And without crippling fear

Maya wants to compare her feelings to nature, how we can control our feelings by interacting with someone/something else. She wants to say we are all humans, and we are all meant to be there, no matter the color of your skin or eye. The world is walked on by millions of people and some who everyday pretty much lie and hurt each other to get satisfaction.

 The poem also gives good examples of people waiting for change. Her examples are precise to those being discriminated for being of a certain ethnicity. Many people have suffered mistreatment by others who treat them as a  minority. The Black Community should not be pressured into changing because of their skin color. Maya Angelou awaits one day that every woman and man that have walked on earth, can live together and can live in harmony, with out judging each other. In the real world, some would rebel and live free, while others would hide and isolate themselves to avoid being mistreated. In my opinion the best thing to do was to live like everyone else. If they judged you, let them judge.

As I Grew Older

As I Grew Older (Poetry Post #1)

It was a long time ago.
I have almost forgotten my dream.
But it was there then,
In front of me,
Bright like a sun--
My dream.
And then the wall rose,
Rose slowly,
Slowly,
Between me and my dream.
Rose until it touched the sky--
The wall.
Shadow.
I am black.
I lie down in the shadow.
No longer the light of my dream before me,
Above me.
Only the thick wall.
Only the shadow.
My hands!
My dark hands!
Break through the wall!
Find my dream!
Help me to shatter this darkness,
To smash this night,
To break this shadow
Into a thousand lights of sun,
Into a thousand whirling dreams
Of sun! 

Langston Hughes 

Everyone has bad days right? Sometimes people or changes stay longer than expected. Langston Hughes is explaining how he feels while he is growing up. He explains how he cannot see the light; something is holding him back from seeing brighter days. His dream were broken and crushed, but if he fights then he can accomplish his dreams. If someone helps his dream, then the others will be able to set their dream and move forward with it. Langston had given up hope for his dreams, but after he saw that there was still a chance to shine, he took his chance to make his dream come true. Breaking free and shattering the wall that stood in his way was what Langston Hughes was beginning to recognize, and the reality that he was growing up to and the hard phases that were to come.

Some people are wrapped around in lies and fake smiles. Langston’s life changed while he started to grow up. He was mature, and was capable of taking senses of what was happening around him. He noticed he wasn’t able to do things that everyone else could, he realized he was being treated differently, but why? He was treated differently because of his race. He was a black child; but he was still a human being. But, to the opposing race, being of the black skin color was a crime. In the poem, when Langston says:

I am black. I lie down in the shadow.

His dreams and aspirations were drowned by other. He is black, which means he no longer can accomplish his aspiration, because if he does, he will get hate or a negative response from trying. The light that once shined so bright was now no more than a small, faded, dying light, waiting for its moment to be able to help once again.

            Breaking free and shattering the wall that stood in his way was what Langston Hughes was beginning to recognize the reality he was growing up too and the hard phases that were to come. Many people have hard and tough situations that they go through now. Some people learn to live and cope with it, while others learn to be mature and do something about it. For example, a child loses a parent while they are growing up; they learn to be without that parent, in some cases both parents, but they learn to live with it. They learn to be strong and to take care of themselves. Their mind has grown faster than their body and age. Langston Hughes’ mind grew faster than his own body.

Chasing Brooklyn

Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder is a book that goes back to back to two different characters. There are two narrators to be specific. Brooklyn and Nico were affected by Lucca’s death. Lucca was Brooklyn’s boyfriend and Nico’s older brother. Their lives were changed drastically, but yet they didn’t know that they felt the same way. Not knowing to distinguish what they needed from what they wanted can be bad. Brooklyn only needed someone to talk to, but she also wanted Lucca to be alive, and Nico was the closest person around.
Lucca and Brooklyn loved each other. They were inseparable. But fate had other plans for them both.  A car crash split Brooklyn in two. Her boyfriend died, and her brother living, barley making it out alive. Sometimes when she was alone, or when no one listened to her, she sometimes wished Gabe to be dead not Lucca. Lucca had been a best friend to her, someone she could rely on, he gave her the strength and power she needed. Brooklyn didn’t believe she could get out of her bad a year ago, and looking at her now, she is walking, going to school and talking to Nico.


Brooklyn wants to believe she can go through all this. She believed Gabe was strong. He didn’t stay to long. He left her. She was truly alone. But she is not being strong. Gabe sent her so many signals. The book her diary anything that could help her figure out what she wanted. Yet, when some offers to help her, she turns them down. I think Brooklyn should figure out what she truly wants so she could no longer have nightmares, and only then can she live peacefully and have moved on with Lucca and his absence. 


The distance between Nico and Brooklyn was a factor that caused them to be helpless toward their losses. If Lucca’s “ghost” had not asked Nico to help Brooklyn, then maybe they would both been helpless. Brooklyn was on the edge of doing something out of her control. She was getting more and more scared of the world around. Gabe only wanted her to know that he loved her and wanted her to gain her strength; Gabe was not trying to haunt her, he was trying to revive the pact that they both of them had promised: to help each other through the pain. He made Brooklyn realize she should not let fear control her, like the fear had controlled Gabe, causing him to commit suicide. 


Lucca and Gabe wanted the best for everyone, especially both of them. They needs some help to regain the bravery they had had. This was the only way that would work. The result helped bring two families together. The fight over loss was over, Brooklyn and Nico had won.