Hope is the Thing with Feathers

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land
And on the strangest sea,
Yet never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

By: Emily Dickinson

I love this poem, because it expresses how powerful hope can be. By comparing hope to a singing bird, it explains the cheerfulness of the feeling. Also, I very much admire Dickinson's use of simple words to describe what can be such a complicated concept. All in all, it's just a feel good poem that makes you get all warm and fuzzy inside (except of course for that one person that goes "uh another poem by some dead person, yuck." ) 

SNOWBALL

by Shel Silverstein

I made myself a snowball 
As perfect as could be. 
I thought I'd keep it as a pet 
And let it sleep with me. 

I made it some pajamas 
And a pillow for its head. 
Then last night it ran away, 
But first- it wet the bed

When I first read this poem, it completely reminded me of something I would have done as a little kid. I love the whimsical and childlike tone Silverstein  is able to accomplish. This makes the poem so simple and innocent, but also very comical (if you're able to picture it anyway.)

                                                                                                    

                                                             "Happiness"

                                       By The Fray

Happiness is just outside my window 
Would it crash blowing 80-miles an hour? 
Or is happiness a little more like knocking 
On your door, and you just let it in? 

Happiness feels a lot like sorrow 
Let it be, you can’t make it come or go 
But you are gone- not for good but for now 
Gone for now feels a lot like gone for good 

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard 
Happiness was never mine to hold 
Careful child, light the fuse and get away 
‘Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks 

Happiness damn near destroys you 
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor 
So you tell yourself, that’s enough for now 
Happiness has a violent roar 

Happiness is like the old man told me 
Look for it, but you’ll never find it all 
Let it go, live your life and leave it 
Then one day, wake up and she’ll be home 
Home, home, home

This song has a very poetic sound to it, mostly because of The Fray's great use of literary devices. For example, the way they use multiple different metaphors (firecrackers, other emotions, etc.) to describe the same emotion. Overall, the ability to personify happiness and express it as a tangible thing makes me consider this song a poem.

A Piece Of Me (One Of Many)

I have a huge soft spot for animals of all kinds, big or small.  As you can probably tell, polar bears are one of my favorites. On my fifth birthday I got to make a huge stuffed polar bear at build-n-bear, one of my then favorite places. I even got to name her, Tina (short for Argentina, because, at the time, I didn't realize that was not anywhere near the arctic.) My love of animals started when I was little with catching frogs and toads in my back yard and has continued to grow ever since.