The Power of Poetry

My poems were:
The Missing Person

He has come to report himself

A missing person.

The authorities

Hand him the forms.

He knows how they have waited

With the learned patience of barbers

In small shops, idle,

Stropping their razors.

But now that these spaces in his life

Stare up at him blankly,

Waiting to be filled in,

He does not now how to begin.

Afraid that he might not answer

To his description of himself,

He asks for a mirror.

They reassure him

That he can be nowhere

But wherever he finds himself

From moment to moment

Which, for the moment, is here.

And he might like to believe them.

But in the mirror

He sees what is missing.

It is himself

He sees there emerging

Slowly, as from the dark

Of a furnished room

Only by darkness,

One who receives no mail

And is known to the landlady only

For keeping himself to himself,

and for whom it will be years yet

Before he can trust to the light

This last disguise, himself.

A Reason Why

Sometimes I wonder why I am here.
On a world so hostile and full of things to fear.
Where people fight, and more die.
Where people cheat, steal, and lie.
Where "good help is hard to find".
And people are rarely ever kind.
But right when I am stuck, not knowing what to do,
I stop thinking about everything but me and you.
And the world is suddenly a better place to be.
With nothing else, just you and me.
Holding each other in a tight embrace,
Or dancing around with the greatest of grace.
But then again that’s all I feel,
When I am holding you for real.
Like no one else is even there,
Just you and me in a world so bare.
I am never alone,
And never cold,
As long as you are with me,
For me to hold.

• What attracted you to this poem?

They both made me think and reflect on my life.

• What figurative/sound devices (if any) did you find in the poem?

They use end rhyme and personifications.

• What do you believe the meaning of the poem to be?

The first poem seems to be about describing yourself. It may seem like the easiest task but it's hard to choose those specific words that really define you. The second is about finding the one thing that makes this world bearable or tolerable. If the scenery is that of war, hatred, and hostility, you will still see Hope walking towards you.