Blog about "The One Girl at the Boy's Party.

The "One Girl at the Boys Party" uses a mathematical metaphor throughout the poem. I believe this is to portray how members of the opposite sex at a young age are as complicated as math problems to each other. Mathematics is considered a universal language, but that is only if you understand it. The poem is seen from the eyes of a mother after she drops her daughter off at a pool party, and because of the mothers age and experience, she is able to understand the complexities that go on between the boys and the one girl there, and is able to calculate the situation to get a deeper understanding of their interaction through a mathematics  equation.

This poem made me think of how parents always think they know what other children are going to do to corrupt their child or how theyre going to behave around the opposite sex, and in their "because I said so" moments they feel they understand everything in such a way that it is as concrete as mathematics. I disagree with this only because (to continue with Olds metaphor) a lot of variables exist in every given situation, ecspecially their childs ability to exponentially suprise them, by not allowing themselves to be negated by the pressures of their peers or to be defined in terms of concrete numbers.

I also found it slightly odd that she brought such sexual references  into a poem about a girl young enough to wear a bathing suit "with hamburgers and french fries printed on it" and referencing the boys "curve of their sexes". I guess this was to portray how early parents worry about their children behaving in a sexual manner, but I still found it very uncomfortable how blatantly she refers to the sexuality of young children. 

The Fish By Elizabeth Bishop

Reading this poem at least to me, it seemed that the fisherman found a kinship with the fish. Looking at it's battle scars, the five hooks hanging from its mouth "Like medals with their ribbons frayed and wavering" from the previous perilous situations the fish had found itself in its life, it seemed very similar to the trials and tribulations a human must face and overcome in their own. "Here and there his brown skin hung in strips like ancient wallpaper", is like how humans acquire wrinkles throughout their journey through life. After examining the fish, and seeing the way it has aged, noting the proud accomplishments the fish has gained in its lifetime the fisherman says "I stared and stared and victory filled up the little rented boat". This is where I think the fisherman found kinship with the fish, noticing all its been through in its life they probably saw a reflection of their own life, and with this new found relation to the fish-this new respect, everything around the fisherman becomes "rainbow, rainbow, rainbow!". It's within this revelation and in celebration of their similar hard fought journeys, the fisherman lets the fish go.