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I loved the way Joaquin wrote and properly titled his poem "14 Stations". The rhythm was developed early and it continued throughout the selection. If I had one criticism it would be that I thought it was too ambiguous. I kept reading it over and over again and a picture started to form in my head. Migrants crossing over dry oceans. He mentions the stars like when traveling by night. Being born outside Eden's walls. Eden being America. These are just my opinions. In his next two poems what stuck out to me the most was the vivid imagery of sight, touch, taste, and smell. I also enjoyed the rhythm again, but it takes more then a couple of readings done very slowly to start comprehending a message coming out of the lines and stanzas. There is definitely a strong emphasis of the Mexican culture in these poems. From their journeys northward to the language used as well. Also references like yerbabuena and nopal as well as a religious context throughout "14 Stations". In "Ollin" he mentions communion wine and how it takes away the sin of a garlic clove baptized in a pot of beans. I do not know why it is a sin though. It reminds me how I make charro beans. Unless he is saying that garlic is spoiling the true nature or purity of the beans. Over all I really enjoyed the symbolism and imagery of his poems.
ReplyDeleteSpiro Zagouris
i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
Deleteor
call/whatsapp:+2349057261346
i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
or
call/whatsapp:+2349057261346
These poems were really cool I liked them, there was some individual thing about them that made them stand out. In the first one it is the repetition of the phrase: “Pedimos tu bendición”. It reminded me of a sermon where a priest would call and the congregation would repeat. But the author also draws on ironies, they make it so that the sermon style is a repetition of bad things and in turn it becomes like a satire. The thing that I really liked about the second poem was the form of the poem, the poem talks about tea and the stanzas are shaped like cups. I thought that was pretty unique and aesthetically pleasing to look at. I also like the last one, two of the three are talking about religious imagery, and this last one is one of them. I can also appreciate the shape of this poem as well, it looks like a candle in a candle holder. They all use pretty language which I can really enjoy, they all use enjambment which I also enjoy when reading poetry. I don’t get caught up in syntax, it’s like I’m being lulled to sleep by the movement and the sound of words working from one side of the page to the other. - Jesús Iván González
ReplyDeleteI’m not quite sure what “14 Stations” by Joaquin Castillo is about but I like the style it has. Also, I’m oblivious to the specific structure (or style) it has as I can only decipher that it’s 14 stanzas. The repetition of “pedimos tu bendicion” adds the religious side I’m sure this poem is about. Maybe the roots of one’s heritage with the authors interpretation. “If Herbal Tea Were a Lover” is a lot easier to digest. The title gives us enough information to know what lies ahead. I think this style of poetry is what most people would like to write in. I enjoyed the different types of herbal tea used and the way they are described. “Ollin” is another one lost in me. I’m not sure what to make of it. It has the religious elements that the first poem presented. It’s a bit hard to follow but it sounds like criticism of some type to religion as it ends with “the eggs smell of sulfur and the songbird lost its voice.” Would love to hear what was the inspiration for the poems with religious elements and what feelings arise when reading these again. As for me, I think I might write something about my abusive lover: coffee.
ReplyDelete-Leonardo Torres
I've mentioned before how I am not a big fan of poetry but I still really enjoyed these poems. The first poem was very confusing to me but I did get a religious vibe from it just because it kept repeating "Pedimos tu bendicion." I also related the title "14 Stations" to the 14 stanzas but apart from that, I didn't really understand what the poem was about. The second poem was very lyrical. The way Castillo was describing and 'her' flowed like tea. The last poem was the most confusing for me. I really had no idea what was going on, but that's just me not being able to interpret things. All in all the poems were really interesting and I cant wait to find out what they mean.
ReplyDelete-Rebecca Muniz
I very much enjoyed the poems that I received from Joaquin. His poem, “14 Stations,” instantly set the tone for this poem. I’m not the most religious person, but I am aware of the “14 Stations of the Cross.” I did have to read it a few times to grasp some type of understanding of it, but what I got from this poem is that it is from the standpoint of immigrants traveling to America. Instead of asking God for his blessing, they are asking America for it. They speak of the obstacles and hardships they had to phase while making their way to their destination.
ReplyDelete“If Herbal Tea Were a Lover” had to be my favorite, but I might be biased since love poems have always been the most intriguing to me personally. The metaphors and imagery were phenomenal. The description of herbal tea for the reader to imagine what the narrator’s lover would look like was very enjoyable and unique.
The last poem, “Ollin” was the most confusing for me. I wasn’t able to grasp the meaning behind this and get my own interpretation from this. I do believe that religion is heavily involved, and I enjoyed the small touch of Hispanic culture that was introduced to this.
Angela Milan
As much as I read more about poetry, I seem to understand more of the meaning of what is saying. I used to not be a fan of reading poems because I had a hard time understanding the meanings, but now that I am understanding I am beginning to understand. “Pedimos tu bendicion” gave me the religious vibe and I kind of related to a prayer since that is usually what they say in church. This made it a repetition to the poem and what created more interest while reading it. “14 stations” was somewhat hard for me to understand so I am looking forward to what the class has to say about it. Although it was difficult to understand I enjoyed the rhythm to this poem as well.
ReplyDelete-Karla Romero
Serious round of applause for Joaquin Castillo!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not religious, I really enjoyed "14 stations". I did associate it with the 14 stations of cross and I did see the correspondence to the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. My favorite part of 14 stations was the repetition of the line "Pedimos tu benediction". I am not catholic but I have attended a few catholic masses and it did remind me of when the congregation repeats or speaks after the priest. I really think it tied the whole poem together and made it clear that this was a religious piece.
"If Herbal Tea Were a Lover" really touched my heart. Call me sappy or just being an emotional woman but the way the Lover was described was so beautifully and artistically done. When I read it the first time, all I could picture was a girl. I read through it a second time and that's when I started to see the herbal tea characteristics. As I read this poem, I pictured someone looking at their woman in total awe and writing down every word that came to mind. Almost as if they were trying to describe her perfectly so they would never forget what she looked like in that moment. I loved this poem.
-Arianna Martinez
I loved the cultural and religious references in Castillo’s 14 Stations. I felt a vibe of migrating and the suffering of the Mexican people references to our Aztec roots and the suffering of our people. I particularly enjoyed the line that says Saint of all travel; give us nopal spine sandals because it reminded me of the time when I came to the US and crossed illegally and I remember that in some areas there were areas where nopales where overgrown everywhere and they got stuck all over my body and I still have scars of the scratches the nopal needles left on my legs. This poem is specifically for people in the border because nopales is very prominent in the north of Mexico in deep Mexico they are not very prominent. The poem If Herbal tea were a Lover was very romantic I enjoyed the play on words and the way everything of a beverage is incorporated into the view of a woman. I thought the poem was very clever. Ollin seems to be about a negative experience in Church it contains a view of a Sunday service but is filled with imagery of Mexican traditional food in some aspects. I think the author was tryng to call the catholic priest a hypocrite. He mentions how wine burns away the taste of food, How the people are without a sheperd wich is very biblical refence of faulty leadership in church or more like the people in power at the Church are not taking care of the spiritual life of its followers.and finally the mentin of a songbird losing its voice which can mean not praising God anymore by looking at all the hypocrisy in church.-Maria Ramirez Montoya
ReplyDeleteI have never been very fond of poetry and when I always start reading it I try very hard to find the meaning that at the end, it all makes no sense to me. However, this time while I was reading Joaquin’s poems, that was not my case. I actually enjoyed a lot reading these poems, they were so powerful and touching. First, the poems “14 stations” is clearly religious (unless it’s just an allusion). When I read this poem, I had a myriad of flashbacks of all the times I have been to church and when in a lecture, the congregation will repeat a sentence such as “pedimos tu bendicion” at the end of every other verses (stanza). I think writing this poem in this form and with the repetition of the phrase was a great idea. Then we have the second poem “If Herbal Tea Were a Lover”, this poem was wonderful and I loved all of the details and the way it was well-written into a smooth description. Then the last poem, “Ollín”, which I also thought that was a little bit religious because of the little mentions every now and then, but I actually pictured like a Sunday get together with the family. I am eager to see what insights other people have toward this poems, I think they were great.
ReplyDeletePaulina Longoria
I do not know why I find it very difficult to analyze poems and trying to find their true meaning. I might be completely off in my interpretation of the poems. Nevertheless, I found 14 stations very interesting because the more I read it the more confused I got but then I tried something different i tried reading it in a different way I just read the second line of each stanza and i feel like it made more sense to me when I split the poem in two. I feel like this poem is the description of how we go through life and how we ask questions through our faith when difficulty may come our way. Their are a lot of hidden meanings towards having faith. For example, when stated, “ have you sent our blood to be shed on a foreign meadow.” I believe that it ties in to how we are now to die on earth instead of being in the garden of Eden with God. We are meant to live our mortal life in a foreign land where we are not of. Until our fateful day where we die on that same foreign land. I really didn’t understand the other poems so I can’t really say what I think they mean when I actually don’t know what it means.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Acosta
I really enjoyed the poems by Joaquin Castillo because it represented a lot about cultures, and it was just an interesting read as the readers can relate somewhat to the poems. For example I personally related to them because of its Mexican culture as Spiro had mentioned in his post. I don't know much about everything their is to know about poems like lines and stanzas but now I have learned much about how they are being used in these poems. For example a couplet would be two lines of verse that are connected, and a tercet is a group of three lines. Imagery is also shown in these poems. Some are confusing but I believe its because of how some words are interpreted differently, but I really enjoyed reading these poems. For example the poem I really enjoyed reading is 14 stations, but like I have mentioned it was a bit different to understand. Religion was mentioned as well which I liked about, it was interesting to read. I like how it also had a bit of Spanish in some of the poems which made me like it more. The meter and rhythm of each poem was very unique.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the poems by Joaquin Castillo because it represented a lot about cultures, and it was just an interesting read as the readers can relate somewhat to the poems. For example I personally related to them because of its Mexican culture as Spiro had mentioned in his post. I don't know much about everything their is to know about poems like lines and stanzas but now I have learned much about how they are being used in these poems. For example a couplet would be two lines of verse that are connected, and a tercet is a group of three lines. Imagery is also shown in these poems. Some are confusing but I believe its because of how some words are interpreted differently, but I really enjoyed reading these poems. For example the poem I really enjoyed reading is 14 stations, but like I have mentioned it was a bit different to understand. Religion was mentioned as well which I liked about, it was interesting to read. I like how it also had a bit of Spanish in some of the poems which made me like it more. The meter and rhythm of each poem was very unique
ReplyDelete-Carina Pompa
i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteor
call/whatsapp:+2349057261346
i am ERIC BRUNT by name. Greetings to every one that is reading this testimony. I have been rejected by my wife after three(3) years of marriage just because another Man had a spell on her and she left me and the kid to suffer. one day when i was reading through the web, i saw a post on how this spell caster on this address AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com have help a woman to get back her husband and i gave him a reply to his address and he told me that a man had a spell on my wife and he told me that he will help me and after 3 days that i will have my wife back. i believed him and today i am glad to let you all know that this spell caster have the power to bring lovers back. because i am now happy with my wife. Thanks for helping me Dr Akhere contact him on email: AKHERETEMPLE@gmail.com
or
call/whatsapp:+2349057261346