Explication on the Poem "Racist Rot" by John Bryant

In my opinion, this poem is talking about Racism, obviously, as you may already guess from the title: Racist Rot. Even from the title alone, we could already conclude that this poem would be talking about the clashes that happen in society because of Racism.

Review on the Poem "Becoming a Poet Again" by Acep Zamzam Noor

First time reading this particular poem, I was initially amused by the line ’Sedang bau aneh dari tengkuk, leher, dan ketiakmu itu/ Telah menjelmakan kata-kata juga.' The second time I read this, I was surprised because this poem seems rather erotic in my opinion – what with some sexual connotation or implications that I found.

Explication on the Poem "Hello, Hello Henry" by Maxine Kumine

Hello, Hello Henry
(Maxine Kumin, 1982)

My neighbor in the country, Henry Manley,
with a washpot warming on his woodstove,
with a heifer and two goats and yearly chickens,
has outlasted Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill
but something’s stirring in him in his dotage

Last fall he dug a hole and moved his privy
and a year ago in April reamed his well out.
when the country sent a truck and poles and cable,
his daddy ran the linemen off with a gunshot
and swore he’d die by oil lamp, and did.

Now you tell me that all yesterday in Boston
you set your city phone at mine, and had it ringing
inside a dead apartment for three hours
room after empty room, to keep your busy.
I hear it in my head, that ranting summons.

That must be about the time that Henry
walked up two miles, shy as a girl come calling,
to tell me he has a phone now, 264, ring two.
It rang one time last week – wrong number.
He’d be pleased if one day I would think to call him

Hello, hello, Henry? Is that you?

Explication on the Poem "Richard Cory" by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Richard Cory
by  Edwin Arlington Robinson

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,
We People on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good-morning,” and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich –yes, richer than a king-
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.


Paraphrase:
1. Every time Richard Cory went to town, People always looked at him because he was a rich man and always looked clean and slender, different from other people in town.
2. He was never show himself off and he also always polite when he talked. But he still made our heart jump every time he greeted us and he looked attractive when he walked.
3. He was a rich and an educated person, and we always wish to be him.
4. We worked, but it was never enough to buy meat and the bread that we could afford wasn’t that great either. On the other hand, Richard Cory, who had everything, just went off and killed himself.

Review on the Poem "Seperti Puisi" by Acep Zamzam Noor

Seperti Puisi
By Acep Zamzam Noor

1
Seperti puisi dulu aku mengenalmu
Dekat danau tenang, dekat rumput ilalang
Matahari menyalakan kita
Dalam kobaran rindu. Seperti puisi aku menyentuhmu
Dengan jemari embun
Seperti puisi
Aku memandikanmu dalam pagi yang menggenang

Betapa panjang jika harus kucatat dalam kalimat
Atau kunyanyikan lewat balada
Seperti puisi gairah ini kupadatkan, rindu ini
Kukentalkan. Tahun-tahun kuringkas, abda-abad kusingkat
Negeri-negeri kulebur, kekuasaan-kekuasaan kusulap
Menjadi sekadar kesunyian
Seperti dulu aku mengenalmu lewat danau tenang
Dekat rumput ilalang
Seperti puisi yang datang dan menghilang

2
Jika kukenangkan sebuah pulau, laut dan langit
Alangkah jauhnya kita:
Aku telah menemukanmu dari dunia lain
Tapi kau tak kunjung menjumpaikau di lagu-lagu
Di ayat-ayat suci, di baris-baris puisi
Padahal aku dekat sekali denganmu
Bicara pada hatimu dan menjadi pakaian tidurmu

Padahal aku sering menuntunmu ke sebuah pulau
Bercerita tentang laut dan langit biru



If we are merely talking about meaning at the first glance, then I dare say that this poem is talking about ‘Aku’ (I), ‘Kau’ (you), and how ‘Aku’ is hoping to be close to ‘Kau’, hoping for ‘Kau’ to look his way, and how his hope doesn’t seem to be realized because for the second part of the poem, he talks about how it was all in the past and that now he can no longer reach ‘Kau’.

An Analysis of the Poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes

Harlem

By Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up,

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore—

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over—

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

Harlem is the title of a poem written by Langston Hughes, a black American, that tells the readers about what could happen if one’s dream is delayed or denied. Because Hughes is a black American, and also because this poem was written around 1951, a time where racism and discrimination towards black people still existed in America, I dare say through his poem, Hughes was trying to describe to the readers about those who were denied of their dreams just because they were black people and a minority in the society full of white people, where their protests or complains were mostly unheard, and even if they were heard, they were simply ignored or dismissed.