CREATIVE – Try to write either a William Carlos Williams, an Ezra Pound or an e.e.cummings poem using your own subject matter but sticking to their language and form. As a starting point you might try either “The Red Wheelbarrow”, or “In a Station of the Metro” or e.e.cummings “in Just-”
“Young pupils studying for their future,
Prolonging the call of mammon.”
I have chosen to write a short poem in the style of Ezra Pound, specifically his poem “In a station of the metro.” Pound in a few words manages to portray depth and meaning. Each word can be broken down and meaning deduced from it, this style of poetry is simple yet powerful.
In my above rendition, I have attempted to create a short poem highlighting the plight of a student who is studying a uni degree, having just finished highschool, with the lingering pressure of making money and being financial stable overhead. Many students are supported by their parents while they pursue their university studies, but at some point in their life will finish their degree and leave the shelter that 14-15 or so years of education provided them throughout their lives. Mammon is an Aramaic word that Jesus uses in the new testament when rebuking the Pharisees for their love of money. In context, Jesus is telling them they cannot serve God and money, it is one or the other. I find many people to be caught in this situation, both God and money are calling them. This creates a sort of contrast with the earlier statement in the poem, where “Young” and “pupils” are words that encompass ideas of freedom, of youth, of vigour and of life, juxtaposed with the idea of being enslaved to money.
ENGL 204 - Jesse Owad 