Humans Destroying the Night Sky

In the movie The City Dark, people that care about the earth are concerned and revealing to the world through this documentary that people are destroying nature by using night ligths. Humans are supposed to be the smartest creatures above the earth, but what they chose to do is destroy the earth.  In reality, humans are the ones responsible for the world that we live in.

Before seeing the film, I didn’t realize why the birds were dying every day. I thought they died because they were sick, but I never asked what kind of sickness they have. I was surprised when I saw in the film how every year they found thousands of dead birds that were crashing into buildings. It was fascinating to see the turtles hatch, but it was very sad that more than half of the turtles die because they didn’t make it to the ocean. They were disoriented, following the light of the city instead of the light of the moon in order to find the ocean.

 In the film The City Dark, Ian Cheney says “what do we lose when we lose the night?” I believe that humans need the night sky the same way animals do. While watching the turtles hatch in the film, the newborn turtles use the night light of the moon for guidance to go back to the ocean. The same way the turtles use the night sky is why thousands of animals were created to live at night. As a result, if small animals can follow the night sky when they are just born and humans can feel peace in their heart by watching the night sky it is because it is a connection that society doesn’t realize. I wonder how our ancestors could watch the night sky. They probably had the opportunity to see the sky with a better view and understanding the connection between the night sky and humanity.

The night sky hides a marvelous world, and by seeing the night sky we can remember that people are not the center of the earth, which is more than humanity. The world is full of thousands of different species and some of them are very small that we can hardly see them, like ants, spiders or garden worms. For example, a garden worm is necessary for good soil, the same way thousands of species are in the earth for some reason and we have to learn to share the world with them instead of trying to destroy them. In The City Dark film, Ian Cheney says he felt like he “was at the center of the world.” Humanity is forgetting about how big is the world and are focusing on the wrong things. The world is not composed with only humans. If humanity could just open their eyes and see how big the universe is then they will see how people are like the size of a worm and the earth is like the garden soil compared to the universe.

Overall, after watching the film, I realize that humans are the most danger species on the earth, not the snakes nor the scorpions. Humans are the ones that are working in order to destroy the earth by trying to find happiness in the wrong things. For example, humans are building the glamour of the city with night lights, while forgetting that other species use the light of the stars or the light of the moon for guidance. Also forgetting that behind us there is a generation that is going to need a place to live.

Stars in the Night Sky

 When I was a little girl I had many adventures and one of the adventures that I had was watching the stars at night. I remember laying down on the floor with my brother, Isidro. We watched the sky and tried to count the stars during night but it was an impossible mission. We could see thousands of stars or even millions filling the sky. I remember each night the stars were different. They had that brilliant white color and some of the stars were not that brilliant. I even watched something falling from the sky. My father told me that stars die and fall, and that was the light that we saw coming to the earth. He said every time we see a star fall down we can ask for one wish.

My brother and I enjoyed playing at night with the sky. We could see designs in the sky, like faces, and we believe that maybe angels were watching over the earth. Where I come from is a small town close to the mountains. I remember when my family would come over to visit; since we could not fit inside the house, we slept outside, sometimes on the front porch and sometimes on the top of the house. Since, in Mexico, the houses are different, the roof of the houses are straight like a sheet made out of concrete. I enjoyed the night back then because the world was not as dangerous as it is today. I remember sleeping outside under the sky without a worry in the world. I remember feeling that joy to be outside and close to the sky.

Now that I’m an adult and live in a different country, I wonder what the sky at night looks like, and since I have a little girl that is eleven years old, she is as adventurous as me. She likes to run and play outside and enjoy the nature. We decided to purchase a telescope to watch the moon. My daughter and my son were so excited to see the moon. I was surprised with the first impression of how the moon looks under the eye of the telescope. It was like a piece of rock but perfect with craters all over. I saw the starts and the moon when I was little but not that close. We tried to see the starts but we only could see a bright light.

Since this project is to watch the sky, I watched the sky during spring break almost every day and I noticed that there are not that many stars in the sky and I can even count them. My first day when I was at the park around 7:00 p. m., I saw the sky which was very light blue, almost white in color but with a blue tone. I saw white clouds around the sky. Then by 7:30 p.m. I only could see one tiny little star that wasn’t that brilliant, and then by 8:00 p.m. the sky was a beautiful shade of dark blue, like in the movies where they show the blue of the ocean. But still I only could see couple stars appear during the night. By 8:30 the color of the sky changed from that beautiful color to just a dark color, and the only light I saw was the light that the park uses for illumination. Then I kept looking at the sky for couple of days in the back yard of my house and I noticed the same stars appeared. I counted them, and there were seventeen stars. I kept watching them change positions but there were the same number of stars.

In the park I saw less stars than in my back yard. The last day I saw only a couple of stars from my back yard. I don’t know if it was because it looked like it was going to rain, but it was strange that they disappeared. I did not put that much emphasis into the sky when I was a child, but I noticed a big difference back then, the sky was full of stars, and I couldn't even count them. Now I can even tell  how many stars are in the sky, and I came up with questions that I could not answer. Is the sky different because when I was little I lived in a different country or because the stars are mysteriously disappearing from the sky?

Walking with Death in Life

“Highway 12, Just East of paradise, Idaho” by Robert Wrigley and “Reading the Obituary Page” by Linda Pastan are two poems that are similar to each other. Both poems narrate how death changes one’s life story in a minute of time. The poem “Highway 12, Just East of Paradise, Idaho” is a narration of how a doe dies and everything happens so quickly like a fast forward movie, reveling how, in a matter of minutes, life is very fragile. However, the narrator, who experiences this tragic accident, still has the vivid images in his mind of this tragic event where he takes the life of an indefensible doe. Similarly, in “Reading the Obituary Page,” this poem reveals that, in a matter of minutes, this music stops and the one who does not find a chair is hanging between life and death. These two poems suggest that death is part of everyone’s life, that each day that one lives is one day less, and that everyone’s future is unknown.

Both poems reveal that life can end in a matter of seconds.  In “Highway 12, Just East of Paradise, Idaho,” the narrator of this poem relates “the instant the truck hit her” (2). The word the narrator uses to capture the reader’s attention is “the instant” which reveals that life can change in a second. Also, suggest that life is uncertain and when death arrives, the ones who die are left in the past, but for the ones that are alive their life continues. For example, the life of the doe was left and the narrator continues on his way. Similarly, in “Reading the Obituary Page,” for the ones that were left without a chair the game ends, but for the ones that still have chairs the game continues. It is how life in reality is, and one personal example that I can share with the narrator of “Highway 12, Just East of Paradise, Idaho.” Is that I know the feeling of killing an innocent animal. One time, I was driving to college and I was passing under the freeway, when I meet an adorable white dove that crashed into my windshield. I continued my way and left her in the past, but I still remember, and keep thinking what the story would be if I was driving a minute earlier or a minute later before or after the crash. Certainly the story would be different.

I chose to write this blog about the poem of “Highway 12, Just East of Paradise, Idaho” because it reminds me of the tragic accident that I experienced with the dove. I chose to compare it with the poem of “Reading the Obituary Page” because I enjoyed playing the musical game when I was little, without knowing that musical chairs is a game that is training its players about life and death. As a result, each day people are playing these games without realizing that life is ending and that each minute that passes is a minute less in their lives.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

"Waiting for my Clothes" by Leanne O'Sullivan is a poem that captures my attention because it confused me at first, and the reason the author is in the hospital is still a mystery to me. The author is in the hospital waiting for her turn to see a doctor, and she says, “The day the doctors and nurses are having their weekly patient interviews, I sit waiting my turn outside the office . . .” (1-2). At first I thought she just visiting the hospital for an appointment, but when I continued reading the poem I find out that she is wearing a hospital gown. Then I understood that she is in the hospital because she’s sick. But what kind of sickness does she have?

Then while reading the poem, the author mentions “They have taken everything that thought should be taken-my clothes, my books, my music . . .” (6-8). She uses the words “they thought should be taken” to reveal that she is in the hospital, but not a regular hospital. She is in a mental institution or rehab, and the doctors want to make her better, but for some reason it is necessary to take everything that she possesses in order to make her well. This confuses me because I thought that they took everything away from her because she may want to harm herself.

The doctors continue and tell her “Wait a few days, and if you’re good you can have your things back” (11-12). I then realized that she did something bad that she is not supposed to do, and the doctors are punishing her in order to change her behavior. The author continued and said, “taking my soul from between my ribs and leafing through the pages of my thoughts, as if they were reading my palms and my name beneath them like a confession” (17-18). This reveals that the doctor found something like a journal and started reading her secret life. She is very helpless and she could not take control over the situation against the doctors digging into her life.

She is very vulnerable and compares herself to a naked baby by saying, “I think of those doctors knowing me naked, holding me by my spine . . . the way [people] would hold a baby . . .” (14-16). The doctors find out something about her and she is very defensive and only the doctors have the decision in order to treat her and make her well.

Then the author continued the poem by saying, “owning this girl, claiming this world of blackness and lightness and death and birth” (21-23). She is living in a world, fighting against the bad things that have happened in her life in order to see light at the end of the tunnel. Her life is in the hands of the doctors the same way when she was born. She either lives or dies in the doctor’s hands.

She is in a mental institution or a rehabilitation facility, and I could not figure out what she is doing there. Could it be because she is doing drugs and she is killing her body, or does she have a deep problem with herself by denying the person she is and doing things that make her sick? At the end of the poem she says, “Like dreams, my clothes come out of their boxes” (32). Finally, she is cured or she accepts the life that she was previously living is not good for her. She understands and now can see “how the sun moves” (29). That means that she found the light at the end of the tunnel and she frees herself from the illness that she had.

The End of Once Happy Stories

In the book of 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day by Billy Collins, two poems that are very similar to each other “The Albatross” by Kate Bass and “Ever After” by Joyce Sutphen. Both of these poems have an author that is a woman facing the reality of a broken relationship. The author of “The Albatross” and the author of “Ever After” both are writing about unstable relationships. The author of “Albatross” uses a necklace as reference. Similarly, in “Ever After,” the author uses a white cake to remember their once happy story, but at the end both authors are left lonely, sad, and hopeless.

In the poem “The Albatross” by Kate Bass is about a broken relationship. The author wears a necklace that is “a blue that used to match” her eyes (line 4). This reveals that when she starts her relationship with her partner, her eyes have the sparkle and shine that represents her love for him. At the time, she thinks her relationship will endure forever like a normal relationship that starts with love. However, her eyes are no longer blue, which signifies that the life has gone out of the relationship. The author also continued through the poem saying, “in a voice that no longer seems familiar, only strange” (line 18). His voice sounds strange because they do not communicate anymore. The part when the author says, “I hear a snap and sound like falling rain” the necklace is breaking, and so is her relationship (line 20). 

The same happens in the poem “Ever After” where the author remembers the day when she starts her relationship with her husband. She mentions that they share the joy in their wedding by “sinking [the knife] into the tall white cake” (line 13). She is remembering the moments where she was dressing for a special day that she was supposed to endure for the rest of her life, a moment where she united her life to her loved one forever. When the author says “What am I to you know that you are no longer what you used to be to me?” (lines 1-2).The author is having flash backs of her life as she feels hopeless by remembering the happiest moments followed by the reality in her life that she feels lonely. The author also mentions that her relationship used to be full of love but now it is like “unrelated persons except for the ex- that goes in the front of the words” (lines 7-8). Their love ends and she left with the feeling of sadness and hopelessness.

The two poems are both similar to each other. “The Albatross” is about a relationship that starts with love, and the author's eyes have a certain sparkle and shine. In the poem “Even After,” the author remembers the day when they got married, and sharing the joy by cutting the cake. In these two poems, the authors share their feelings and mention the day where they were happy. However, “The Albatross” author also mentions that her eye doesn’t have that sparkle when they start the relationship, while the author of “Ever After” mentions that their relationship is no longer like it used to be. These poems reveal the end of once happy stories to which both authors thought would endure for the rest of their life.

A Broken Relationship

“The Albatross” 

“The Albatross” by Kate Bass is poem about a broken relationship. The author wears a necklace that is “a blue that used to match” her eyes. This reveals that when she starts her relationship with her partner, her eyes have the sparkle and shine that represents her love for him. At the time, she thinks her relationship will endure forever like a normal relationship that starts with love. However, her eyes are no longer blue, which signifies that the life has gone out of the relationship. The author mentions “I like to think I am remembering you. I like to think you don’t forget.” The purpose that she is wearing the necklace is because she wants to remember the happy days they had in the past, and she would like her partner to not forget and remember the good time they had.

When she says, “the necklace is heavy on my skin it symbolizes that their relationship has become more of a burden and thus she seems to strain under the load. She picks up her child, yet another load, and holds her in her arms, trying to calm the baby down. It seems she is all alone, physically and emotionally, for she sits in front of the television set and can only wish their relationship was different.

When she says, “I wait until I hear a latch lift” she is waiting for him to come back, as if he is the one that who can make the final decision that would affect her life forever. Through the poem she is in state of inactivity; for example, she sits, among toys and unwashed clothes, suggesting that she has neither the energy nor the motivation to keep her house in order.

This poem reveals that is the end of a once- happy story and that the author thought it would endure for the rest of her life. They have a daughter, and the author wants to try to work out her relationship but when he comes back and she hears his voice, his voice sounds strange because they do not communicate anymore. She doesn’t recognize his voice anymore because probably when they started this relationship his voice was like a gentle man with a long list of promises. The reason why he leaves her is a mystery because in this poem it does not specify or a least I didn’t read it.

When I started reading the poem I didn’t understand everything this poem tries to reveal. I was frustrated and I kept reading again and again. There was a part that at first I did not understand. This is the part where she says, “in a voice that no longer seems familiar, only strange.” But while rereading the poem I came to the conclusion that he leaves her. The part when the author says, “I hear a snap and sound like falling rain” at first confused me, but then I understand that the necklace is breaking, and so is her relationship.

For some reason he ends the relationship. The reality is that I don’t know the reason why he leaves her. But she has a kind of sentiment to her writing that apparently if he gave her the opportunity to rebuild this relationship she will try it. The fact that she continues to wear the necklace each day when he comes home signifies that she still is trying to hold onto the love that they once had.

Overall at the end of the poem, I still have some questions that the author doesn’t answer. For example, I would like to know why they were not happy any more. What happened in their relationship? Has the author made a mistake in the relationship since she is the one waiting? And why does the baby need to “forget” something? Has the baby been abused by her or her partner? I cannot confidently answer these questions because she left out the details.

David's Childhood Life

Response to Stitches: A Memoir

The book Stitches: A Memoir by David Small begins with David’s life in Detroit, where he lives with his family. His father, Ed, is a doctor that rarely spends time at home, and his mother, Betty, is a quiet person that keeps everything to herself. Betty abuses her son David when she has the opportunity. His brother, Ted, is always in the basement playing with his drums, and David is the smallest in his family so he finds a way to deal with his reality. David’s grandparents got married because his grandmother, Betty’s mother, got pregnant. Unfortunately, Betty’s mother’s husband’s family, the Murphy’s, did not accept her, and when her husband dies, the Murphy’s forced her out of the property. The Murphy great grandfather tries to kill himself, and although he did not die, the poison ate away his vocal cords. David’s dysfunctional family makes him feel unsafe so he copes with reality by getting sick, being rebellious to his mother, and becoming like Betty to protect him. He does not like his life, and he wants to change but his mother’s examples of how to act in life follows him throughout his childhood.

First, getting sick is a form of escape from his reality. By getting sick, he gets his father’s attention since Ed is a doctor. He knows his father knows what to do. When David is six years old, David sees his father and his colleagues as heroes. David says, “They were soldiers of science, and their weapons was the x-ray” (Small 27). Although, David does not know that in the future the x-rays that he thought were there to heal his father actually gave him cancer. His mother, Betty, on the other hand is unloving and always slamming the kitchen cabinets doors. She never speaks her mind. Instead, she delivers abuse his son. Stitches reveals, “Her silent fury is like a black tidal wave, either you get out of the way, or . . .” drown in the waves (46). Betty’s mother abused her when she was a child. For example, David and Betty visited his grandmother, but while they are visiting, Betty goes out for the night. David stays with his grandmother, and she burns his hands with hot water because he talked-back to her (90-91).

Second, David is rebellious to his mother. When he is six years old and is visiting his father at the hospital, he knows the rules in the hospital are not to play with the wheelchairs and not go near the elevators. His mother reminds him to follow the rules, but he does exact the opposite. After playing with the wheelchairs, he decides to explore the hospital by going floor to floor. Surprisingly, he ends up on the fourth floor, where he finds more than one fetus that is in a jar. Suddenly, he sees the fetus open his eyes and jump from the jar and start to follow him (29-42). This imagination of the man in the jar is a guilty feeling of disobedience to his mother. Although he decides to be disobedient, his subconscious makes him feel guilty that he was following the wrong path.

Finally, David becomes like his mother at some point. When he is fourteen, his mother goes to the hospital to visit him because she knows he has cancer. David asks Betty if he could get the book that he is reading at home. He states angrily, “But oh, wait, I forgot you stole that from my room and you burned it up” (173). The way that he responds to Betty reveals that he learned how to defend himself from his own mother because she gave him her own example to follow.

As a result of his mother’s treatment when he is a child, he is trapped and anxious. He tries to cope with stress by getting sick, being a rebellious son, and becoming like her at some point in his life. At the end of the book, he is an adult and he dreams that he is six years old again and is living alone. His grandmother is in front of his house in the building where she was locked away because of her mentally sickness, and David’s mother is in the front of that building sweeping a floor for him to follow (324). He did not follow their path, and he decides not to be like his dysfunctional family (325). He decides to write this artistic book probably to face his past and become a better person.