DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "From On Being Fired Again" by Erin Belieu Originally read: May 7, 2013 More information about the Poet: Erin Belieu The lackadaisical, colloquial tone really does shine in the first half of the poem.  The title itself has a semblance of exasperated humor where I, mentally, put my emphasis on "again" which foreshadows the speaker's intent to discuss her multiple firings. The sarcasm is apparent with the first two lines, "I've known the pleasures of being / fired at least eleven times--"  Am I expecting her to list off all eleven?  Yes, and no.  If the speaker does list off all eleven, then there's a sense of focus, but if the speaker doesn't, then the ones that come out the most shocking come out and adds to the sense of exasperation. And the big ones are "Larry who found my snood / unsuitable."  The sound here is pretty funny, "another time by Jack / whom I was sleeping with."  If in...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Against Writing about Children" by Erin Belieu Originally read: May 2, 2013 More information about the Poet: Erin Belieu Humor.  The tercets really bring out a sort of angular bite with each line.  For example, when the speaker states that she is not surprised when people privately despise children the response is "I can't say I'm completely shocked, / having been one."  The sort of bite does two things  -- 1) centralizes the issue back to the speaker and 2) for the "others" there's the presumption that they forgot (or remember) their own childhood.  The humor is with expectations and the line breaks.  Added to this is the slightly cynical tone which switches between empathy between the "adults" and "childeren." Like this line break in stanza two "I was not / exceptional, uncomfortable as that is / to admit, and most children are not / exceptional."  Once again the twist goes b...