My Father, In Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud

My Father, In Heaven, Is Reading Out Loud is a poem written by Li-Young Lee. In this poem Lee speaks of his father in a unique way. We can tell from this poem that Lee’s father was very religious and read the bible often. We know this because lines 1 and 2 say “My father, in heaven, is reading out loud to himself Psalms or news.” I like that in this poem that Lee resembles the father’s study to heaven. God is in heaven and only comes down when he is needed. In this poem, Lee’s father comes down from his study to help the children when they need him. We get a feeling by the middle of the poem that Lee’s father seems to be strict and he seems to have a grudge against him.

The part of this poem that has the most metaphors and really makes the readers think in lines 9 through 15. It states “Because my father walked the earth with a grave, determined rhythm, my shoulders ached from his gaze” (Lee lines 9 – 11). I get the feeling that his father was very determined and was tough on his children as well. “Because my father’s shoulders ached from the pulling of oars, my life now moves with a powerful back and forth rhythm: nostalgia, speculation” (Lee lines 11-14). I believe that these lines of the poem mean that his father worked hard to get his family where they were and he does let his family forget their past or where they can be in the future.

Closer to the end of the poem, Lee begins to see that his father isn’t so “Godly” after all. He is actually quite normal. We know this from lines 29-36. In these lines we find that his father was a scholar that looked up to God, but not only God. We find that his father looked up to God to know what to do when he had to pack up his family, but he also listen to the radio. This is when Lee finds that his dad is just like him. Lines 32 through 36 say “ At the doorway, I watched, and I suddenly knew he was one like me, who got my learning from under a lintel; he was one of the powerless, to who knowledge came while he sat among suitcases, boxes, old newspapers, string” (Lee lines 32-36). These lines are where Lee really sees who his father is. He doesn’t see him as this strict God that stays in his study reading the bible or a news paper, but another human being.

The last stanza of the poem relates how normal his father is compared to a God that he idolized him to be in the beginning. “He did not decide peace or war, home or exile, escape by land or escape by sea” (Lee lines 37- 38). He used to see his father as a person that could decide war or peace as God would do. He used to see his father as this powerful and scary man that he now sees is not real.

I found this poem to be inspiring.  It gave us the insight that most children see of their fathers to be strict and powerful, but truly they are just human trying to get through the hard times of life.

Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump

             Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump is a poem written by David Bottoms. I found this poem to be interesting, yet disturbing. This poem makes the readers wonder why the kids are attracted to shooting the rats. Why are they so violent?  The answers to these questions are not specifically told in this poem, but we can make some assumption by what is said and described in the detailed words in the poem.

            In the beginning of the poem we find that the kids are drinking. This means that the parents are most likely not in the picture very much, which could be one reasoning for them shooting the rats. We know this because line 1 says “Loaded on beer and whiskey, we ride.” We also learn that it is not just a very small group or just a couple of children, but many of them going to the Bibb County dump. We know this because line 2 says “to the dump in carloads.”  I found the line that talks about the groups of people getting to the dump turning on their headlights is meaningful in more than one way. I see this light as a way to show the vulnerable rats in the waste field. It also can relate to how the groups of people that are engaging in this activity are shown as vulnerable like the rats. This poem shows that the darkness seems to be where it is safe, for the rats and the people alike. I kind of get an idea that they may live in a ghetto neighborhood. 

               The middle of this poem tells about the violence of killing the rats. The first line that speaks about the actual violence of murdering the rats says “Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still/ like dead beer cans” (Bottoms, lines 5-6). The poem then begins to depict what would happen to the rats that get shot, but do not die instantly. Bottom describes a vivid picture of the rats crawling into the darkness (where it is safe). He does this by saying

“Shot in the gut or rump, they writhe and try to burrow

into garbage, hide in old truck tires,

rusty oil drums, cardboard boxes scattered across the mounds,

or else drag themselves on forelegs across our beams of light

toward the darkness at the edge of the dump” (Bottoms lines 7-11)

               Again in this section of the poem, Bottoms speaks about the importance of the light and dark. This has a great symbolic reasoning in this poem. Bottoms makes the ending of this poem very interesting and makes his readers begin to think.

              

               “It's the light they believe kills.

               We drink and load again, let them crawl

               for all they're worth into the darkness we're headed for” (Bottoms line 12-14).

              

               I begin to get the feeling that the characters in this poem are lonely or not believed in. They see the darkness and avoiding others is a way staying safe. I see the rats in this poem as a type of young children that do not know what is in store for the future. The children shooting at them see themselves as powerful for once and are teaching the “children” (the rats) what is in store and that the world that they live is not so great.