Response to Old and New Canadian Poetry

Hello everyone, I have returned from Temagami!
This is my response to my favourite poem from the Old and New Canadian Poetry unit one note file. My favourite poem was actually from the contemporary section.
Here is the poem and my response is underneath it, Enjoy!

Creative City

to look, and not avert one's gaze;
that is where all the art is, the passion
and the city. people who do not look,
cannot see canvas, or poems or

notes for
happiness.

art does not begin with art,
but in the eyes. the eyes are everything;
when you look up at another,
and look away without a smile,

you have killed
everything you want to
bring home, oh citizen

RESPONSE:

This was actually not the poem that my group was assigned to analyze and respond to but this poem caught my eye the most out of all the rest of them. I chose this one because of the imagery the poet gives readers and how well he gives the description of art. He doesn’t describe it as just a tangible object but also something created and expressed in your mind that you can see after you look past just the object itself. The use of imagery in this poem like “that is where all the art is, the passion and the city,” portrays the image of looking past the cover of something and to look deeper and see the greater meaning and beauty hiding. That’s the image I get in my mind when I read those intriguing lines. This poet writes contemporary pieces meaning modern, current and thought provoking. To me this poem kind of behind the scene message is to ‘stop and smell the roses’ because we’re all too quick and faced paced in our lives and never slow down to realize the beautiful things around us. This poem doesn’t completely come out and say it but with imagery, metaphors and just how the poet strings the words together makes it a very interesting poem to read and I really enjoyed it.