poetry project

   Trojan Horse

 

 

Baby steps

 

two, I begin to crawl,

Crawl away with joy.

They told me I would grow up to have it all

And be as mighty as Hector of troy.

Ten, I begin to believe life is filled with mystery,

I was told the world has many beautiful, bountiful, and breathtaking places.

I begin to think that life has no misery,

A thousand joyous ,but who knows what’s behind their faces .

Thirteen, I begin to see the true face of the life,

A life where people have mastered the art form of disguise

In a world lacking serenity, yet filled with strife.

Our lives are like paintings, there are more too it than what meets our eyes.

Sixteen, I realized life is like a trojan horse,

masked as beautiful , yet the source of  misfortune filled with displeasure.

As soon as the horse is let in , begins the remorse .

To my dear melancholy, we are alone together.

 

 

Baby Steps Composition

 

Life can be a long journey filled with ups and downs, for some it may have more ups than downs , and for others it may have more downs than ups .In the poem Baby Steps  by Zaine Osekrie , Zaine reveals insight to his life as he grows with age. Osekrie reveals how life is not as “they” have always told him , “they” are most likely his parents or society in general.  The poem is a narrative in which the poet is the speaker. Baby steps carries a tone of heavy sadness ,in which Osekrie shows through his choices of words and description of his perspective on life. The poem’s theme seems to exhibit a youth versus age theme, where the Poet’s perspective on life is constantly shifting as he grows older .Osekrie’s poem maintains an ABAB rhyme scheme with a variety of metaphors , similes , and such .

 

As he grows older he sees the world for what it really is , a sad world and not sugar-coated by “They”. The poem starts off with a positive tone regarding life and slowly beings its descent to a dire tone. Throughout the poem Osekrie makes two notable allusions to Greek mythology: “ and be mighty as hector of troy” In Greek Mythology , Hector was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan war. His allusion to Hector of troy was meant to show the protection and care  parents provide their child at early stages of their lives by telling their children things to encourage them(child innocence). The second Reference refers to the Trojan Horse :” Sixteen , I realized life was like a trojan horse “ According to Greek mythology , after 10 years of the siege against Troy , the Greek built a giant wooden horse filled with supplies and presented it as a gift to the Trojans. The horse was a trap and contained a small army of Greeks who infiltrated the city of Troy via the horse. The Trojans were deceived with the beauty of the horse and it ultimately cost them the war .  Osekrie purposely alluded to and described life as a Trojan horse to emphasize on the theme of appearance versus reality , and the fact that there is so much more to life if you dig deeper.

 

Osekrie perspective on life can be regarded as pessimistic and may be sort of realistic  .The poet uses the simile of “our lives are like paintings , there are more too it than what meets our eyes “  to show the complexity behind people’s true feelings and intentions . In the eighth line “ A thousand joyous , but who knows what’s behind their faces”  the poet’s intention was to show the mask many people hide their emotions  behind. We live in such a desensitized world that it is difficult to tell fake from real emotions. Osekrie uses Synecdoche in his poem as well, in the ninth line he says “Thirteen, I begin to see the true face of the life” by saying that , Osekrie is revealing how he began to see what life truly is. The poem is ended with the line:” to my dear melancholy, we are alone together “ This is a paradox because it is contradictory given the fact that a person can not be alone and together with somebody at the same time. Osekrie addresses his sadness by revealing that he is not all alone , and infect accompanied by his cloud of sadness.

 

 

Overall, the poem is insightful and sheds light on the human condition along with society’s problems. It addresses how society has difficulties with expressing their feelings because they have become so desensitized as a result of all the conflicts that plague our world.  The poet also hints how he feels about the world in a subtle way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thought on “poetry project

  1. Zaine -clever use of allusion… the tone is definitely a bit cynical but your wordplay is well done. The rationale is good as well. Have a great summer!

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