Review of Homeward Bound and Philo 101

In the poem "Homeward Bound" I found the title to be ironic with the content of the poem, as the tone of the poem is relatively dark and the title taken at face value is often seen as a positive, the two are starkly contrasted and ultimately the content of the poem makes the title ironic or vice versa. On a personal level I rarely enjoy rhyming poetry, however in this case I take exception, the rhyming never feels forced but more importantly the words rhymed are well chosen, the vocabulary never underachieves itself. I also feel as though I can relate to this poem, as a Baltimore native I have seen the things she describes, and felt the emotions that relate to loving a dying city. I have had the opportunity to travel, and despite Baltimore’s extensive flaws it is and always will be home. With that said I don’t think a better title could have been chosen. Particularly the lines I enjoyed from the poem were ‘Glance at the candy on the corner’, a reference to a prostitute but worded well in metaphor. Also the phrase ‘revolution hop’ was excellent as the two words stand juxtapose to one another. I have no real negative critique to this poem except that I would have liked the inclusion of ‘Right down to the nitty-gritty. This is what we call charm city.’ At the end of the first stanza.
Sarah’s second poem "Philo 101" seems to be an attraction of the author (if written in true first person form) towards another, but more importantly whether the author should show their feelings or keep them hidden. To add to the authors internal struggle is the fact that there is another person, which the reader has to assume the author has either feelings for or an obligation to. The last three lines are the most poignant of the poem. ‘Oh how you curse me’, ‘oh how I curse myself’ and ‘curse human nature’ all added emotion to the poem, including both the external and internal struggle of the author. I enjoyed the poem, my only issue was that it could have been longer, possibly adding more detail about her feelings and her emotional struggle.