Sara Nell

“The Intentions of the Intentional” Summary:

“The Intentions of the Intentional” is about something. I think. It talks a little about jazz, and crying, and strangers.

“The Intentions of the Intentional” Response:

The first word that comes to mind is WOW!! Maybe I’m just a poem illiterate, but “The Intentions of the Intentional” just didn’t make much sense to me. I tried following the suggestions from “Sleeping on the Wing,” but after reading it five times I’m still a little confused. Because the meaning of the poem is beyond me, I’m left only to critique its poetic form. I love the first stanza, “When in every weep, the weary reap. And Rome to Paris parish quick to follow feet of fast and fettered fools.” That line flows perfectly and it’s a well worded and intriguing way to start the poem. I also liked the form of a stanza followed by another stanza, followed by repetition of a word. If I were to change one thing, I would consider removing the “/” marks, because it can confuse some readers as to what to say if they are reading aloud.

“Mankaure and Khamerernebty” Summary:

If I were to take my best guess, I’d say this poem is about a girl who broke up with her boyfriend.

“Mankaure and Khamerernebty” Response:

Reminiscent of the first poem, this one’s also a bit hard to follow. I noticed it has a lot of contradiction in it, for example, “love and lover not,” and “time not time for minute’s sake.” I found this contradiction interesting in a good way. I also like that the poem includes quoted dialogue such as “I never knew it, but I loved you then.” The dialogue takes a sharp turn from the poetically structured stanzas, and gives the reader a sudden sense of reality. One thing that really confused me was the word, “lamitisoflate.” Is that a combination of words, or just a made up word? If it’s made up, what does it mean? I’m also puzzled on your use of the term philosophy. What philosophical views are held in the sentence, “We are already to-morrow; to-day is nothing but what we used to be.” Furthermore, in mid-sentence, a thing is replaced with a person. Maybe it’s supposed to be, I just don’t know anymore.