(n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life disintegrating. 4. life out of balance. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.)
In her aptly title chapter, “Imagery,” renowned American poet Mary Oliver does well to explain figurative language, enlightening her readers with examples of metaphor, personification, allusion, and images found in poems from the likes of Elizabeth Bishop, Walt Whitman, and more. Oliver pays close attention to the idea of the image itself, that thing which becomes the centerpiece of a poem, opening up a window of opportunity for the writer to describe in full detail what lay before him in the natural world or in the world of his imagination. With some conscious consideration for detail, the poet’s world becomes a line of verse.
That said, I would like you to watch the film called, Koyaanisqatsi, a title taken from the Hopi Indian word for “Life out of balance.” Directed by Godfrey Reggio and scored by famous “minimalist” composer, Philip Glass, the film presents a collage of images taken from both the natural and industrial worlds, juxtaposing (that is, pairing) pictures together in a way that reveals the stark irony of the over-technologized society in which we live today.
The images in the film should hopefully inspire in you, not only a sense of paradox, but also of metaphor in general. The question you should ask yourselves as you view the film is: What do the images flooding my mind from the film represent?
And so the directions are as follows:
That said, I would like you to watch the film called, Koyaanisqatsi, a title taken from the Hopi Indian word for “Life out of balance.” Directed by Godfrey Reggio and scored by famous “minimalist” composer, Philip Glass, the film presents a collage of images taken from both the natural and industrial worlds, juxtaposing (that is, pairing) pictures together in a way that reveals the stark irony of the over-technologized society in which we live today.
The images in the film should hopefully inspire in you, not only a sense of paradox, but also of metaphor in general. The question you should ask yourselves as you view the film is: What do the images flooding my mind from the film represent?
And so the directions are as follows:
- Watch the film. Listen to the music.
- Pay close attention to the details of the images presented in the film and the music that is interfused with those images.
- Jot down as you view the film your basic impressions of the images and the music. What mood does it create? What emotions are expressed through the interfusion of music and image?
- Once you (we) are finished viewing the film, create a poem—free form or in a specific meter of your own choosing—that recreates the imagery presented in the film with new meaning, new life, new metaphor.
13 comments:
Luke Kunkel
Bro. Rob Peach
British Lit
Period 6
A Drop Of The Bomb
Where is the bright lush flora that filled the earth?
Gone before we realized what it was worth
A time of freedom, life with no muzzle
Until we turned it into a well cut puzzle
We destroyed the creation
Gave birth to a nation
Now our own creations
Destroy rival nations
The green givers of life are replaced by the red
Explosions continue and we find ourselves dead
As smoke starts pervading the clear blue air
A gray cloud of smoke but does anyone care?
Now we’re all one machine
Reading our magazine
We just use our machines
And load guns with magazines
We no longer live just for the today
Our lives have tinted no color but gray
While everything seems so neatly arranged
We live in a world that needs to be changed
Now our creations destroyed all the things
And all of the nature no longer sings
Its all so simple just a drop of the bomb
Loud enough to silence the most beautiful song
Casey Doyle
Bro. Rob Peach
Brit. Lit. 141-05
January 28, 2008
Koyaanisqatsi Poem
Skyscrapers resembling everlasting cliffs and canyons
Our earth filled with oaks, maples, and banyans
Everyday life and starry nights
But our ever-living God is our everlasting light
The world, today, is filled with death and new life
Death is caused by war and different kinds of strife
From the peacful mountains and the calm rivers
We receive these gifts from God, the everlasting giver
Society is turning into a gray cloud of smoke
The leaders of the world, from whom this has been provoked
Explosions are becoming an everyday ordeal
This will continue, until we strike a deal
In some nations of the world, they have peace to sing
But in this nation, we still have peace to bring
Matt Oczypok
Bro. Rob Peach
Brit Lit 141 Sect 5
"Solve the Puzzle"
The green, gentle countryside lays out in the sun all day,
As the warm, unseen breeze makes the grass dance slowly.
Rain clouds are brewing, ready to quench the thirsty earth.
Life is peaceful here, a beautiful oblivion.
Flames explode, ashes fall like snow, blanketing the streets.
People run in fear of their lives, utter chaos.
The devastation is hidden in the ghostly smoke.
No one knows what even hit them.
Life can be unbalanced, mysterious.
It can hold our hand or break our hand.
The world is like a puzzle,
And it’s up to us to solve it.
Jordan Page
Bro. Rob Peach
Brit. Lit
Period 6
The Koyaanisqatsi Way
The Hopi Indians say
That the Koyaanisqatsi way
Is an off balance life
With the world in a strife
The beauty of nature
Is a fine young creature
Everything living in harmony
No need for apology
Until this thing called industry
Tries to get the best of me
I just want to let that creature live
In the wonderful world that God gives.
But these poison man-made works
Are the things that really hurt
Now I know what the Hopis mean
We are wasting all God’s green
What could we do?
Tell me. What are we going to do?
Daniel Schnelbach
Brother Robert Peach FSC
British Literature 141
Section 5
Humans that infest
A world thats processed
Whose actions attest
To this earthly mess.
A highway that twists
Mocking a river
Whose flow can't exist
Unless traffic delivers.
A city stands proud
Mainstream, mainframe,
Skyscrapers face clouds
Earning their name.
Dying to live and
Living to die
Life without balance
Where's this balance in life?
Johnathen Czemerda
Bro. Rob Peach F.S.C.
British Lit. 151
January 2008
Standing on a sea of stone,
With naught but rocks for company,
I watch time run away, just run away.
This ocean of lave shifting and turning,
Consuming and birthing new stone,
The land just flowing away.
Trapped in this cycle I can’t escape,
Eating myself to sustain myself,
My body just wasting away, wasting away.
Revolution! Rise, rewrite, revolt!
My feet leave the ground,
An my soul flies away, flies away!
Leaving behind the old ways past,
I am heading for something new,
The old shall forever go away,
Go away and never return.
I fly on and on,
The rock changes and flows,
Something is coming,
Coming my way.
Water! Jubilation! Rejoice for life!
The rock gives way to trees and fish,
This oppressive land is going, going away.
This water moves and flows,
Much more than rock ever could,
It’s time is rising up.
In the air, in the seas,
And on the land the water,
The water gives life to all.
Rejoice! My brothers are found!
People here, there, everywhere!
I have found my home, my home.
Water to rock,
And my brothers to water,
Their works are by far the best,
They alone reign supreme.
I let myself be consume in their ways,
These are my brothers I have to stay,
They hold the key to eternity,
They shall never pass away.
And just like that my brothers are gone,
And I alone in a field of black,
All my glory, taken away,
Taken away.
I look to my left and there they are,
In a metal monstrosity,
Eating everything and rolling away,
Rolling away.
What is this nightmare I can’t escape,
Could this superficial skin be the truth?
Was all the good I was fed inside the beast naught but lies?
My silent tears scream this true truth I cannot ignore.
I glance down and find their tracks,
Strewn with guts and gore.
All that is here, one kingdom taken to feed another,
And with that my hope fades away, fades away.
I look around and take it all in,
My brothers severing ties with and defiling the natural law,
I kneel and bow my head,
As ash rains down upon my grief stricken corpse.
Mindless metal ravens screech across the indifferent sky,
In a flash my brothers are all dead,
The victims of their own empire,
Once nothing, then built, once nothing again.
This once glorious kingdom,
Raised up to rule them all,
Has brought them all down,
Brought them all down.
I sit on the ground,
My tears run dry,
Back in the stone prison I fought to escape,
All alone, all alone.
At my feet, a lone flower fights the rock for a right to exist,
A beacon of hope to all those left, which is just me.
With spark of reluctant hope,
I know this kingdom shall come again,
But that is a tale for another day.
Liam Halferty
Brother Rob Peach
January 28, 2008
British Lit 141-05
A Life Out of Balance
Human life destroys this Earth
Faster than the rate of human birth
Killing plants and animals with our pollution
Quickly changing Earth like an evolution
Explosions, pieces of Earth up in flames
Scenes of dry deserts, for a while have not seen the rains
Canyons with clouds moving quickly over top
Like pedestrians in a city, moving fast and never stop
Bodies of water, flow rapidly and give a positive feel
But again power plants pollute, along with smokestacks of factories of steel
Clouds move over the water, just like the canyons before
Shows that everything is under the same sky, even peace and war
Dams and mines show that we use the Earth in good ways as well
We must choose the good path, towards a better world, like Heaven, not Hell
John Santo
Bro. Rob Peach
British Lit
English 141
Lady Earth
Life pulses throughout her land
Covered by pure water and fertile beauty
Time is as deep as her core
Her wisdom rides the cool breeze
Her strength evaporates into the smoldering sun
Man's creation evolves into devastation and disease
War is meaningless death
Extinction is created
Her broad rivers of life are running dry
She watches as her young children lead her to die
The light wind is her failing breathe
From her eye, one last tear free falls
She suffers knowing we are also dying
Her voice, the right way we've always known
If only we had listened
Michael Ceoffe
Bro. Rob Peach
Brit Lit. ENG 141
Period 6
January 28, 2008
Nature overwhemled
Nature is seen on this Earth,
but society takes for granted its worth.
Mountains and valleys are within Earth's domain,
vast spaces of land it also contains.
Technology now, grabs hold of the reins,
and little of nature remains.
All over massive cities now stand,
as industry seems to expand.
Its now society's command,
that nature loses all its land.
Destruction of nature will always provide,
people with a sense of pride,
for their accomplishments made worldwide.
Will this destruction ever subside?
John Welch
Bro. Rob Peach
British Lit
Sec. 5
Simple, uncluttered life without the distractions of civilization
The original or natural condition of humankind
A primitive, wild condition or uncultivated state
Scenery of all pure elements to create a universe and its phenomena
The representative of humanity and social by nature
Utilizing systems of communication for self-expression, ideas, and organization
With desire to understand and influence the world around them
They constantly seek to manipulate the natural phenomena
When put together we’ve seen senses of serenity turn into commotion and confusion
Caves, canyons, deserts into factories, plants, and cityscapes
The beauty of nature’s agriculture into manufactured crop circles
Patience and pace into speed and impatience
Is earth’s destruction, man’s beauty?
Is earth’s downfall, man’s creation?
Is there light in the heap of darkness?
Is there darkness in the light?
Will the music play a better tune, or the same old sad song?
As we industrialize, a clash between the good and the bad goes on
Which one will reign victorious?
Or can this bad be for the good?
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