"The New House"~ Poetry Entry #2

I can relate to this poem. I have moved from a house that I have been in almost my whole life up until now. I have recently moved to a new place 2 years ago, but I never forget my life in my old home. My old house was where all my childhood memories were. I lost my first tooth there, I had the chicken pox there, and after all my adventures on the outside walls I was able to go back to my home. Now that I have moved away, I always remember those moments I had and think that who ever is living there is making their own memories and adding on to that sentimental value of that home. What I also think about is the fact that I am in someones elses house. There memories are left in these wall, all the word that they have spoken, all the good and bad times they had. What the poem asks in the end though is "what among these shades will be left of me." There will always be a little of you left, and you will always have the memories of the time you spent there. That can never dissapear.

The thing that the author has done to give this poem that opposite look about moving into a new home is her choice of words. They are so dynamic and powerful in the text. " What words have smashed, against these walls, crashed, up and down these halls..." these words get you thinking about what the author is meaning. Is there some sort of arguement that has been left behind or is the smashing and crashing just the everyday actions that happen in a household. Feelings are shown through these words that make up the poem, and as a reader you can almost figure out how you want to depict the poem to be like. Strong words are what make this poem unique and mind tingling. You are able to take this poem into a more realistic setting and put it into your life. What has happened in your own home? What kind of feelings and memories "[yearn] below the ceiling lights?"

"The New House" By: Maya Angelou

What words
have smashed against
these walls,
crashed up and dawn these
halls,
lain mute and then drained
their meanings out and into,
these floors?

What feelings, long since
dead,
streamed vague yearnings
below this ceiling
light?
In some dimension
which I cannot know,
the shadows of
another still exist. I bring my
memories, held too long in check,
to let them here shoulder
space and place to be.

And when I leave to
find another house,
I wonder, what among
these shades will be
left of me.