Here is a pdf I made of all of the poems I used for workshop this semester along with two additional ones I wrote. I included a blurb on some background info on each of the poems, talking about the inspiration for the poem or my thoughts on it. It was really interesting looking back on them all and seeing the progress I have made and all I have learned present in the poems.

Reflection:

In freshman year of high school I took a writing workshop class and we had to make a chapbook at the end of the semester. My mom found that chapbook sometime during the fall semester and encouraged me to take a poetry class in college. This wasn't a class I was taking for my major; in fact I didn't really know why I was taking the class besides trying to appease my mom. I had always enjoyed reading poetry, but it had been ages since I had written any myself. At first I was frustrated at having to write so much in our composition books, but I eventually I learned to use it as a way to write about things I was thinking about and a way to work through feelings and emotions. I didn't always understand the purpose of some of the exercises we did, it was only later on that I would see how I was subconsciously learning from those lessons and using them.

Hirshfield was another main part of this course that I learned from. Some of the things she said were confusing and I didn't understand what she was trying to accomplish. It took a couple chapters but I eventually figured out how to understand her a little better. I didn't always get everything she was trying to say, but certain points and overarching themes stood out to me. Hirshfield taught me to face the lion, to confront the things holding me back or scaring me. I also found that I would get very inspired reading Nine Gates. Hirshfield included a lot of Buddhist poetry and stories in the book and I always found that they made me think a bit more. Reading Hirshfield I would feel inspired to write and include some of the things she was teaching.

In the end, I cannot say if my writing skills have improved astronomically. The biggest thing I am taking away from this course is how I learned to be vulnerable and face my lion. I learned that there is far more to a poem than its meaning, and that you don't need to know what the words mean to understand the poem. The biggest improvements I made in this class were personal ones, and I think that is far more valuable than any other lessons to be learned. I had a great semester with all of you. Thank you all for sharing a piece of you with me, and for allowing me to be vulnerable with you.