Morning Mindfulness

 

What was that dream that I just had…that was weird.

I hate when my dog wakes me up by licking me.

It is so cold this morning

I love the sound of rain hitting the window, but I hate commuting in the rain

I am starving, what is that smell?

 

—-Reverse—-

 

Unknown Nights

 

Why can’t I go to sleep?

I wish my dog would stay by my side.

I am sweating tonight

I hate the quietness of the rain, but I love being out in it.

I can hardly eat any more food, but I recognize that scent.

“And be the tree of our hands!

it turns, for all, the wounds cut

in its trunk

the soil works for all

and towards the branches a headiness of fragrant precipitation!”

pg. 38

 

I had difficulty in reading this passage. Perhaps it was because of the personification of the tree having hands. I tried to keep this idea in mind while reading the remaining lines but fell even more confused when it talked about having wounds cut. I understand a human can have wounds but where does a tree have “wounds cut”? I dealt with this difficulty by just taking each line one at a time instead of trying to see the entire picture at once. By understanding the meaning of the individual lines and any significance it may have, I was able to see a bigger picture. I also needed to look up the word “headiness” because I wasn’t sure of what it meant. After realizing it means being intoxicating or rich, it made sense that the next few words described the fragrance.

A poem’s power comes from the reader even more so than the writer. A poet can transcribe a poem, which may just be a form of feeling for them, and it can lead to representing something much greater for an individual, group, or even an entire country. The Poems of Emily Dickson are a series of poems published after her death. She had no control over her poems at that point, leaving the interpretation and translations to be deciphered among those who took it upon themselves to do so. She had no say on if a poem was mistakenly translated. The power is transferred to the reader. Every word is up for interpretation in a poem and sometimes the reader will think of a message in the poem that was never meant to be there. In Emily Dickson’s poem 930, the first line says “The Poets light but Lamps – Themselves – go out – The Wicks they stimulate If vital Light”. A poet only lights the lamp but the ones who spread the message stimulate the meaning behind it are the ones who read them. Emily Dickson hid her poems. Had they not been discovered, there would have been no way for the poems to be transferred all over the world. That may have been her decision, but once they were discovered, the readers took it upon themselves to reproduce and publish the poems so that all may read it. In conclusion, a poem may have the passion and ambition of the writer behind the words, but once it is written, the responsibility shifts to the reader on what they will do with it.

Andrew Zawacki stated, “One reason why I translate is to cannibalize people and their feelings.” Translation is more than just matching words from one language to another. Mr. Zawacki made it clear that it is an opportunity to be someone else, to experience hardship that may have otherwise never been felt by oneself. It is a chance to express one’s feelings through words that someone else chose to best represent those feelings. I was in awe when Mr. Zawacki started to read the translations and how effortless it seemed. Another thing that stood out to me was when he stated that he was lucky his original writer was alive so that he can ask him questions on what certain things meant or how they were to be interpreted. I never really thought about that luxury and also the difficulty other translators may have when they don’t have the original source to confirm questions.

One of the pieces read was called “Turtle”. This was one of many in a series where the writer decided to write in the perspective of an animal. Something that would never speak or have the ability to express emotion clearly now has the words of an established writer to back it up. I thought this was really interesting and well done by both the writer and translator. I also found it intriguing how the writer began from a large animal, all the way to a tapeworm. It showed the distinction between pieces and highlighted that not every animal experiences the same things.

There were also techniques that were shown through translation. Mr. Zawacki expressed the importance of following the writer’s original way of things. This can be shown through techniques such as naming each poem where it will end in an “O”. He conveyed the difficulty he had in doing so while translating, and also how he overcame this challenge.

Overall, the experience of listening and hearing from a professional translator was an awesome experience. It is something that is never really thought about, yet holds such a great importance. Translating has had pivotal roles throughout history, including passing on history itself to other regions of the world, and it was an honor to see it first hand.

Although similar, satire and parody have many differences in meaning. Parody is often referred to as an exaggerated mockery, often in the form of imitation, that exploits a work of another person. This can be in the form of a play or perhaps a song where the tune is the same but the words are changed in order to clearly make fun of the original song. Satire is used to expose an individual or an entity but often with an underlying cause or meaning. This can be used to teach and although may be funny at times, the purpose is often to educate or enlighten a cause or individual. An example of satire can be seen through TV shows such as the Colbert Report or the Daily Show where the setting is a news conference and humor is heavily used to display real world problems and bring to light different issues going on that normally may never be noticed by an everyday Joe. An example of parody may be something like Taylor Swift’s rendition of Love Story named “Thug Story” featuring T-Pain. It clearly made light of the original song and even changed the theme and lyrics to a different genre and style. Another classic example of parody is the Simpsons and all the skits they do that are about already existing shows and events. In conclusion, satire is used to show a real issue or problem while parody is more about making fun or replicating another idea.