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Ruby Gomez, Israel Lazos, Brianna Hines, Leslie Perez

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Josue Martinez, Sebastian Lopez, Leo Gamez

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Evelyn Enriquez, Ashley Harkins, Ana Rodriguez, Claire Gamez

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Names: Jalissia Fowler, Anael Santos, Mia Gonzalez 

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Names: Jalissia Fowler, Anael Santos, Mia Gonzalez 

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“Home | Red Steagall.” Redsteagall, www.redsteagall.com/. Accessed 11 Aug. 2022.

Red Steagall is a Texan Cowboy by heart. He is already accustomed to the intricacies of writing poetry as he has written song previously, which is in itself a form of poetry. He was won many awards for his music, and also recipient of award for his good deeds for the pubic and helping out the land.

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Alan Birkelbach was the 2005 Poet Laureate of Texas. His work is most famou for appearing in journals and anthologies like some popular ones, Grasslands Review, Borderlands, etc. Currently they work at the Plano office of Freddie Mac.

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Karla K Morton was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended and earned her journalism degree from Texas A&M University. She became the Texas Poet Laureate in 2010.

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David Mercier Parsons was born in Villa Rica, Georgia but raised in Austin, Texas. He was named the Texas Poet Laureate in 2011 and was a single term President of the Texas Institute of Letters. He has published 2  separate volumes of poetry The Color of Mourning and Editing Sky and a collected assortment of his work. Mr. Parsons has gone on to write books about the armed forces, one of his main interests outside of prose.

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Because James Hoggard is so in tune with his themes he is figuratively known as the wizard of form. James is a two- term president of the Texas Institute of Letters and has won numerous awards for his writing.

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The theme or message of the poem is how important relationships/ bonds are with the person you are the most close to, aka a bestfriend or in marriage which is a very different type of love that is sacred to only those in it.The tone in this poem leans more on love and an understandment between two people, the rhymes aren't necessarily in a pattern they switch on and off but they go together with the mood. The mood is happy and fulfillment between each other. What stood out the most to me was when the poet said ¨ But remember sweet dove That I´m hardest to love  At times when I need love the most.¨ I just feel like that is very common nowadays where love is a thing two people build and build together and it is honestly very true.

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The message of the poem is to not overlook signs that may be right in front of you or else you will find yourself in a situation you could have avoided. In the poem Alan uses a lot of metaphor in order to create imagery. For example, "we were cavalry leading a hopeless charge, fearless of the spears of rain, the missiles or rain, laughing and cursing that we hadn't scried the thunder." The use of metaphor creates a suspenseful scene when in reality they just got caught in rain. I like how Alan organized his poem, he started with pointing out the signs then in a flash they are caught in a storm.

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Title of poem (page number): Bursting Into Snowflakes (pg. 13)

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Title of poem (page number): Bursting Into Snowflakes (pg. 13)

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In order to fully commemorate the memory of her friend's son, Scott, the poet includes instances of imagery to highlight his positive spirit and painless departure. Morton mentions that "his leap for the ball, was a leap into the fall sky- never feeling the ground he fell into," as his passing happened instantly, leading him to not feel an ounce of pain. Scott passed away on the soccer field and was last seen with a "slight smile upon his nine-year old face," calling attention to how joyous of a person he was, along with his mother's memory of "her bright, shining son." To describe his passing into the afterlife, the poet includes a simile of comparing "his spirit breaking free like a low, purple-dusted cloud," indicating that he did not pass so harshly, but rather gently, without a remembrance of agony. Morton's use of diction is said in a soft, positive way, by using words that bring a happy remembrance of who Scott was, accentuating the poem's loving and sentimental tone. What stood out to me the most was the way of words being used to describe specific occurrences. Mentioning the purple-dusted cloud and the million wordless snowflakes is what stood this poem out, especially with its way of imagery. In my personal life, I have dealt with the passing of family members and friends. Reading through the poem, I realized I made a connection with Morton as she maintains an optimistic viewpoint of her friend's son as she knows that his soul is at peace.

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The theme of this poem is grief and how it strips the normalcy from every facet of life. Yellow a traditionally happy color does not feel like it it supposed to in the final line of the poem. We see that the poet goes on to describe things in a negative way the sun is "bloody" the kitchen is no longer a "sanctuary" but "cold" this is to describe the absence the death of the women's niece leaves in her and by extension her home. Even when David M Parson writes that the sun is "brimming with amber" this is to say that the day is coming despite the women not wanting it to. The picture painted is of a sun spilling over into the sky forcing people to deal with the consequences of the day. Also the way that the aunts mind is stuck on the color the whole time shows us that when we lose people we grasp onto whatever we feel like is left of them even if it is just a color.

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Night in the Park (Page 78)
The message of this poem is to demonstrate how isolation can be scary to others, however, the author actually finds it comforting and as a way to be in your own world without the need of others around. The author uses some metaphors in the poem to compare the light in the park to a pool “he’s reading in a pool of spilling light”, meaning that the brightness of the light wasn’t as strong but he still enjoyed reading his newspaper with low light. There is also usage of imagery “and the blur of foliage fanned around him is at least as visible as he is” meaning that some shadows of the trees/plants were still a little visible with him during the night. The tone of this poem is relaxation and comfort mainly because, throughout the poem the author describes how isolation can be a good thing and how they actually enjoy being alone in the park with no one around.

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The message of the story is that you should always appreciate what you have. In the poem the young boy never liked living in the cotton farm, he wanted to move out because his parents were strict, when he finally moves out he then realizes that even though his parents were strict they taught him valuable life lessons and he missed feeling loved by his parents.

“Was not my cup of tea” is an idiom, the poet talks about how he doesn't like living in the cotton farm hence he said “an eighty-acre cotton farm was not my cup of tea” the poet expresses his dislike of working in a cotton farm he would much rather be free and working cattle. The poet shows gratitude to his parents for teaching him life lessons,making life easier for him, and giving him everything he ever needed in other words helping him grow into a good man, the poet expresses this with an idiom by saying “To make sure I had all the tools So i could make a dent.”

The diction in this poem was mainly country slang for example when he says “when i was ‘bout half grown.” The rhyme scheme was ABCB all throughout the poem. The poet repeats the words “ironclad set of rules” to emphasize that his dad was strict and that he had responsibilities around his home, the poet repeats the word “dusty” many times to emphasize that his home was “dusty” and that he would rather not live there, in my opinion he is slightly degrading his home by calling it “dusty.” The tone in the poem is grateful and nostalgic, he is grateful that his parents taught him responsibility but he is also nostalgic because he realized that he misses the love and time his parents and him spent together.

What stood out the most to me is how he was ready to move out but then he realized that he misses his parents, I can relate to this because sometimes I want to leave and move out my house because of my parents strictness, but then I think and realize that my parents are only being strict because they love me and they are trying to teach me responsibility, then I start to think about how when I move out I will have to pay many bills, then I realize that I should be grateful that I have my family and a roof over my head.

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Tommy The Man Who Broke Horses. 15-16
The first unique feature I immediately notice is the way the title has a comma. Im assuming this was made to carry the poem on so the true poem starts at the title. Another feature is the way the author did not capitalize anything. It creates a soft flowing mood the way the small stanzas flow into each other creating a story. The word choice was also unique and really expressed the jealousy Tommy's peers had. The first half of the poem was the people ridiculing Tommy but the second half was them envying Tommy. The author used words like sentences like, mouths full of spit and yearning to create an image in our heads to truly see how jealous they are. The poem has many messages but one of the main ones is that people will always be jealous of one another so no matter how much someone ridicules you in public, in private they envy you.

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Title of poem (page number): After (pg.55)

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Title of poem (page number): After (pg.55)

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It's not until after a person passes that you start to miss all the little things. The author includes the process one goes through after losing someone to an illness. Using imagery the author paints a picture of how someone truly feels after the process of going through a loved one's death. However, the poem didn't have any kind of rhyme scheme. The mood and tone made the poem that much more understandable and tragic. One thing I found the most interesting was how attached the author's writing made me feel. I personally have never known the author or the loved one they have lost but while reading the poem you can't help but feel sympathetic towards the writer.

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The main theme of this poem is nostalgia and how reminiscing about the past gives great warmth just like a comforter. In the poem, the author uses several lines of imagery to create a picture in our minds. In lines 15-18, the author uses words like hugging small truths, stuffed animals, smooth blanket bindings, and silk of their young lips to picture children sleeping safe and soundly. As the author slips into bed with their partner, they remember these memories as the happiest and most comforting period in their life. He learned the significance of life through these memories and reconnected with what he values the most. This could be seen through lines 28-32, "These are not memories randomly reasoned, these are a few of the star stitches that burn in the building: a gilded bit of the fabric of what we were, what was saved without being chosen, folded neat at the corners, our mellifluent patchwork.

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Song of Rebecca Calcutta (Page 21)
In lines 5-8 it says " I love these men rowing in my swamp, these handsome shadows of the will-o- the- wisp, eternal like my candles and vague, vague like my heart." He uses simile to compare the misleading or elusive goal or hope to the vague of her heart.

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The theme or message of this poem is about an older person choosing to stay the way he is because it's what he likes and even if the world changes he likes what he does and how he lives his life.

A metaphor used in this poem would be ¨his handshake and word are his bond¨ implying that he forms connections with others with his honesty and friendship with honor.

The rhyme scheme of the poem was ABCB. There isn't any repetition in the poem but the poem's structure is put together well hence the poem is put in three stanzas, in the first stanza he talks about how the cowboy is not in his prime anymore but the other 2 stanzas prove and give examples of how the cowboy is indeed still in his prime.
What stood out to me the most is the last line “And his handshake and words are his bond.” This specific line stood out to me because keeping your word or promise is a very honorable thing to do, personally in my family keeping your word by a handshake is very honorable and respectful.

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Painted on a barn Pg66
The poem is about a speaker questioning a text written in big letters on a barn. Analyzing this poem makes me think about the word pig it could be a bad insult but its also something that provides food to many people. The author questions the word searching for a true meaning but I think the real lesson the author is conveying is that some things are unexplainable. People do things that would be unexplainable to outside perspective and that everyone is different. The writing style in this poem is really interesting as well. The author tries to use humor to convey his message more? The way he wrote has me questioning a lot which ultimately ties back to the people are unexplainable message.

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Title of poem (page number): Stranded (pg. 75)

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Title of poem (page number): Stranded (pg. 75)

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The main focus and message of the poem "Stranded" was explaining how animals are now always most likely to need assistance from humans. The author Karla K Morton reflected on a past time where she had witnessed a cow in need of help while being stranded. The author used imagery to depict the scene which she had seen. This use of imagery helps the readers form out a clear image of the situation. The poem had no rhyme or rhythym but it did consist of some allusions which made the poem very detailed. The tone and mood of the poem are more on a serious note and on a sort of informational note.The thing that stood out the most to  me was how the author went thorugh a situation and how she was able to incorporate it into creating a poem based on her feelings and experiences.

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I feel like the theme/message of this poem is the way we as people zone out and just stop thinking about everything.
In lines 7-8 he says "the way an idea drifts, into the gray divide". This is a form of figurative language that makes you think about going blank in your mind. Also in Lines 13-16 he said, " a lone canoe at midnight blades,paddling deep smoothly, and deftly feathering, that largest of bodies." In those lines you get a whole bunch of imagery you can imagine a dark night being a large body of water by yourself.
What stood out to us the most is the way he was able to depict being in a blank state of mind perfectly. You almost become blank yourself.

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My Mother Dying (Page 18)
The theme of this poem is for the readers to see that the author is going through a big loss with losing his mother, and knows he will suffer once she’s gone. There is a frequent amount of imagery used to describe the way the author feels, expressing all his emotions in a way where you can almost understand what he's going through, and as well describe the physical state of his mother. For example he says, “But now she’s weak and cannot speak, and yet somehow she has a lovely look, her skin so clear and smooth, her features fine, the way they’ve always been.” The tone/mood of the poem is very sad but at the same time the author describes his mother with so much love for her, he realizes that his mother leaving will hurt very deeply, and he can't even wrap his head around the idea of his mothers passing.

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The message of this poem is to show that America is built on patriotism and values, and that America shouldn’t be portrayed as a violent, pernicious country. On the contrary, America can have positive outcomes and humble and caring citizens who make it worth living here. Steagall said, “I look for my America in every place I go”. The use of this hyperbole shows that he tries hard to detect the feeling of what being an “American” citizen should feel like and furthermore he is looking to see if America is being represented correctly in the given time. Steagall uses a sense of imagery when he spoke of everyone facing the flag to sing their hearts out to the national anthem. He said “With hats in hand they sang their souls away”, this statement allows the audience to infer that the people in the arena express loyalty to their country. The author uses so-called “country” words in the poem. He uses words like fellers, folks, raisin’, growin’, and bein’. The tone of this poem is patriotic being that he’s describing the attributes that lead him to feel so passionate about America. Steagall uses an ABCA rhyme scheme in his poem. What stood out most to me is when Steagall said, “The ones who built this country must have been the kind of folks with no envy, spite, or who let their pride get in the way”. This stood out because he’s trying to convey that although America has had plenty of unforgettable occurrences in history, the ones who constructed this country built our foundation solely on nationalism, not violence, envy, and resentment.

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lines upon a tranquil page whose name i can’t remember (69):

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lines upon a tranquil page whose name i can’t remember (69):

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The author writes about throughout his life he’s read multiple different authors and genres. How throughout his own pieces of literature he drawn inspiration from them and states how “occasionally, one of them will stir and step out” from his pen, helping him continue to write. The poem is composed in an odd mannner, there a staggered affect within the composition which makes the poem so eye catching and intriguing to read.

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Title of poem (page number): Charm Bracelet (pg 9)

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Title of poem (page number): Charm Bracelet (pg 9)

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This poem is about remembering and going back to what the writer once had. The writer describes what these charm bracelet she's filled up throughout the years means to her, along with the memories they hold. She uses the charm bracelet to mark all the major events that have happened throughout her life. The writer paints pictures though the imagery and figurative language she uses, either giving colors of the charms or the memories that go along with each one. Throughout this poem she repeats "silver", she uses this color for the charms which memories she holds the closest to her. She seems to be telling these stories to someone who has asked about this bracelet. The tone though this poem seems to be reflecting and reminiscing on an earlier life. This poem makes you feel unsure of whats to come, making you want to keep your memories close.

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The theme of this poem is to live life in pursuit of your aspirations and inspire others to purse theirs. The author never refers to the common contradiction of life and death, instead he refers to death and breath. “Holding colorful sails against cliched blue skies or the breath that sends aloft the many shaped lively kites.”Other figurative language used includes similes such as “even modest like simply breathing,” “indispensable like the brisk breezes” and “aloft the many shaped lively kites like student aspirations”. This free verse poem contains 7 stanzas, 6 with 3 lines each, and the last consisting of one simple line. “I wish this poem to breathe.” With this line the author states he wants not only this poem but his work to live on past him to inspire new generations of poets. The author consistently uses words relating to breath such as breathing, breezes, and wind possibly in an effort to manifest the author’s wish into existence. This poem takes the reader to a setting of clear blue skies and beautiful kites. The tone is inspiring and the mood is calming. Stanzas 5 and 6 stand out to me the most because they show the author’s intention of inspiring youth. Many people go on with their lives settling for a safe option rather than pursuing their dreams. However we always hold on to the sliver of hope that one day our kites will be able to soar.

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Nighthawks (Page 79)
It consists of 9 lines . It presents the Nighthawks as powerful creatures, alone and in disguise with the world. The singular focus on the Nighthawks forces the readers to consider the creatures and how they live their life. The overall message from the poem is to see ones self in the natural world and the relationship they have with all other living creatures. In Line 2-3 it says "their eyes are sockets of darkness that catch no light." He used imagery and metaphors to show how black the Nighthawks eyes are. The tone or mood is sad and lonely. Nighthawks are often represented as an exploration of human loneliness and existentialism in the modern age. It is as though the Nighthawks feel disconnected and distant from the world.

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The theme/ message of this poem is how a young man’s life turns for the worse, leading to his eventual demise. It tells the story of this boy who had a stable upbringing, yet still ends up doing something bad, horrible even. As a reaction to this, the onlookers, vigilantes, are seeking retribution by their own hands via hanging the boy.

Despite the poems short length there is some powerful similes within the stanzas. Firstly it talks, the poem displays a picture of the boy’s young life, being quite normal “Had a proper church upbringing,” and displaying he had a good relation ship with his family via metaphor, “Family, Solid as a rock.” The poem shows the turning point for the boy, “But somewhere the boy got twisted, heard the painted sirens song”. Not only this Steagall shows that the boys life was wasted quite blatantly saying, “What a loss of time and talent (...) Seems the fruits of life are wasted.”

The poems rhyme scheme for the stanza’s follow an ABCB rhyming the second lines of the stanza’s. Something unique about this poem is that nearly every line has exactly seven syllables. The structure of the poem is quite tiny and compact, which gives the poem a  clean feel being able to share its message quite easily. The diction of the poem seems to be a sorrowful vindictiveness, as if what is being done in the poem is being done out of necessity and not spite or done with mal intent.

What stood out to me mostly is the sorrow displayed in the poem. From describing the boy’s background to where he went wrong. From implying the boy could have been a good person, and the sorrow the mother will have not being able to be with her child again as he will soon be killed.

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Moving the peruvian mummers Pg 68
Immediately the poem is not like a traditional stanzas and verses poem it is in the form of a paragraph. The connotation the author uses is really unique, they use long difficult words to create a sort of eerie mood. They wanted to match the words with the mysterious atmosphere mummies bring. Words such as dwellings, arthritic, dissembled, shawls, etc are some examples of his unique words. The author also adds a simile saying that the archaeologists wrapped the mummies like papooses to show how dedicated they were to keep the mummies in tact. Through word choice the author created the mood fit for the poem as well as showed the archaeologists dedication through text.

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Title of poem (page number): aka elvis (pg.42)

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Title of poem (page number): aka elvis (pg.42)

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The impact of those who care can cause a better realization than of those who do not care at all. Throughout history, we see The King struggle through hardships and struggle to cause happiness and hope. What those do not realize was that he was trying to change a world that didn't want his help. He impacted many with his cultural difference and style. The knowledge that was given to the world didn't accept the fact and differences Elvis had to offer. The author is trying to make a statement about the past and what Elvis had to offer. They made a good point of using references from Elvis songs to make the point stronger.

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This poem is essentially describing how the poet only gets to love this blonde lover for moments at a time. This relationship is strained to a point where all interactions must be carefully thought out. "I did not call you again tonight" and "finding you without touching you" are two differing ways to describe the "measured loving" the two are experiencing. The familiarity within these acts of intimacy is overshadowed by this strained relationship they now have. This is the author thinking about his love, his family in Austin and feeling like he wants to call but cannot. That loneliness of being not only separated but isolated by the prison of your own mind.

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Vigil and Sleep (page 46)
The message or theme of this poem might be many different things depending on how the reader interprets it, but the way I see it is that the author is talking about how his loved one is in a coma and he also goes into depth on how even though his loved one might not make it, their still in touch through telepathy. Throughout the poem, the author uses figurative language such as simile, for instance in stanza 4 the author mentions “ I notice the planes that shape your head seem like gestures of ageless grace.” There is also some imagery described by the author in the first stanza which explains to us readers how both him and his loved one are still in touch through memory and how even though he’s close to her he still feels like he’s far away from her “ You look distant now, except in memory where we speak” The poem expresses a tone of grief and love due to the way the author describes his feelings when staring at his loved one down in that bed and also when he mentions how she might pass away at any moment.

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Names: Liam Greathouse, Alex Taft, Cohen Taylor

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Names: Liam Greathouse, Alex Taft, Cohen Taylor

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Larry D. Thomas got a bachelors in English at the University of Houston but soon after got drafted into the navy. He became a poet after he retired after being in the adult probation field of work for years. He won the 2001 Texas Review Poetry prize, 2003 and 2015 Western Heritage Wranglers award, 2004 Texas Review Poetry prize, and in 2009 the Texas Institute of Letters

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The theme of the poem I thought was relating to nature and identity. It talked about this guy and it was relating him to the moon. There was only one rhyme in the poem but mostly metaphors. The tone felt somewhat gloomy and formal. What stood out to me was when it said, " Even the moon is full and he feels his proud colors gleaming on the back of a sleeveless, denim jacket." To me this felt like this was describing someone who is confident.

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The them of the poem seems like religion and the journey. Describing the hawk capturing its prey and how the gods took millions of years to make this creature. It contained imagery and allusion, with the setting being most likely a forest. The tone was somewhat serious and informal. What stood out most to me was, " It took two full-time gods millions of years to fashion his beak and claws." This was describing how this creature came to be in the authors eyes.