# data[].attributes.body
Alexandria Simmons
Elijah Mulima
Leslie Ojeda

# data[].attributes.body
Jasmine Nelson
Sophie Ficklin

# data[].attributes.body
Bethany Monroe
Rylie Gerhart
Draven Prosper

# data[].attributes.body
Mallory Nelson
Celine Johnson

# data[].attributes.body
Aaron J. , Philip M. , Patricio S.

# data[].attributes.body
Jacqueline Ramirez
Breauna Robinson

# data[].attributes.body
Alan Birkelbach is a business analyst turned poet. He's a native of Texas who writes about the culture of the state. He's very decorated and is known for his descriptive language.

# data[].attributes.body
Arthur L. Wood is a young poet from the U.K., he lives near Winchester, Hampshire, where his first collection of poems, Poems for Susan, which was written in only a couple of short months' time in the warm season of 2020. He has some of his recitals of his poems on YouTube and also has a Spotify Account.

# data[].attributes.body
David M. Parsons was born in Villa Rica, Georgia. He now lives in Austin Texas and is a professor at Lone Star College-Montgomery, where he teaches English and writing. He's received 24 honors and awards for writing, including the Bronze Statue of Conroe, Texas.

# data[].attributes.body
Steven Fromholz was an American singer-song writer who was born January 8th, 1945 in Temple Texas and died January 19th, 2014. He was selected as the poet laureate of Texas in 2007. He had a wife named, Jenny, who he divorced, and then Janey who he also divorced with. He had two daughters, Darcie and Felicity. He named his record label after his daughter Felicity, and dedicated one of his poems to Darcie, called "Dear Darcie".

# data[].attributes.body
Red Steagall's real name is Russell Steagall. He was born on December 22, 1938. He is a successful actor, musician, Cowboy poet, and stage performer who focuses on Western Swing, Cowboy and Traditional Country music genres. He has performed for heads of state, including a special party for President Reagan at the White House in 1983, and has completed three overseas tours for the United States Information Agency to the Middle East, the Far East and South America. He took up the guitar and the mandolin as physical therapy to recover the strength and dexterity of his arms and hands. He studied animal science and agronomy in college, but it was music that took him to places like Hollywood and Nashville.
Citation:  Williams, Art. “Red Steagall, Country Hit-Maker and Cowboy Poet, Talks Texas Spirit and Overcoming Polio.” Texas Highways, 14 Oct. 2019, texashighways.com/culture/art-music/red-steagall-country-hit-maker-and-cowboy-poet-talks-texas-spirit-and-overcoming-polio/.

# data[].attributes.body
Thomas was born in Haskell, Texas in 1947. He attended the University of Houston , where he earned a Bachelor's in English in 1970. While earning his degree Thomas worked as a social services caseworker. He was drafted into the Navy after graduation. His orders had placed him in Norfolk, Virginia, where he worked as a prison counselor for the naval base. Thomas continued to work in the prison system after his discharge, working in the adult probation field in Houston, Texas.

# data[].attributes.headline
Poem 5 (Poetry, Right Here, In the Chute) (page 11)  

# data[].attributes.subject
Poem 5 (Poetry, Right Here, In the Chute) (page 11)  

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this message is that poetry is inspired by the love we have for our culture and environment. In the poem, the author refers to this live as "a rite and releasing", "a slap and yee-haw", "a threshold", and "a never-ending christening". The author uses all of these metaphors to show his love for his culture in the country. He sets a scene and an endearing tone by describing things that he often sees in his life. He recalls things like overalls, the smell of coffee, his father's two handed clippers, and much more. He starts every description with the phrase "it's the". This diction allows the readers to see the depth of his love for all of the things that make his home a home. It creates an overall homey, nostalgic, and comforting mood and tone. My parents also grew up in country areas, so I can relate to the things being described in this poem. The poem kind of reminds me of country music.

# data[].attributes.body
In this poem the author is using metaphors and imagery to present a picture of the lady who he is describing. In a few short lines he mentions his own feeling in her presence, telling a story that makes you want to entail more about the lady he is describing. He speaks with an infatuated tone and he also does uses rhymes; with the last word in every other line rhyming.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of the poem is loss, and a message is conveyed that even something that was once happy can be turned gray when tainted with association of loss. Throughout the poem we see much imagery. A good amount of the imagery is associated with the color yellow- the color of mourning. These items are described to show how the woman feels about the color and what it reminds her of: a child lost. The repetition of the word yellow shows how important it is to her. And the setting- the woman's kitchen- shows how the color affects her daily life. The mood of this poem is at first seemingly cheerful, however; the diction changes to convey a more sorrowful tone.

# data[].attributes.body
In this poem the author is using a lot of imagery such as 'sing tenderly' and 'a weary eye, views with shy fear'. He uses both positive and negative imagery to help portray that life is not always going to be perfect and it's also not always going to be terrible too. The author also uses a lot of hyperbole to get across the fact that there are hard times and good, and showing that there are a lot of similar things that happens to everyone, as they grow.

# data[].attributes.headline
Poem 2 (page 7) The Code of the West Hasn't Changed

# data[].attributes.subject
Poem 2 (page 7) The Code of the West Hasn't Changed

# data[].attributes.body
This Poem starts off with a tone of nostalgia as Red Steagall recalls his childhood home with mostly good memories. however as the poem continues it turns into a melancholic nostalgia as he remembers all the people he used to know who have long since gone separate ways. Not many literary techniques are used in this poem as it is almost like Red is telling the reader about his home in which he is disheartened to see in disrepair. Though imagery is used extensively in this poem to describe how Red remembers the place as a much more lively and happy place that it is now.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is to appreciate and describing the beauty of Mexico. The poem has a lot of imagery in the way it describes the colors of the houses in the village and the way he refers to the colors of their eyes and skin. The poem also uses metaphors as he states, “dazzling the flanks of mountains like strewn  Fruit”. The poems use of descriptive words to paint an image was reflected very well. The mood of the poem is the appreciation and admiration for the environment around. What stood out to us the most, as previously stated was the use of imagery to perfectly describe the setting and it’s surroundings.

# data[].attributes.body
Poem 6 (page 12-13)

This poem was about his family going through the effects of a tornado hitting their house and the sheer devestation that is caused by it. The author used a lot of imagery showing the violence of the tornado as he states ¨The tornado that ate through the yard that night sanded the barns side clear of paint, carried off most of the chickens, and, for good measure, toted sveral of the stones capping the well,¨. He also used similies as he stated ¨that twister blew out fast, like a cheap Christmas candle,¨ and also used personification on inanimate objects such as when he described the grandfather live oak as its ¨knots were molded into painful mouths saying, ¨Sorry, but I held as long as I could. Now your swing is up there-thataway.¨ What stoo d out the most was how they used descriptive literary devices like similies and imagery and personification to describe how everything was being ripped away from them.

# data[].attributes.body
Love is the main premise of this poem, the author has reached a point in life to where there is nothing more that he wants than love, yet no matter the fact; some people still demote his love, shaming him of it or how he loves. The poem uses a rhyming scheme and his diction is very old fashioned rather than modern.

# data[].attributes.body
The Etymology of Sound is a short poem that alludes to the writer's experiences in the Vietnam War. Discussing his experience when encountering helicopters in the jungles of Vietnam. Using intense imagery and description he describes how the sound of a attack helicopter differs from a civilian one and how it affects the instincts of a human. He will often in this poem repeat small phrases, such as "it's in our heads," or "heads up, heads down." I believe this is supposed to be a callback to the quick and short orders you receive and give on the battlefield. With this poem, he seems to intend to give the reader a sense of the never-ending danger that many marines in Vietnam had to live with. To them, everything was a threat.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is that even in the darkest, most hopeless places, there is still a way out; it's just a matter of time before you find it. The mood is oppressive and tense. The author's tone is exasperated and disheartened. The author uses personification to describe fear and thoughts. Each stanza ends with a very definitive line; it almost seems like the author is trying to abruptly cut off the thought process of each stanza at the end. What stuck out to me was the author's use of repetition when asking about the light switch; the author asks three times, and each time he is less and less confident that there actually is a light switch. This conveys the loss of hope when you are in a dark place with seemingly no way out.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is the author describing the landscape and appreciating the beauty of nature. The author uses a lot of imagery by describing the landscape and the rio grande. The poem also has metaphor as shown when he stated, “The river, patient as a sedulous sculptor”. As he is comparing the river to a sculpture, he uses the river in 3rd person. The authors mood is appreciation for the landscape. What stood out to us the most as previously stated, the use of different point of views to tie a connection between the river and a sculpture.

# data[].attributes.body
The message of the poem is that the world is so big and there are so many places that need to be explored by you. Because he had such a big place to explore where he lived, he didn't need to have any boundaries of where to stop. He said that there was nothing higher than his friends and him other than the stars and moon. They would wonder where the stars had been during the day. I liked the way he would talk about the things he was able to do without leaving the land. He could watch the houses and movie drive in from afar.

# data[].attributes.body
I think that this poem is about a lover's quarrel. A moment in their relationship where they have such a huge difference they take time apart from one another but work through their differences and the space and time makes them realize how much they truly need each other. This poem uses personification, metaphors, similes, and analogies.

# data[].attributes.body
The beginning of this poem alludes to hunting, talking of sitting in a deer stand in the cool of morning watching for the jeweled eyes of a deer. Parsons has a very melancholy and open-minded tone. He gives personification to the leaves saying they have a lively moving presence, and creates imagery through his many details of his own feelings and the descriptions of the world around him. Towards the end of the poem, he begins to think back to the nature of man, and being a witness to the hunter gatherer ideals that used to be. He uses metaphor to compare our eyes when it comes to the need for food to faceted irises, and lenses that we see through, not with. Overall, this poem reflects his thoughts while hunting, and realizing that in the element of outdoors, he has gone back to the fear vs food principle and that it pushes all of society.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is that the speaker is tired of dealing with society, and dreams about living in the nature far away from other people. The mood is almost whimsical, and the author's tone is longing and "fernweh" (opposite of homesickness). There is a lot of imagery in the first stanza, describing a peaceful setting. The author rhymes every other line. The first four stanzas repeat the same rhythm (long line, shorter line, long line, shorter line, four medium lines). The author chooses to use words that emphasize or add unexpected details to aid in setting the mood. What stood out to me the most in this poem was that the author was so sick of society and other people that he had no attachment to his past and was only happy in his dreams where he was far away.

# data[].attributes.headline
Poem 12 (page 28-34) The Fence That Me and Shorty Built

# data[].attributes.subject
Poem 12 (page 28-34) The Fence That Me and Shorty Built

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the poem, the author employs the use of flashbacks and frame story techniques in order to tell a story within a story. Furthermore, the author uses informal language and hyperboles to sell an authentic Texas and country experience that immerses the reader with the poem which in turn, makes the reader enjoy it even more. And finally, the author uses first person POV in conjunction with imagery in order to help the reader and author see and understand things eye to eye.

# data[].attributes.body
This poems theme is the significance and the effects of rain on the environment. This poem shows some imagery in the way it describes what rain does to the environment around. Mehta-horse can also be shown when the writer states, “pounding their roofs of corrugated metal like thousands of tiny ball-peen hammers.”. The poet is comparing the vile rain to the works of satan which i find very intriguing.

# data[].attributes.body
The author seems to be describing what the Rapture will be like using imagery that can be found in Texas. He alludes to the Bible, titling his poem Rapture. In the Bible, the Rapture is Jesus' return, and the end of the Earth. This is referred to as "it" for the entirety of the poem. The author uses many scenes to compare the Rapture to through similes.  For example, he writes, "It will be like one night on that vast Amarillo plain when you wake up from a deep sleep and you walk out onto your porch to see the moon as a giant amber thing, so deep and huge you could fall into it." The mood of the poem to me is mysterious and anticipatory. The author's tone is also anticipatory and awe-like. His diction is very descriptive, intimate, and personal. The poem has a free-verse feel, but the author starts almost every stanza the same way. The topic of the poem stood out most to me because I used to learn about the Rapture a lot in Sunday school.

# data[].attributes.body
This poem is about a man who hurt someone he loved. The shame he feels because of it and his thoughts after knowing what he had done. He mentions that he weeps and goes to die, he feels very ashamed of himself. This poem uses very vivid imagery to express his emotions. (This poem reminds me of the song "Lover, you should've come over" by Jeff Buckley, because he wrote the song as an apology to his girlfriend who he had cheated on and I think that both of these men would get along greatly.)

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of the poem is that people remember those they have cared about, even after they have gone their separate ways. In line five, memories are compared to the wind, and in line six, the narrator's mind is compared to the sky. In line ten, the narrator uses a simile to compare himself and the subject of the poem to two birds of prey hunting in different territories to show that they no longer have any interaction, but the next two lines imply that though they are separated, their memories of each other still impact each other. This poem does not rhyme. The tone is solemn, and the mood is mournful and melancholy. I can relate to this because I was bullied for years and even though the person who bullied me has been trying to change, the memories still affect me.

# data[].attributes.headline
Poem 15 (pg. 29) A List of Lover's Questions

# data[].attributes.subject
Poem 15 (pg. 29) A List of Lover's Questions

# data[].attributes.body
In this poem the author uses imagery such as 'tossed upon that stormy tide' and 'until they're drowning in the sea of love in all those salty tears' to set the mood for the poem. 'Can you bet your heart and let it ride?' Is and example of personification, also helping set the mood. Imagery is the main thing used in the poem to help set the mood by mentioning more gloomy places and things, to help explain questions to ask with a lover to figure out if they really want to stay be in a relationship.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is explaining the life of a women with Alzheimer’s and connecting her emotions to music. This poem shows imagery explaining the environment which in this case would be the nursing room she lives in. What i find very interesting is how the writer used some music language reference to express her emotions. For example he states, “She first heard its onset in the sudden, staccato rhythm of her speech.” I believe he does thus because she is a pianist.

# data[].attributes.body
poem 20 page 31

He compares divorce to death because he knows divorce is the end of a marriage. He asks his wife to get a divorce on the day of the dead and he knows he messed up by asking on that specific day. He understood that by asking her that day, it would be the end. She was surprised that he chose to ask for a divorce after mass and during a parade. The couple wasn't doing many things together anymore, so they kind of expected to separate. He made the same expressions as the skulls being shown in the parade, making it seems like he is dying with the marriage.

# data[].attributes.body
This poem has a bittersweet tone to it. The poem talks of how the author will forever love [the lady], to death do part. This poem is about loss, I think that although he does know that life comes to an end he knows that because his love is strong, it will always be present. This poem uses hyperboles, imagery, and personification. He also reuses the the same rhyming pattern with the last word every other line rhyming.

# data[].attributes.headline
Poem 16 (pg. 31) Where Are They All Now?

# data[].attributes.subject
Poem 16 (pg. 31) Where Are They All Now?

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is that your childhood friends eventally drift away to the point that you don't even know them anymore. The mood is kind of nostalgic, and the author's tone is regretful and sad. The author uses imagery a couple of times to add more details. The author rhymes; sometimes at the end of lines, and sometimes multple times in one line. The author repeats the same five lines at the end of every stanza to emphasize his point that he doesn't even know his friends anymore. What stood out the most to me was the author's use of the line "Were they really real?" towards the end of each stanza; it implies that it's been so long since the author has seen any of his childhood friends that he's not even sure if they were real or he just made it up.

# data[].attributes.body
The theme of this poem is to describe the Texas mountain laurel and in the process of doing so, the author used a lot of imagery. He states, “it wafts the aroma of the thick, sweet juice of grapes” and also “clusters of blooms teeming with bees like monks in amber”. This sets the scene for the viewer. What i found most interesting about this poem is the use of specific words to show more expression and passion.

# data[].attributes.body
Jacqueline Alvarez
Mohamad Swedat
Jacqueline Alonso

# data[].attributes.body
Karla K. Morton was born in Fort Worth Texas and earned a journalism degree from Texas A&M University. She, apart from poetry, also writes song lyrics.

# data[].attributes.headline
Confessions of a laundromat junkie (page 33)

# data[].attributes.subject
Confessions of a laundromat junkie (page 33)

# data[].attributes.body
The author expresses their addiction to the laundromat which can be seen as a metaphor for purgatory. They use the words "potato chip stains cover my pants. marinara gluttony crosses my shirt, lipstick lust marks my collar." as a metaphor to compare sins to dirty laundry. In the same way, the laundromat washes away stains, purgatory washes away sins. At the end of the poem, the author mentions how they always leave "feeling a little better, a little lighter, and, acting on the overwhelming urge to love thy neighbor" as if the laundromat washed their sins away.

# data[].attributes.body
"Don't be nervous"
The author creates a distinct tone of comfort and encouragement in this poem by using wording like 'just look at her" and "Don't worry about what you will say". Which inspires the reader. Then she further ups the encouragement by presenting a "reward" in the form of being able to "feel how your hand will fit in the small of her back.

# data[].attributes.body
"Why God needs a shotgun"
In this shocking  title there are many points where religious themes are alluded to. With the mention of Adam and Eve in the last part of the poem. This mention brings the whole first part of the poem to a whole new perspective in regards to the "punishment" given to the people in the poem. The implication that Adam and Eve deserve the labor of having to dig holes and deserve the criticism, could change the viewing of the descriptive exhausting labor exhibited in the beginning of the poem. Descriptions like this make the tone of the author seem aggressive.

# data[].attributes.body
46 (Clark and the wolves)

# data[].attributes.body
43 (arachnid platoon)