https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj en-us 2019-05-10 14:26:01 UTC 2023-07-25 21:43:06 UTC hello@padlet.com raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338259 2019-05-21 22:17:21 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338259 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338430 2019-05-21 22:18:22 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338430 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338663 2019-05-21 22:19:37 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362338663 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362341869 2019-05-21 22:41:39 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362341869 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362342455 2019-05-21 22:45:41 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362342455 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362342998 2019-05-21 22:49:32 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362342998 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362721414 Sam Sax is a popular Jewish writer and educator. He is the author of multiple books and poems and is very well known in the poetry community. He enjoys creating poems that are brave or adventurous and can make a “spine tremble on the first or 30th read.” Sam Sax fulfills a position in working as a poem editor at the BOAAT press. He has received many awards during his poetry career such as being the Bay Area Unified Grand Slam Champion two times as well as winning The Los Angeles Review and Red Hen Press's 2015 Wild Light Poetry Prize. In addition, Sam Sax won the 2017 James Laughlin Award for his poem “Bury It.” This award is given to someone to acknowledge a second poetry book each year at the start of the new calendar. The award includes a cash prize as well as a pre paid trip to Miami, Florida where the author can present his or her  book to a significant number of people from the Academy of American Poets. In addition, Sam Sax is also the author of the books Madness, All the Rage, The Silence Between, Past Unforgiving, and Teardrops in Sand: The Man- The Mood- The Moments. Sax obtained fellowships from multiple associations such as National Endowment for the Arts, Lambda Literary, Stanford University, and an abundance of others. The poems he has written are published throughout many news articles and popular websites. They are featured on buzzfeed, in the New York Times, Poetry Magazine, and many other places on the internet. 

]]> 2019-05-22 21:36:18 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362721414 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362748330 In the poem “Post Diagnosis” by Sam Sax, one's thought process after a hopeful recovery from an illness and awaiting a post diagnosis is depicted. This poem is written in few words and is structured in a unique way with 2-3 words, then a space, and then a few more words following in each line. In my opinion, this setup creates a more soft toned poem and adds a more specific meaning to each and every line. The speaker first states that “the brain is an unlit synagogue.” Comparing one's mind to a dark place of prayer highlights the emptiness and silence in a person's thoughts after hearing news of what their post diagnosis for a disease or illness is. It reveals how when people are hearing or waiting for important news, they may think of the worst and isolate themselves to prepare. The poem also describes how “using machines can baffle faith.” This reveals how when taking medical tests and using monitors to predict an outcome, this machinery can confuse the patient and sometimes anticipate incorrect results. This highlights the struggle of waiting to hear a post diagnosis because one may think they are well and improved, when they may still be struggling and sick. Later in the poem, it is depicted how when hearing or waiting for news, “it's simple to rage and riot and rot.” Having to hear that one has not recovered, can make a person angry and frustrated at the hard work they have put in to receive no positive result. It's a difficult process when struggling to get better from an illness, and the post diagnosis can make or break a persons mindset to improve. The poem ends by stating that “medicines can not.” This short statement depicts how sometimes drugs and treatment can sometimes have no effect on persons improvement and hinder them from progressing in a recovery. When medication does not help a person, this can be devastating to hear because on most occasions it is the most effective process to getting better from many mental and physical illnesses. ]]> 2019-05-23 00:24:43 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362748330 raeanncarpenter2 https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362749366 In the poem “Fraternity,” by Sam Sax, the speaker depicts a standstill moment in time hearing about a tragic event in which two brothers fell of a tall building and one passed away. The speaker reflects how he is “in the middle of his life in the middle of Texas listening to a man tell the story of [the] two brothers,” The description of how the speaker hears this awful news in a random moment of his life relates to how horrific events happen every day at the most unpredictable times. This reminded me of when I sometimes will hear of a tragedy on the news or through social media and I have to stop and think for a moment what just happened and how it reflects to my own life. Even when it might have nothing to do with me or my experiences, it still takes some processing to comprehend how something so terrible could occur to innocent people. The poem then goes on to illustrate the speaker is “lying on [his] back listening for the sound of skin against pavement.” The fact that the speaker takes a moment to hear the vibrations of his own body, reveals how he feels the need to hear something alive, after learning about this deadly event. This description reminds me of times when I have had nightmares about horrific events, and wake up to feel my heart beating and my breathing and conscious self. Later in the poem, the speaker describes how he calls his “brother just to hear him breathing and he's an empty sound, a scythe knifing still air.” The speaker’s comparison of the sounds of his brother’s breathing to a tool cutting nothing in blank space highlights the awful feeling after hearing about a tragic event. Talking to family, friends, and peers sometimes take a second to understand when in an upset state of mind. At the end of the poem, the speaker describes another moment seeing “two boys in matching greek jackets stumble drunk in the dark...fighting god to stay erect.” I thought it was chilling for the author to end the poem this way because it reveals how although sometimes you may be nowhere near a tragedy, other times you can be at the scene of the situation and how you act in that instant could have a significant impact on one’s future. In this case, the speaker leaves us with the image of him watching or witnessing students who made dumb decisions that may place their lives at risk. It leaves the readers with the idea that in a moment like this, it's time to act and make a difference.]]> 2019-05-23 00:29:25 UTC https://padlet.com/raeanncarpenter2/2earftyqh9qj/wish/362749366