Sex Without Love by Sharon Olds

If you just skim "Sex Without Love" without reading it, it just looks like a bunch of phrases and similes that don't correlate to the title. Upon further examination, it becomes apparent that this poem is actually an explicit and harsh judgement of those who choose to engage in casual sex. "How do they do it, the ones who make love/without love? (lines 1-2)" Olds compares two casual lovers as being as "beautiful as dancers (line 2)," like children being given up for adoption (lines 7-8), like worshipers (lines 13-16) and "like great runners (line 18)." She describes sex as something pure, almost like a religious experience, something shared, something beautiful. She doesn't know how one can engage in something that she finds so beautiful without loving one another but commends them for the honesty in their desire to have sex just to have sex. Her use of irony makes it sound like she pities those who have sex without love.

"Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa

This poem is a moving reflection of a veteran experiencing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. He faces the memorial and has to hold back tears. It is evident that he is still deeply affected by the war. This memorial makes him remember. He relives the war with lines such as "I go down the 58,022 names,/half-expecting to find/my own in letters like smoke (lines 14-16)," "I see the booby trap's white flash (line 18)," "A white vet's image floats/closer to me, then his pale eyes/look through mine. I am a window./He's lost his right arm inside the stone, (lines 25-29) and taking note of an airplane (line 24). The Vietnam Veterans Memorial can stop anyone in their tracks—veteran or not. This is why war memorials are important. They are meant for the living to recognize and honor the sacrifice of the war's soldiers and bystanders.

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

The imagery used in this poem is nauseating.  I do not have a weak stomach but reading about this fish riddled with hooks and struggling to breathe was too much for me to handle.  Bishop's use of the words "infested (line 18)," "terrible (line 23)," "frightening (line 24)," and "entrails (line 31)" painted a graphic image of a pitiful, dying fish that disgusted her. The poem takes a turn towards the end when she is overcome by the fish's beauty and decides to release it.

This poem relates to the elderly.  They come off as rough, worn and disposable but once their wisdom is realized, they are given respect.