In My Backyard- Celestino de Juliis

(My English teacher and her son)

I own a house now,

My father sowed his seeds in his backyard,

And reaped the lettuce and tomatoes.

He had known who he was when

His hands formed the cheese drawn from his flock.

Having come here, he was less sure

And worked in factories or construction sites.

Ha made his own wine and slaughtered still the Easter Lamb for us.

(and for himself too, there’s no denying).

He loved what was his own little show and with fewer words.

The language never yielded to him, strong as he Ws.

I wrote the numbers out on a sheet so he could write his cheques,

Pay his bills….

My youth was spent in shame of him.

My tiny face would blush my eyes avert

on parents’ night when he would timid come

to ask in broken syntax after me.

In my backyard

I have my grass and flowers

And buy my produce at Safeway.

My eyes avert in shame now

that I ever was that boy.

2009.04 Portland ,USA

PTERODACTYL

Never trust a teacher with tantalizing eyes

or pterodactyls on his tie,

Who collects strange toys

And bids on junk at auctions.

He will pull you into poetry

And hook your mind on literary history.

Then when you need to tune him out,

You can’t. And years later,

His voice still haunts you

Sending you in search of books you haven’t read yet.

Those pterodactyls might have warned

Of the persistence of his instruction.

Their species may have vanished,

But like the poets in the book

He made them breathe again for us.

2008.03 南投訪師行

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

       As children we often judge our last generation and teachers superficially with our naive eyes. We usually are too young to appreciate what they have done for us. In “Pterodactyl” and “In my backyard”. The two poets are both adults who are expressing their sorrows over the kinds of errors they made when they were young. There are many differences and similarities between”Pterodactyl”and “In My Backyard”.

        Firstly, the main difference is the point of view. In “pterodactyl”. The point of view is third-person. Whereas in “in my backyard” the point of view is first person. This has an effect and both the mood and tone of two poems. The tone of “pterodactyl’ seems less sad than the tone of “in my backyard”.The first similarity between the two poems is that the main character of pterodactyl judges his teacher based on appearance and habits while the main character of in my backyard judges his father from his traditional way of living and his low ability to speak in English. For example, in pterodactyl the poet demands readers to follow him by never trust a teacher with tantalizing eyes or pterodactyl on his tie, which collects strange toys and bids on junk at auction. This is a judgment from appearance and habits. Similarly.In “in my backyard” the poet looks down on his father by : my youth was spent in shame of him, my time face would blush my eyes avert on parents’ night when he would timid come to ask in broken syntax after me” the poet then totally did not understand the life was so tough to a new immigrant who could not speak English that his father could not goes to school to study English after immigration because he had to work hard to make ends meet, however, the poet did not appreciate his father’s sacrifice to give him a better future in Canada.

        Secondly, the main similarity between the two poems is that both poets of two poems start to appreciate their educators’ endeavors after they grew up mentally. The poet of “pterodactyl’ regrets that he did not respect his teacher’s wisdom and teaching method. While the poet of “in my backyard” regrets that he did not respect his father and his father’s sacrifice to give him a better life using parallelism by “my eyes avert in shame now that I ever was that boy”. They both feel ashamed of themselves.

Although the both poets’ childhoods differ, they both have similar outcomes. They both want young people to pay the debt of gratitude to their last generation and teachers before it is too late to do so.

ps.

英文課選讀詩詞  老師要求比較相同與不同之處加以佐證分析

    這兩首現代詩討論著 年輕一代不懂珍惜長輩的教誨

甚至還以他們為恥    或嘲笑他們的生活方式或穿著打扮

   但長大成人之後 才深感父親與老師

    的苦楚與用心 從詩中能體驗晚輩需虛心向長者學習

    不論是生活或是學識方面

   他們必定有似寶藏的資源值得我們用心地挖掘!

   2009.04 22