Reading Response

                                                                  Tocqueville

I found the poems in Tocqueville very interest. I find poems interesting in how they can be interpreted differently. Not everyone interprets writings in the same way. I feel that is even more true when it comes to poems since poems do not always give the reader a clear understanding of what the author wants to say. I like that as a reader you need to make sense of what the author is trying to say.

One of the poems that had me thinking of my grandmother was On the Difficulty of Documentation. "The village women carry the moon on their heads" (Mattawa, 4). My grandmother once told me that when she was younger living in Palestine she would have to walk a long way to a water well. She would have to fill a big bowl with water and carry it back to her home. She would carry the bowl on her head. (why the poem reminds me of her). She would tell me this story every time I would complain about doing simple household chores around the house. My grandmother said it was much harder to get clean water back in her day and that we here in America have it so easy. My grandmother was a very strong women that raised nine children mostly alone because my grandfather worked a lot. She expected all her daughters and granddaughters to work hard and be independent.

This poem reminds me of that story my grandmother once told me of having to walk a long distance to get water. "Or each carrying her own moon, the jugs of white stoneware in Myrtle Winter's photo. See how light spills into their dark robes" (Mattawa, 4). The imagine I see is of a women dressed in black carrying a bowl (her own moon). While she walks the water spills lightly onto her clothing. (see how light spills into their dark robes). I picture a strong women carry water to take back to her family to either use for cooking or for laundry. Working hard to care for her family.