I like the whole contrast of this. It’s bringing equality to both sides.

Who created these terms? And when?

I feel like this really relates to La Guin’s pieces. The concept of science fiction and the future.

A sign of hope maybe?

I LOVE THIS. This is really a great line. It captures the essence of what this piece is trying to say.

YES PLEASE

Such a heart breaking line.

This is such a beautiful line. I love the imagery use!

Great use of imagery here. I think it really sets the tone for the whole setting.

THis really shows how God is within all of us. this whole poem was amazing, and I loved every bit of it.

He had a beautiful world, but it was not complete without his humans.

The humor and playfulness the author uses is amazing.

I love the repetition of this line.

I can just see this happening to the night sky. The imagery is beautiful.

I love the imagery of this. It reminds me of when we would use play doh to make the round balls. I can see God doing this to the light to form the Sun

Such a simple yet amazing comment for what he has began to create.

The creation of Earth?

This is the fire that I mentioned. It was burning so bright, but a match can only be lit for so long.

There is no sunshine here, only dark voids.

It reminds me of one of those songs that keeps trying to find the right not but strains to hit it.

I feel like this is something that a lot of teenagers or younger generations can understand. Because we are so young, we aren't expected to feel such pain, but we can. We can experience life changing moments that ruin us. We are human too.

This really shows the human soul being pushed past its limit. It shows how this soul has kept fighting through every fire, but it finally burned out to the point where all it wants is to be content.

Such a delicate and beautiful line.

Everything is described as gray in order to show the true color and light in his life.

Again, it is the simple moments that you share with a loved one that make the biggest impacts.

Reminds me of the quote from Wuthering Heights "She burned too bright for this world."She is aching and burning for this moment as well.

I love this because it comes from a man's perspective of love. Very similar in the sense of Annabel Lee to me. It reminds me of a first love and the memories made from this. The want for freedom with you other half.

Pride for the homeland that they were reunited with again.

The slaves cannot forget their past but instead move forward in hope of it not repeating itself.

The truth will set you free.

Be proud of the skin you were born in.

I always love the involvement of music because it shows so much emotion.

This signifies hope for the future of Ethiopia. That she gains her people back and can care for them again.

This country was home to many people, and now it does not feel home to any because all of its people were taken away.

It holds the haunting pain of know that it was the last thing to hold that man's body and breath. He feels guilt for not being able to protect him, and he is constantly seen everyday without anybody knowing his story.

Again, the innocent are found guilty by people who do not care.

Lynching?

WOW. This had me shook. I love the mask metaphors connected with the race.

Trees are known to hold wisdom for them being here longer than us, so I like how this is told from the point of view of a tree.

This just shows that even if innocent, the color of one's skin declared guilt or not.

This can describe the depth of the dark times that the people went through. Night can often be associated with wailing or sadness.

This reminds me of the 13 documentary we are watching, and how most black people were framed with drugs or small crimes in order to be sent to jail.

This can explain how although the slaves were freed, they we still trapped under America's twisted words.

This line shows the hope that the slaves have for their future and their trust in God.

This reminds me of the constant humming we hear in the 1619 podcast. The sound of the slave songs.

Sympathy, as opposed to empathy, is when one has experienced something similar to what the person in sorrow feels.

This is a line that shows how this bird has continued to fly even after being beaten and broken.

The repetition of this line shows the sympathy that this person feels for the slaves or black community.

Caged bird could be in relation to slaves or even just people of the black community and how they feel trapped beneath the racism of America.

By the looks of the title, it seems as though this poem will be about feeling pity or sadness towards someone in relation to how they are feeling.

This line in itself is so heartbreaking. It can show the slaves struggle of having to accept what they have been through with a smile.

I could see this in relation to how the world likes to cover up the negative issues. We only see what they want us to see which here can be seen as the mask.

This can show the human instinct of hiding our true negative emotions with happy ones. We often put up a front as humans to hide what we are truly feeling in order not to burden others.

This ending was really unsatisfying. It lead nowhere for me, and I cannot seem to find the significance of it.

Fire? Hell?

Sometimes people cannot appreciate the simply love of God or even notice the love.

To accept God into your heart is such a beautiful moment in everyone's life.

Love. Love is found all around her as she leaves the earth to go be with her savior.

This imagery gave me chills. The description of the light which could relate to love of God.

This is such a great way to show one's connection with God. It can mean that in times of loss, God can always be found and give love to those in need.

I love this connection to the violets. It shows a connection between the human soul and nature. It also can relate to the first line that can mean she tied her hair with love.

I love this line. It brings true happiness to the word free.

A new beginning? Maybe a relation to the first stanza?

I LOVE THIS. This is what the world is about. Looking at human souls instead of human skin colors.

Ugh, this makes me so sad that some of these slaves didn't even know where home was.

Freedom? Respect?

This just goes to show that the only way the slaves felt like they could be heard was through their music. It was something that they all bonded over and decided to use that as their communication. No one would ever listen to them talk but would become interested with a song.

This is seen in the Bible quite a bit, so I could probably see this as a reference to God and the hope that was brought when facing near death experiences.

This really shows what music is about. It is not about the happy parts all of the time. No, music is meant to speak for the soul whether it is the worst time of your life or the best.

This brings me back to the podcast we listened to about music. Music for the slaves was an outlet where they could forget reality for a little bit. It was even in the hardest of times that they found a way to be happy.

Music is something that everyone can relate to. It holds so many emotions and stories, that these songs that these people sang raised hope and inspiration.

I love this line because it shows the depth of the human soul. It is not about appearance or pronunciation in this world, it is about the soul and how you choose to use your song and let it be heard.

This beginning stanza seems very out of body experience to me. I do not know whether it is metaphorically his funeral like rebirth into a new part of his life, or his literal funeral.

Again, I love the contrast.

Love the contrast here between light and dark with Heaven and Hell.

I love the repetition. Smoke is everywhere, and I believe the writer is trying to say that there is no getting rid of the black community. They are here to stay.

He is speaking to his family, and how he knows what they have all been through. However, he knows how strong they all are.

This line is so confident. It speaks so much power.

I do like how this line portrays the black communities' faith in God. I love the love that they have for God, and they aren't afraid to show it.

I feel as though this song/poem is all about black empowerment. It does not bring up the bad moments, but the proud moments.

I love the ending of this compared to actual song because of the different repercussions that were faced. I also just like how blunt the ending stanza is.

This is crazy, but for some reason I love it.

WHAT IS SHE GOING TO DO?

It is so sad to see that she found out the truth.

Although this isn't the happiest of lines, it still shows so much emotion. Also, screw Johnny for cheating.

I definitely believe that that this is what music is about, telling true stories that have meaning. I feel as though we have lost this type of music that actually go through a whole story that has meaning.

Is this a metaphor for the whip?

I believe a pint of salt is a term of money or allowance. This could mean that the artist no longer has to receive small amounts of money and make their own money that is enough to make a living.

This is a very strong beginning for the song. However, I wonder what else this line could have meant. I saw it as someone who is free from slavery and will no longer face being sold.

Exactly. Why does the color of one's skin decide whether they can vote or not.

This whole paragraph was so beautifully written, and I love how they were not afraid to show their love for God and hope for the future.

:) this line made me so happy.

This line was so heart breaking.

This line was so sad yet very inspiring. It kind of gives me hope for our future. The older slaves in this never imagined that world, yet it happened.

YES. LOVE THE SKIN YOU WERE BORN IN. YES

It is so sad to know that he would try to picture himself as a different race because that race was treated better than his own. Race should have nothing to do with success.

FINALLY. Finally they are granted the very thing they had been aching for for years.

We live in a country that preaches freedom. This is one promise our country tries to keep, so I agree with Washington here. Everyone wants freedom and rights, we deserve them.

I hate that this is was even written. It just goes to show that these people were treated so badly, no education, no knowledge of where they came from, and they constantly pray to be free. A land of the free, yet people are praying to free.

Again, this ties into the sadness that these people were born into. They all lived a life of constant torture and judgement.

It is so sad to know that this how most slaves lived, without knowing anything about their lives or ancestor's lives.

This line really shows just how horrible slaves lived. They were born into sadness without a chance of finding happiness. It was almost as if from the beginning, they were shown a miserable life with no hope.

This. THIS WAS POWERFUL.

WOW. This really does describe just how women are treated and seen in society. Especially women of color.

facepalm

Gosh, I hate how relevant this is. I hate that this is something we would read on the header of a twitter article. It is such a disgusting image.

I love this line because it simply cannot work. Power should not derive from hate or revenge. It should build off of confidence and strength.

I feel like often times, people don;t understand poets and their words. They can never fully differentiate whether or not something is symbolic or literal. I like how this line detailed that in a simple matter. It is all about holding your own tongue and hurting yourself or speaking up and hurting others.

This line reminded me of labeling and how often times we associate ourselves with words whether it be our fight motive or our flight motive.

MY HEART. I feel like this speaks to a lot of people who never physically learned how hurtful life can be but experienced the mental side instead.

WOW. This line really spoke to me because we don't often see this type of thinking in this day in age.

Love this loophole. I am sad to think that I never thought of this as a kid.

I don't know why, but this stanza made me think of natural selection. Maybe I am crazy though.

This line really opened my eyes alongside the bird quote. It shows the yin and yang of every situation. Which part do people actually pay attention to?

I love this. It shows how our world could be so beautiful, yet we choose to only focus on the horrible parts. We could fix our Earth, yet we decided the list all her imperfections. This world could be beautiful, but it is up to us to show that.

I feel like the author explains here how we often waste our lives away worrying of the materialistic things, and we do not spend time to focus on the important things instead.

I really feel like this ending shows how some of us fear bringing children into this stale country. There is so much bad happening that can be controlled, but yet it is still a nightmare. I believe the author used a smart use of words in this to show the fear of bringing a new life into a scary country. Going alongside her pattern of asking questions, I can almost see her wanting to end this with, "Who would want to bring a new life into this world?"

Wow. I don't even know how to answer this.

This line really had me thinking about the fact that there is so much that changes or happens around us yet we never notice it.

This is a very interesting way to start this reading because I feel like peace is something everyone craves the world obtains.

I kind of read this as the opposite version of the stick and stones quotes. Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

I liked the insertion of this here because it shows how often times younger children do not open their mouths in fear of what they might say. The way this teacher teaches these student can help them learn to stand up and speak up in times of need.

I like this visual because it shows how often times, students forget what they learned the past year over summer break. They are more carefree and don't really pay attention to what they learned.

This had me cracking up. It bring humor into a very serious topic, but at the same time it makes so much sense.

I feel like this line details how society always tend to focus on the dark and gloomy times to come instead of opening up their eyes and appreciating what is around them.

This could probably symbolize the fact that if we lose nature, we lose animals and all sources of food. We would have to make what we have in our hands work.

I feel like the author is talking of how we are killing one of the only things that keep us alive, nature. Saying that we don't appreciate it for our lives but for money instead.

This line could talk of how we all wish on shooting stars, but this wish has become completely avoided and unappreciated.

I feel like this line details how music is such an important part of our lives that we tend to talk of all the crisis that is around us. It asks what music was like before the crisis, but the real question is, was there ever a time with no crisis?

Her story will still live on with her spirit.

It saddens me how this she is perceived here. Yes, she has baggage, but everyone carries their own baggage.

Shows the lack of change in the life. It has become a routine where everything is the same.

This whole line is so emotional. It shows how unexpectedly these deaths happen and how quickly they do, as well.

Water to me personally always signifies change, and I feel as though here she is trying to describe that longing and waiting for a change. She has been facing death after death, and she wants to finally have a time with no more death.

This line shows just how much the black community was seen as objects.

This shows just how much of a mental toll that the way black people were treated affected them. The only way they could find guidance was with God, but at the same time, they still had their doubts and insecurities.

The spirit of this light shows the faith in God and hope for help to come in the time of need.

This line really showed how some people in this time viewed life as a prison with no hope of being free.

Even the words used to describe black people is repulsive.

This line infuriates me. It really shows the segregation in the country and the prejudice that lives within it.

Again, I love the additions of poetry throughout this story. I like how this poem specifically designates personification to the word misery making seem almost as a human. It talks of the lonely nights with misery, the constant reminders of it.

I love this line because it shows the pure and goodness that is still left in this world.

I love the addition of a poem before the first chapter. It really draws in the reader and captures the essence of the emotion as well. This poem talks about the pain of heartbreak which I can imagine is showed a lot throughout this story.

God will take over and lead the way.

The ending shows hope and glory to those who have worked and bled for their freedom.

This shows how even in the darkness, there will always be a little light.

This shows the power in freedom and the glory that comes with it.

This line is so powerful and can almost refer to the saying of how you are worth more dead than alive.

The women slave endured a lot of pain throughout their times of slavery. Some were raped, and some had to watch their children be ripped away from their own two hands.

This is so tragically beautiful, but I have yet to figure out its true meaning here. It does spark a powerful poem though.

This line can refer to the slave children who had their childhoods ripped from them and were never given a normal child's life.

Beautiful and so much hope within this last sentence. She and her child are both free from the horrible life they were to live, but now they can start a new brighter life.

She lives this life and proceeds with what she is doing in order to protect her child. Her child gives her strength and determination to live and find a better life.

Wow. This line was so powerful. It just proves that stereotyping and judgement continue to be a reoccurring event in today's world.

This whole line speaks for itself. A proud country that holds shameful secrets. Heartbreaking that it is still relevant today.

It was love that brought them both together, and the mother found love within her son's love.

The boy was more owned by the slave masters than he was the child of his mother. This is so sad to believe because she held him in her womb for nine months, yet some man who claims to be his owner is the one who has the full rights over him.

This ending just goes to show that not ever ending is happy. It shows the sad and heartbreaking parts of being a mother in this condition.

This stanza details the last moments this mother gets to spend with her son. The author really did a great job showing the emotion that was brought with this action.

Strong ending. It proved how she would not let a man dictate her future or her name. She was no ashamed of who she was, and she stuck up for herself.

This was a powerful moment in the poem. It showed her determination to do what she felt was right even if others thought it was wrong.

This whole stanza is so important to the poem. It shows that people often times men put the blame on women for certain misfortune, yet they were the ones who pushed that woman to her breaking point.

Such a powerful yet heartbreaking opening. It really shows the lives that women faced and suffered through when it came to gender equality. To have to justify a love for someone is so heartbreaking especially in this poem.

This line shows the difference in treatment between men and women. Men were the prized possessions whereas women were seen as the third place prize.

I love the ending to this. I believe that it shows how strong women are. It really sets the piece into an uprising, and I like how the ending does not die down into a small simple sentence, but instead grows into a great powerful sentence that is timeless.

This line shows that love from God has no gender. It teaches that all of us are equal in the eyes of the Lord no matter what our gender is.

So powerful. I love how this poem ends with hope and strength. It really shows that no matter the storms that come our way, we are still going to fight for the truth and the right to be free. Absolutely amazing.

This line was beautifully written. It shows how it is okay to love the good things, but also to acknowledge the bad things in life and look for a light within them.

This line is one that I believe every believer has felt. It is the moment of not knowing the outcome of something or the consequences that may come with it, but it is the trust in God that we always end up following. It is trusting the unknown that we follow and preach. The aid that is to come, and the good that is to be brought. I love this line and its simplicity. A moment this strong needs a little bit of simplicity.

This line details the hope that is always brought with God. It shows the good and bright love that God always has to offer and especially in times on need.

I love this opening. It really grabs the attention of the audience and leaves them questioning about the poem. I especially loved the ending line here and the confidence it shows. It really portrays bravery and self awareness,

I love this ending. It brings a more positive side to the poem. It shows how in the end, we will still fight for what is right. That we will let the wrongs stay in the past and write new stories that show equality and hope.

This line reminds me of how sometimes, we only worry of the future. Everyone always says to live in the moment, but are we really? I constantly worry for our future and hope for something that seems too good to be true. In our world today, I feel as though we can never really catch our breath. We are constantly worried about the next day, year, or even five minutes.

This is a timeless stanza I would say because of how relevant it was years past and still is today. No one in America is truly born free. I say this because there is always a finger to point, and yes some people have my privilege than others, but isn't this the land of the free?? Why are words like this still relevant? Why do these words make me want to cry? Why can we not practice what we preach?

This whole opening comes off very sarcastic yet serious at the same time. Whitfield details how America truly is by using its own words against it. He expresses almost an expectation versus reality type of structure, describing the glamorous land of the free but revealing the terrifying land of blood, and crime, and wrong.

Such an eye opening poem that I feel will be relevant for decades.

Chills. Absolute chills from this line.

Again, no one can be accepted without being judged first. Why?

It’s as if people read but do not listen.

EXACTLY! Everything and everyone requires confirmation. No one can just live freely without the fear of judgement.

Such a beautiful yet hauntingly true line. Gives me chills to know that this is the world we live in today.

But aren’t we citizens? Humans? We deserve respect.

This is the country we live in today. People are constantly stereotyped based on their looks. No one ever would ever take a double look at someone who fits this “description.”

How is even acceptable?

Again, how can one be treated so badly based on the language they are native to?

Shocks me how relevant this line is for today’s world. The amount of people being taken away from relatives continues to break my heart. The country we live in has stolen so many things from us including the people we love.

This poem was obviously vague to have the reader keep reading, and in the end, the trick worked. The author wanted to be heard and did everything they could whether it meant talking of trees or not.

Distrust? Maybe?

This whole stanza reminds me of when a child tells a secret that they know wasn't meant to be told, so they don't let any information out and wait for it to be erased or forgotten. It is like the country is hiding a secret that is waiting to be erased.

This line depicts the slow and sad death of the country. It shows all the pain that is hidden within the dark that slowly starts to creep and come out.

I love this repetition. It shows the importance of the poem and how the author wanted to stress that someone slaves weren't free and died trying to receive their freedom. So heartbreaking.

This is such a heartbreaking line that details all the hope that most of the slaves endure during their time of enslavement.

This shows how the ones who are free only focus on the sky above and ahead instead of the ones who are behind and suffering.

Confirmation of my response above.

This could indicate freedom that is not promised but longed for by the slaves. It especially shows the passion and hope of one who might be longing for the freedom.

This whole stanza can be seen as one who is enslaved and watching from the inside. However, they do not let the bars and pain take hold of them and still proceed to sing their song of freedom.

This shows the attitude of free people. They take off with the wind without a care in the world of who is left on the ground and try to claim something that does not solely belong to them.

I feel as though this whole poem can be seen as the contrast between people who were free and people who were enslaved. Birds are often a sign of change and hope in literature, so the representation of the caged bird shows hope or change that is struggling to break free.

I love this title because it shows bravery and courage within the slaves. The title is empowering and inspiration.

This surprised me because I never knew that this was even a rule to be followed.