When reading poems from The Wind Shifts, I expected to read poems that I would instantly connect with and poems that I would feel that I had a personal connection with, though it didn't turn out that way. Fingers by David Dominguez had a deep cultural respect to it. Dominguez talked about pain and indecisiveness, how to gain strength and courage for oneself through the courage and bravado of another person. I wiped the blood and thought about Julio/how he did not cry out...how he pushed away those who tried to help/How the finger was never found. That is where I see the cultural significance, through one's culture you gain characteristics that were not originally your own. Experiences of someone close to you, or someone you admire can provoke you to change or want those strengths and/or weaknesses to embody for yourself. Another poem that caught my eye by Dominguez was Empty Lot, a sorrow story about a couple who longs for their home to be built, if it ever comes true. This poem in my eyes lacked culture, it had no reference to historical placement, and there wasn't a reference to subordination or dominance. It seems more like a poem about the American dream for immigrants or homeless people. To have a home to call your own and the only thing you have to hold on to is your aspirations and dreams. The upbeat in the poem in the end that describes the couple dancing to music played by the construction workers only enhances this typical story with a happy ending. The couple still smiles despite their situation, still finding something to smile about. . .

Sheryl Luna on the other hand had something to say. Her poem Her Back, My Bridge was a story that I feel so many young girls can relate to who have either met or is that young troubled girl who has fought her whole life to be normal. My favorite line is Here I am singing the unsung positive capability of the desert, how weeds grow orange wildflowers. That line is a full description of the poem, how she is trying to make a positive outcome that is seemingly invisible. That is what I love about this poem, it tries to BUILD a bridge from hell to heaven, trying to map out a way to get there, without having to be told how. This can be used in any time in history especially in American society because that is what our history is all about, trying to make the good out of the bad. . . The second poem I liked by her was An Atheist Learns to Pray. Reading the poem over and over to grasp the concept that connects with the title led me to think that the poem described everyone, and not anyone in particular. I took from that that anyone can be atheist, and at times many of us are because of what we may go through, but in the last line ( the sun later rising like a man listening to god) is what we all do in the end. Many people go through hell and be in disbelief of a higher power, though once that crisis is over or a resolution is reached, the sun rises and at that moment we began to listen to God again, because we start to believe again. God will always be dominant in our lives and at times we as people don't want to feel subordinate to him, but its not subordination its a give and take situation where you have to give not only to God, but the world in order to receive goodness and grace from him.

From Inclined to Speak I loved Just Words by Samuel Hazo. I am currently in a psychology and language class and we are learning about words and the English language in general. The poem Just Words is fun and exhilarating. I take it as a poem that compares and contrasts many similarities and differences on how different languages use words, it can also be used as a small history lesson on words and their usage. For Which It Stands is probably the best poem in this book by Samuel Hazo. He takes a stab at dominance in American culture and calls it out for its flaws and prejudice. We as Americans are so proud of our civilzed ways and unsavage like behavior we portray (YEA RIGHT!), we degrade and demean anyone else who does not meet American standards. We say that we seperate church and state, but that is not at all true. In Washington God's lawyer warns we stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord. That is how it is sold to the American people, in a religious matter with immense emphasis on God, that the many things we do in life and for the government is also for God, and which God exactly are they referring to? . . . Lawrence Joseph's I Pay The Price says it all in the title. A poem about being proud that one has paid the the price and that the price had to be paid in order for one to be where they want to be. The expense in which that price is paid is what really counts, not when and why. That is a morale question that I think is hard to answer, what price would you pay to get where you want? For me, anything that does not negatively affect my dignity, respect, family, and soul... what about you?
-Dorothy