Poetry Response Wallflowers

Poetry Response #2 Nicholas Scarbrough Wallflowers

The poem Wallflowers is a poem that everyone, everywhere can relate to. In the beginning it talks about words that aren’t ever used, but by the end of the poem you know that the author is not talking about words. You know that she is talking about people. The third stanza in the poem states: “Or do they wait patiently, shy shadows at the high school dance, knowing that, given the slightest chance, someday they’ll bloom?”. I know for sure that the author is not talking about a word going to a high school dance. It is saying that everyone should be given a chance no matter what they look like. If you give anyone a chance they will bloom. This poem has a theme in “disguise,” you have to put all the details together so you can figure out one thing. It is saying that you shouldn’t judge people. Just because no one talks to them doesn’t mean that they are weird or any different than you are. The poem is saying that until they are given a chance they won’t be able to bloom. With a little light and encouragement an individual can blossom into something truly miraculous.

The final stanza of the poem states: “ I want to make room for all of them, to be the Ellis Island of diction- give me your tired, your poor, your gegenshein, zoanthropy- all those words without a home, come out and play-live in my poem.”. The writer uses this to say we do not need to judge people. We do not need to judge them because of where they come from. We don’t need to judge them because of their appearance or looks. The writer uses the comparison to Ellis Island, stating we need to welcome all who want to blossom in our world. We just have to give them the chance to bloom and show what they truly can be. Let them become the flowers that make Earth the unique and beautiful planet that it is today.