PJ#3

“ I an accused of tending to the past” by Lucille Clifton
I am accused of tending to the past
As if I made it
As if I sculpted
With my own hands, I did not.
This past was waiting for me
When I came,
A monstrous unnamed baby,
And I with my mother’s itch
Took it to breast
And named it
History.
She is more human now
Learning languages everyday
Remembering faces, names and dates
When she is strong enough to travel
On her own, beware, she will.
Poetry Journal # 3
S: the speaker of these poem is person who is taking about history.
O: The occasion is when this person was talking about history and how he or she is acussed of tending to the past.
A: The audience of this poem is for the people who accuse him/her.
P: The purpose of this poem is to show that he/ she cannot change history because it was already made before her.
Subject: The subject is history
Tone: The tone is very mellow and calm.
The author of this poem uses all lower caps which makes this poem very simple. Her diction is very simple as well which let the reader focus on the meaning of the poem than what do the word mean. There is times when she has one word lines which also draws more attention to the word.

I am accused of forgetting the past
As if I actually wanted to remember
As if I loved to hear
All those wonderful crimes and genocides
That past was not for me
I did not want it
I did not want my ancestor to be killed by the Spaniards
I did not want for my ancestors lands to be conquered by Caucasians
When I came
I put it upon myself
To learn
History
As way to stop history from repeating it self
But that’s something
That not all have learned
History s more than life now
Its more than just some events
Its our life tracked down
Its what influences our everyday
I do not want to remember history
But I will
Its my past, present and future
Here to stay
So beware she is strong and life changing
Learn from her