POETRY ANTHOLOGY
Table of contents
1. Polite Plea by Keaton Henson
2. Excursion by Keaton Henson
3.To by Keaton Henson
4. Regret me by Keaton Henson
POLITE PLEA BY KEATON HENSON → This poem will probably be about the narrator's dream and want of being forgiven of his wrong doings.
Come and be human with me
eat nothing that means us both leaving the house
sit on the floor in strange places
and sleep in familiar beds
I will make art, not for, but about you
speak truths while your sleeping and wake you with hands
we will dive deeply into one anothers
and stay out of our own weary heads
We will argue in glorious fireworks
I will throw words, you will break my guitar → Shift in tone and mood; messy relationship
remind ourselves that it's something worth burning
and be all the better for making up
Come and eat cereal late at night
in silence, undressed on the kitchen counter
be far too tired for tomorrows long stroll
in love, just enough for the waking up
Come, in your own time, and human be,
Yours politely,
Lonely me. → Change in tone, signifying a shift in the initial subject: messy relationship with himself?
eat nothing that means us both leaving the house
sit on the floor in strange places
and sleep in familiar beds
I will make art, not for, but about you
speak truths while your sleeping and wake you with hands
we will dive deeply into one anothers
and stay out of our own weary heads
We will argue in glorious fireworks
I will throw words, you will break my guitar → Shift in tone and mood; messy relationship
remind ourselves that it's something worth burning
and be all the better for making up
Come and eat cereal late at night
in silence, undressed on the kitchen counter
be far too tired for tomorrows long stroll
in love, just enough for the waking up
Come, in your own time, and human be,
Yours politely,
Lonely me. → Change in tone, signifying a shift in the initial subject: messy relationship with himself?
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ANALYSIS
Keaton Henson is a poet and musician. His art is very unique and captures the gruesome reality of the real world; such as heartbreak and anxiety. Polite Plea seems to not be far from his other works, as it is about the beauty of love, and how easily it can turn into something dangerous. Yet, it is something we all want in our life whether it destroys us or changes us. Keaton Henson has a knack of finding the beauty of something and showing us the complete opposite, sometimes it would be the other way around. Choosing this poem was not as easy as I presumed, because there were so many other options I could have chosen, but it spoke to me. I have been in relationships that would be romantic or completely platonic, this poem has made me realize that not all relationships are perfect and some are even worth fighting for; fighting for those little moments that feel like your whole life has changed, those little smiles you get from talking to them for more than one hour, but somehow feels like you’ve been talking to them for ages. “Come and be human with me.” is the part I got hooked on, as it goes on about the need of being emotionally connected to someone . It shows us that humans are simple beings, some only want the necessity of being in a relationship, some just want to be in a relationship to feel the rush of being with someone,
EXCURSION BY KEATON HENSON → From the title, I think this poem will be about wanting to go outside of your comfort zone.
no more staying indoors
there are battles to build and cities to burn
carpets too muddy and waking to earn
come now, no more staying indoors
there'll be no more staying indoors
less of the longing, the ardent lust
more of the breathing, in breathing we trust
more of the beating of hearts in the dusk
no more staying indoors →
here now, no more staying indoors
there are fears to a'frighten and pockets to fill
dreams for forgetting and hopes to be killed
words to be written, and written but still
it's awfully warm here indoors.
ANALYSIS
Excursion brings out the wants and desires that run through the mind of someone who is experiencing hardship: depression, and even anxiety. The “but still” of the penultimate line slightly breaks the heart--a decision to remain in isolation tears down the rest of the poem’s hopeful potentialities. This poem was very easy to choose, I felt the same way he felt when he wrote this. There will be times that you feel like you'd want to do something productive, but there will always be something or someone stopping you from doing so. For me, it is depression, but the hopefulness of doing something despite the obstacles that I, and a lot of people struggle with, is something to always look forward to. Isolation is definitely terrible, especially in a pandemic like this, this poem has a connection to it.
TO BY KEATON HENSON → From the title, I think this poem will be a letter to someone, or to himself.
to plant flowers
and leave, never to see them grow
to pretend to pretend you’re important
but secretly feel that you are
to sleep reluctantly
and believe the hours will miss you
to wake grudgingly
and believe the day has nothing for you
to never dance
and envy those who do
to eat with friends and lovers
to eat alone and taste nothing
to swim
in lonely self importance
to count
to two
and then lose your temper
to be yourself
knowing you do it the best
to live
to pretend you’re not dying
to die and be carried away on the wind.
ANALYSIS
To is a poem about the thoughts of not wanting to be alive, yet Keaton is writing how there will always be thoughts of reasons to stay--to keep living. It goes back and forth stating that nothing matters and “To eat with friends and lovers. To eat alone and taste nothing” is an exact example of that. I definitely have thoughts like that which is why I feel very connected to this poem. It shows how your mind struggles between the positives and negatives. It is never easy to deal with that, but writing poems like these are something people can do to avoid doing something that they could regret. Keaton Henson is known to have struggled with his own thoughts, and through his poems, music, and art it gives us a clear pathway on what it is like to be him for a moment. I chose the image below because times like this, it feels as if you're the only person that is helping yourself, It feels lonely which I got from this painting by EMOR.
REGRET ME BY KEATON HENSON
who watches while you dance my dear?
who whispers softly "are you well?"
and softer still in moonlight's spell
"I'm lonely my love, come and save me"
who listens to your collars turn
your sleeves drip red as arms and hands
reach, desperate, for escaping hands?
I'm lonely my darling, don't break me
here's this, just this to keep in mind
the times we had and how I left
us both behind and bereft
I'm lonely my dear, forget me
I'm lonely, pretend that you left me
I'm lonely, so please just let me
be alone,
but regret me.
ANALYSIS
Regret me is a poem about experiencing personal problems within a relationship. Problems with self identity, self worth, or the fact that there will be times where you will feel alone despite having someone in your life. The narrator feels as if he is a burden, a burden to his own significant other, It’s possible that the narrator (Keaton Henson) is reminiscing about the love he had, and that he does not regret anything with them, but the things he is currently feeling. I had something similar to that as well. I’ve ruined perfectly good things all because I felt like I was not enough or that I was sad. I would want my significant other to leave me alone, because of how I perceive myself and regret it afterwards, as the relationship ends--all I ever want is to not have them regret being with me. This poem holds a very close place in my heart, because I still struggle with this,
