Grief Calls Us to the Things
of This World
Gese Rocha
Mrs. Hodson
English PreAP
6 February 2013
Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World By:
Sherman Alexie
The eyes open to a blue telephone
In the bathroom of this five-star hotel.
I wonder whom I should call? A plumber,
Proctologist, urologist, or priest?
Who is most among us and most deserves
The first call? I choose my father because
He's astounded by bathroom telephones.
I dial home. My mother answers. "Hey, Ma,
I say, "Can I talk to Poppa?" She gasps,
And then I remember that my father
Has been dead for nearly a year. "Shit, Mom,"
I say. "I forgot he’s dead. I’m sorry—
How did I forget?" "It’s okay," she says.
"I made him a cup of instant coffee
This morning and left it on the table—
Like I have for, what, twenty-seven years—
And I didn't realize my mistake
Until this afternoon." My mother laughs
At the angels who wait for us to pause
During the most ordinary of days
And sing our praise to forgetfulness
Before they slap our souls with their cold wings.
Those angels burden and unbalance us.
Those fucking angels ride us piggyback.
Those angels, forever falling, snare us
And haul us, prey and praying, into dust.
(“Wilbur, Richard”)
The eyes open to a blue telephone
Bell, Alexander Graham “was born on
March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh,
Scotland”(Brodsky). Alexander was
responsible for inventing the first
telephone. “Bell, Alexander Graham was
27 years old when he worked out the
principal of transmitting speech
Electrically(Brodsky). It was not until he
was 29 that he invented the basic
telephone in. Bell was the first person to
accomplish sending human speech by
wire1876 (Brodsky).
Sherman Alexie
Sherman Joseph Alexie, Jr. is a
modern poem writer. “Sherman was
born in Oct. 7, 1966, on the Spokane
Indian Reservation in the state of
Washington”(Marshall). He received
a B.A degree from Washington State
University in 1991 and began his
literacy career with 2 collection
poems. One of Sherman’s greatest
accomplishments is co-writing the
screen play for smoking signal a
1998 motion picture (Marshall).
At the angels who
wait for us to
pause
During the most
ordinary of days
This is a very good figurative language.
The meaning of the figurative language is
that sometimes we forget that the dead
are not with us anymore. Our minds play
tricks on, we are used to have that person
for a long time that the day there not with
us we already have a habit and forget that
there not with us anymore.
And sing our
praise to
forgetfulness
Before they slap
our souls with
their cold wings.
How did I forget?" "It’s okay," she says.
"I made him a cup of instant coffee
“The united stated ranks as the largest
consumer of coffee”(Lazarte). Americans
drink 400 million cups of coffee every
day. Each year the United States
consumes about 2 ¾ billion pounds of
coffee, that equals to about one sixth of
all the coffee grown in the world. “Brazil
produces about one third of the worlds
crop”(Lazarte).
I wonder whom I should call? A plumber,
Proctologist, urologist, or priest?
“Priest in many religions is the
title of a certain member of
clergy”(Ellwood). The priest
primarily performs religious
ceremonies and gives religious
advises. “In ancient times,
Judaism had a class of priests,
led by a high priest,” but today
Judaism has no
priesthood(Ellwood). In other
religions dreams or sings are use
to select the priest but in most
cases a person must study to
enter priesthood.
Those angels, forever falling, snare us
And haul us, prey and praying, into dust.
In many religions an angel is a spiritual
being created by God. “The word Angel
comes from the Greek word meaning
messenger or one who is
sent”(Charlesworth). According to
religions angels live in heaven as God’s
messengers between God and human
beings. Angels are traditionally
imagined as a human body with wings.
“Many religions have teachings of
angels or similar
beings”(Charlesworth).
Works Cited
“Angels.” Photo. Angel Institute 2010 6 February 2013. <http://angelinstitute.co.za/>
Alfred, Randy. “Alexander Graham Bell.” Photo. Wired 10 March 2008 6 February 2013.
<http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/03/dayintech_0310>
Brodsky, Arthur R. "Bell, Alexander Graham." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 7
Feb. 2013.
Charlesworth, J. H. "Angel." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.
Ellwood, Robert S. , Jr. "Priest." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.
Gwinn, Mary. “Sherman Alexie.” Photo. The Seattle Times 15 November 2007 5 February 2013.
<http://seattletimes.com/html/books/2004015035_alexie15.html>
Konigsberg, Eric. “Sherman Alexie.” Photo. Nytimes 20 October 2009 30 January 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/books/21alexie.html?_r=0>
Lovelace, Sean. “Sherman Alexie.” Photo. HTMLGIANT 5 January 2010 5 February 2013.
<http://htmlgiant.com/tag/sherman-alexie/>
Lazarte, Jaime E. "Coffee." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.
Levitt, Judith. “Priest.” Photo. Nytimes 29 September 2012 6 February 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/women-as-priests.html>
Marshall, Donald G. "Alexie, Sherman." World Book Student. World Book, 2013. Web. 7 Feb.
2013.
Parker, Tara. “Coffee.” Photo. Well 16 May 2012 6 February 2013. <
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/coffee-drinkers-may-live-longer/>
“Sherman Alexie” Photo. Los Angeles Times 27 March 2009 8 February 2013.
<atimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/03/index.html>
“Sherman Alexie.” Photo. Nytimes 21 November 2012 6 February 2013.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/books/review/blasphemy-by-shermanalexie.html?_r=0>
Wilbur, Richard. “Grief Calls Us to the Things of This World.” From Face by Sherman Alexie.
2009. Poets.org. 30 Jan 2013.