2 Poem Comparison

                The two poems that seem to resemble each other the most from 180 More, are "Hate Poem" by Julie Sheehan  and "What I Want" by George Bilgere. Both are very similar, since both poets write about someone they truly deeply hate.  Both authors still seem to have strong feelings towards the person they are writing about, or else they probably would not be writing about them in the first place. Hate, on the opposite end of the spectrum from love, is one of the strongest feelings you can have for someone and each of the authors from these two poems show that with some similarities and differences.

                In "What I Want" the author is reminiscing of past lovers from all over the world he had experiences with, but he always came back to one specific one that he had the deepest feelings for. Most of the girls he had been with, whether a one night stand or what seems to be described as a short relationship, seemed to be happy memories coming back to him. Drinking wine in Spain to lying out in the backyard to watching clouds expand yet he always comes back to his ex-wife, wishing for her to die or become permanently injured in an odd peculiar way.

                While in "Hate Poem" the author seems to be currently attached to the person she is writing about, as if she is so in love with them  that even though she hates so many things about them, she can't leave that person. "You know how when I'm sleepy I nuzzle my head under your arm? Hate" ( Sheehan 17).  Everything about the author and what she does hates the person she is writing about,  the flick of her wrist and the sock lint stuck in her third toenail on the left foot hate this person. I read an article over this poem and the author stated that she was actually using the word hate and interchanging it with love, to show how two such intense emotions are able to be put in replace of the other in any sentence and still make perfect sense.

                Both of the authors of these two poems obviously still have powerful feelings for the person they are writing their poem about, whether it is obvious hate like in "What I Want" or whether the author of "Hate Poem" is actually talking about love but just wanted to play around with her writing. I love the way George Bilgere writes his poem about his ex-wife going from happy thoughts that have helped carve his life and who he is then taking a drastic turn in the opposite direction, still talking about things that have defined his life, but he puts them in a very negative light. Julie Sheehan on the other hand takes every little thing she does and says that it is in spite of how much she hates her partner, every single little detail signifies the hate (or love?) of that special someone.