Poetry Analysis

"My Own Day"

By: Jean Little

Hey World, Here I am! (pg.56)

Jean Little is a Canadian author who was born in Taiwan ,but has been living in Canada since she was seven years old. She attended the University of Toronto and graduated with honours in English. Jean has never let the challenge of being blind stop her from achieving her goals and being a great writer. She writes her books and poems by using a talking computer that reads what she writes back to her. Jean currently lives in Guelph Ontario with her sister and many dogs. Her work is very light hearted, witty and enjoyable. Many of her poems are meant to make the reader laugh and others are meant to express emotion and make you think. 

Her poem "My own day" was published in 1986 and sends a message about how it is important to live in the moment, not the past and look forward to the future. This is referenced when she says

"So I stood and I considered"   

"Stopping the world right there"   

"Making today go on forever"    

"But I decided not to"      

I was intrigued by those lines because I can relate to the feeling she is trying to describe. I know that there have been many times where I have been enjoying myself and not wanting moments or days to end. Just because one day is great doesn't mean the next day won't be better if we decide to make it so. 

My favourite line from the poem is the last one which is 

"Who knows what you might be missing tomorrow" 

This line reassures the message that is being sent from the poem and it makes the reader feel positive and optimistic. This poem personally made me feel hopeful about the future after I read it.

Jean Little