tonite, thriller was
about an old woman, so vain she
surrounded herself w/
many mirrors
5 it got so bad that finally she
locked herself indoors & her
whole life became the
mirrors
one day the villagers broke
10 into her house, but she was too
swift for them. she disappeared
into a mirror
each tenant who bought the house
after that, lost a loved one to
15 the old woman in the mirror:
first a little girl
then a young woman
then the young woman's husband
the hunger of this poem is legendary
20 it has taken in many victims
back off from this poem
it has drawn in your feet
back off from this poem
it has drawn in your legs
25 back off from this poem
it is a greedy mirror
you are into this poem. from
the waist down
nobody can hear you can they?
30 this poem has had you up to here
belch
this poem aint got no manners
you can't call out from this poem
relax now & go w/ this poem
35 move & roll on to this poem
do not resist this poem
this poem has yr eyes
this poem has his head
this poem has his arms
40 this poem has his fingers
this poem has his fingertips
this poem is the reader & the
reader the poem
statistic: the US bureau of missing persons reports
45 that in 1968 over 100,000 people disappeared
leaving no solid clues
nor trace only
a space in the lives of their friends
Question 1
1.
What does the author, Ishmael Reed, refer to in the opening stanza of the poem?
Question 2
2.
What happens when the villagers break into the old woman’s house?
Question 3
3.
What happens to the tenants who, over the years, buy the house?
Question 4
4.
What does the speaker say is “legendary”?
Question 5
5.
To what does the speaker compare the poem?
Question 6
6.
What does the speaker say happens to the readers of this poem?
Question 7
7.
What warning does the speaker give to the readers of this poem?
Question 8
8.
What are the characteristics of Ishmael Reed’s writing style?
Question 9
9.
Which of the following literary elements is not used in this poem?
Question 10
10.
What is the best description of the tone of this poem?