The End and the Beginning by Wislawa Szymborska

     This was a truly interesting poem. The poems I've read before in class usually involve an ongoing war. This was different because it talked about the aftermath of the war. I liked how the tone of the poem was a matter-of-fact type because it seemed like someone was reporting and I was a listener. The poem talks about the recovery process after the war and focuses on less important things such as dust and debris, rather than dead corpses. Because of this, I didn't really imagine the scene all too well, which could be good or bad. Maybe, the persona didn't want me to imagine the scene after all, for reasons I do not know. I also liked how it poked fun at the media, which only reports during the war and after recovery, and not in between. The latter part of the poem seemed so calm, especially the last stanza. I imagined this person(somewhat like a farmer) just looking at the sky with a leaf in his mouth, not realizing how lucky he is to be where he's at. I felt sorry for those who had to fight the war, only to be forgotten as time passed, but I think that this process is inevitable. I just wish that the idle people realized their fortune and actually do something to prevent future wars from happening again.