Thematic Poems

Interpretive Project: Three Interpretive Poems
By Josie Parker

-Dependence- 

Please you cannot leave


Ow, how painfully I would grieve 


I cannot die alone


Tomorrow is unknown 


I beg you do not leave

I wrote this limerick reflecting the love versus independence theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Throughout the story, Janie journeys through many painful relationships, but finds peace being alone in the end. This poem reflects a co-dependent relationship, when one partner cannot bear the thought of ending up alone. 


Contains: Onomatopoeia, consonance, assonance 

Please you cannot leave


Ow, how painfully I would grieve 


I cannot die alone


Tomorrow is unknown 


I beg you do not leave

-His skin-

It must have been him


See, chances seem slim


With Sue’s small white frame


she is not to blame

I wrote this quatrain reflecting the racism expressed in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The book is heavy expressing this theme throughout its entirety. This poem explains how racism is still present today in our justice system. Still today, people will assume that a small white woman is innocent compared to a black man. 

Contains: Alliteration, consonance, imagery

It must have been him


See, chances seem slim


With Sue’s small white frame


she is not to blame

-The Potter-

My life is the clay;


my life molded, changed, and rolled

He is The Potter

Their Eyes Were Watching God took on a deist worldview. Throughout the book, God is referred to and made known. The characters speak as though God is at work in their lives every day. I wrote this haiku explaining how God is shaping and active in our lives every day too. 



You see, life is clay; 


my life molded, changed, and rolled


He is The Potter

Contains: metaphor, imagery, assonance, consonance