Three of my favorite poems from Staying Alive, collected and edited by Neil Astley, were Snow by Vladimír Holan, Modern Sorcery by Charles Simic and In the Next Galaxy by Ruth Stone. These three poems were the only ones I remembered easily after reading so many various poems from the book. Since they without a doubt stuck out in my mind, I decided to explain and go into detail with these three amazing poems.

The title, "Snow", is an unusual name for the poem at first glance. But after reading the poem a few times and delving through the deeper meaning the writer is trying to display, "Snow" is the prefect name for the poem because snow is distant and faint, it's white and alone. Snow only comes around once a year and then it's gone with a snap of the fingers. Most everybody loves snow but the fun and pleasure found in it never last; just as riches and the newest elite friends somehow fail to last too when the money runs dry.

Written by Vladimír Holan, the poem is basically about just being happy with what you have and not to brag about it. Also, the writer is saying don't cry and whine over the things you don't have ' just be grateful. He's trying to inform the reader that he should be thankful and don't complain about the worries in life when he states, somewhat sarcastically:


Why confess you don't have the money
to buy Saskia shoes?
And why brag
that you suffer more than others[?] (Astley, 75; Holan, 10-13)


He's saying not to complain to others and make them feel bad for perhaps having more than you. In life, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter who can afford the top and most expensive new shoes on the market. There's no need to brag about all your pain and suffering in life; for who knows, the one whom you are complaining to may have it worse off.

At the conclusion of the poem, he says: 'You are alone. Spare the gestures. Nothing for show'� (Astley, 76; Holan, 16-17). If a person continuously takes everything he has for granted, soon enough he will have nothing at all and no one around to share his pain. He will be left alone without anything to show for it. Without human or material comfort, the reader should learn that it's not what you don't have; it's what you do have.

Another one of my favorites is "Modern Sorcery" by Charles Simic. This is a very unusual and intriguing poem because it combines Christianity, witchcraft and low self-esteem in the mix. The narrator states that: 'You could have been just another maggot / Squirming over history's roadkill. / Instead a witch took pity on you, lucky fellow'�'� (Astley 99; Simic 1-3). He means that the majority of people in the world won't make it into the history books and that only a special few will be remembered in future years.

Perhaps when he mentions 'witch' he is meaning literally or figuratively. I personally think he's meaning literally because of the disturbing comparisons of what witchcraft and sorcery is thought to be. By making the chosen person repeat various nonsense words that he understands little off, the image of a kitten soon comes into the picture - cats are thought to be familiars in folklore and are synonymous with witchery. In the poem, the kitten is drinking milk from the Blessed Virgin's breast, at a church, which merges Christianity and witchery into one single person.

I'm particularly fond of the lines: 'Outside, there was a flash of lightening / Like a tongue passing over a bloody knife, / But you were safe'� (Astley 99; Simic 13-15). These lines to me signify without a doubt that he is ready to pass on to another world where his life may be better, but perhaps only in the short term.

The person described in the poem is going eagerly and willingly with the sorceress and he knows that he safe in her open arms. 'Hexed once and for all in her open arms, / Giddy and tickled pink with her sorcery'� (Astley 99; Simic 16-17). He doesn't feel any regret in what he is doing, in fact he's happy and proud of his choice. He feels special and worthy that she chose him over all the other down-on-his-luck people she could've chosen.

Figuratively, the writer could be saying that he was entranced by big business or working for the mob. Perhaps, a woman whom he falls madly in love with begins to use him for her own personal gain. He could become a lap dog or go-to guy for her whom she uses and belittles. He may feel pleased and obligated because she chose him to dictate to. If this is so, the man can barely be called a man at all. He has little self-esteem and is taken advantage.

Still, no matter what or how he was entranced, either by an actual witch or the thrill of money, business or love, he feels safe and happy with his decision because he believes that there is nothing else for him in the world and that he is protected in her arms, no matter what evil comes from it.

The last poem I've chosen is titled "In the Next Galaxy" by Ruth Stone. She states in this touching poem that the world is in trouble but somewhere faraway, there is a civilization living and thriving as we here on Earth should be.

She says that: 'Things will be different. / No one will lose their sight, / their hearing, their gallbladder'� (Astley, 105; Stone 1-3); this means that in a perfect world, no one will die of illness or old age; everyone will be safe and healthy.

She continues to describe the pain caused during World War II and even years after the troubles and hardships, the memory is still fresh with many of the criminals still evading the police and justice. She states that in the other galaxy, Hitler has not even been thought of yet. She gives the reader room to wonder and analyze her words and to make up their own mind. She could be talking about the past, a few hundred years or so in history or something completely different ' she's letting the reader decide.

If Stone is talking about the past ' which I personally believe she is ' she later jumps back to the present and mentions the fallen Nazis, hiding from the law. She affirms that:


The idea of Hitler will not
have vibrated yet.
While back here,
they are still cleaning out
pockets of wrinkled
Nazis hiding in Argentina. (Astley, 105; Stone 6-11)


She truly believes that sometime planet Earth will rise again and will relish in the splendor and sanctuary like that of the foreign planets. Soon, all the pain will disappear and peace will be prevalent. Perhaps she is mentioning the Second Coming of Christ when all good and righteous will die and be admitted into Heaven when she states: ''�will have true / blue skies and drinking water'� (Astley 105; Stone 13-14), hence everyone worthy will be joyful and live like kings.

These three poems, "Snow", "Modern Sorcery" and "In the Next Galaxy" have one thing in common: the belief in oneself and no matter which road is taken, belief will get you somewhere. In "Snow" the reader learns that the complainer needs to realize and step up to be a man, he needs to learn to trust himself and not what he has. With "Modern Sorcery", a man puts all his faith into something contrary but he needs to have faith in himself to try on his own, even if he is use to failing and bound to fail again. The poem "In the Next Galaxy" combines the previous two quite well in my opinion. The writer claims that the world is on a downward slope and she implies in my opinion that belief and selfless actions will pull mother earth out of the tar-pit.

To tie this belief with the other previous poems, one must observe that in "Snow" the narrator is depicted as a very selfish person and in "Modern Sorcery", the character has little, if any, faith in himself. With two characters, hence two poems, the last poem seems like a message of hope, perhaps a prophecy, which can only be fulfilled if the people affected begin to believe in themselves and accept who they are in life.

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