The one poem that kept me confused even after reading it several times was "The Albatross".  The poem itself somewhat made since to me, but at the same time it left me with lots of confusion.  Starting from the very beginning of the poem I was confused.  "When I know you are coming home I put on this necklace." (Bass 1-2)  This line out of "The Albatross" starts the poem off with a since of curiosity.  "... glass beads on a silken thread, a blue that used to match my eyes."(3-4) These two lines just added on to the curiosity, the necklace sounds like a cheap home made necklace because it is made of glass beads and thread.  Besides the necklace, the description of her eyes had me very confused.  The only thing that I could think of is some people’s eyes change, depending on the mood they are in, meaning her mood changed knowing that he is coming home.  The next two lines of the poem thoroughly confused me even after reading over them several times.  "I like to think I am remembering you.  I like to think you don’t forget."(5-6)   Those two lines did not make any since to me and it annoyed me through the rest of the poem.  In these two lines I got the idea that the husband must have left her and the kid.  The reason I think this is because when she says “I like to think I am Remembering you”, it makes me think she used to put on the necklace when he was coming hone, but now since he is not there she still does this to reminisce on old times.  Then, in the last line she says “I like to think you don’t forget”, and I took that as her thinking he still thinks about coming home to see her in the necklace. 

The next stanza of the poem was much easier to understand, mostly because it was doing a lot of describing of the necklace.  She explains how the necklace lies heavy on her skin, and the way that is clatters when she reaches down to pick up her screaming child.  In a way, I believe the screaming child is in the poem to help understand how uneasy the whole situation is, not only just to the mother but the child as well.  “I swing her, roll her in my arms until she forgets.” (10) This line makes perfect since to me because I understand that the mother is trying to help the child forget about all of the pain and hard times they are going threw. 

As far as being confused, the last stanza of them poem was the most confusing to me.  In the last stanza, the man comes home and does not speak much, but when he does speak the woman says his voice sounds unfamiliar.  She explains that she is sitting in a pile of toys and unwashed clothes, so she obviously did not do any cleaning throughout the day.  When the man speaks, she explains that the child tugs on the necklace and the beads go all over the floor, like the sound of falling rain.  The only thing I can understand is that the beads falling create a since of purpose to explain that the family is falling apart.  Other than that, the poem just did not click to me, and the way it ended just leaves you hanging like…

After reading through all of the poems in the list we had to choose from, the two poems I chose were "Variation on the Word Sleep" and "A Monorhyme for the Shower".  Both of the poems are about a love life or someone wanting the love life they had, as were most of the poems.  The reason for me picking these two poems out of all the other ones is because they are both about people either talking about or watching their spouses or someone they want to be with.  Although, there are a few differences between the two poems they are both relatively about the same thing.

In "Variation on the Word Sleep" you get the since that the author is talking about wanting to be with someone, and wanting to be able to watch them sleep.  Which may sound strange, but it is like they are reminiscing on the first time they got to spend with this unknown person.  I'm assuming that the character is a female, just because of the fact that the author is a female, but it could be a male.  That is an unanswered question throughout the poem.  In this poem, there is a since that the character either used to sleep with this person, and they past away, or just knows who the person is and wants to have them in their life again like the time they are thinking back on.

In "A Monorhyme for the Shower", the narrator of the poem is obviously a male, but just like in "Variation of the Word Sleep" the narrator is this time instead of wanting to watch someone sleep, he is watching his wife shower.  In this poem, the narrator is just admiring the beauty of his wife, and reminiscing on his youth when he was scared to approach her and ask her out because of how beautiful she was.  He also talks about "the continuous life we share", which lets the reader know they are married.

Between the two poems, I connected the since of both narrators admiring a person they loved, or once loved.  The difference between the two is that in "Variation on the Word Sleep" the narrator is admiring someone he or she loves, but the person they are admiring is not there.  In "A Monorhyme for the Shower" the narrator is admiring someone they love that is still alive, or there physically with him.  He is also explaining that they are married and he still loves her like he did the day he first met her, unlike in "Variation of the Word Sleep" where the narrator wants to go back and be with this person like it was the first day.  In the end, they are both reminiscing on the love they share or shared with one person.  The only major difference is that in the first poem, the narrator is not physically with the person they're thinking about, and in the second poem the narrator is with the person he is talking about.

The poem that I choose to read was "Discretion".  The beginning of them poem made since to me because it was clear what the writer was talking about, but towards the end of the poem I had some questions about parts of the poem that just did not make since to me.  The writer, which is in the point of view of the male during the poem, describes watching the woman he was camping with as she went to use the restroom.  Which I found very strange, not that he watched her to make sure she was safe, but the fact that he described what he saw.  He describes being able to lightly see everything because of the heavenly light.  And the narrator also describes the motionless leaves of aspen "licking her back".  Which explains that she went in the bushes or was obviously very close to some bushes and/or a tree.  From the beginning of the poem, all the way up to this point, it made since to me and I understood.  The next line in the poem is where I became confused, even after reading it several times.

"Illuminating even the deep green eyes of whatever animal it was that watched her from the forest--- a deer, I believed, and still believe". Thinking about this line from a literal point of view, it is not that hard to understand.  But in the next line he says, "though I confess I did not rise that night to make sure, did not shine my light or murmur, but waited...".  Part of me wants to believe that it really was a deer he saw, but at the same time I believe that what he saw that night was not a deer and it scared him so much that he did not want to mention it.  Another way to look at his reasoning for not saying anything to the girl using the bathroom lies in the name of the title, "Discretion", which means speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense, or revealing private information.

When she makes her way back into the tent, he just laid his head back down, as if he did not watch her go.  When she went out of the tent, apparently he told her he would not look because at the end of the poem he says, "as she returned settle slowly back down to the pillow made of my clothes and welcomed her shivering back into the tent, from which I had sworn I would not look".  This all made since to me up to a certain point but I still have many questions about this poem.  One thing I am not sure of is why they are in the woods in a tent, and why they have no clothes on.  Also it would be helpful to know their relationship, and lastly I wanted to know if the narrator really did see a deer or was it something else.  Overall, the poem did make since and it was very interesting throughout the whole thing.