Poetry Analysis: “September 13, 2001” and “Steps”

Poetry Analysis Author Name University Name “September 13, 2001” and “Steps,” written by Paul Violi and Frank O’Hara, are best known for their distinctive messages and are quite emotional and impressive poems. Paul’s poems are always humorous, but this time he has taken an entirely different route and expresses his feelings in a slightly emotional way. Throughout the poem, he has used sophisticated language like “Cabbies so annoyingly polite they throw me off my stride,” “birches soaring in the wind,” and “a great flaming rooftop grove” to deliver his message and recreate intense scenes. Like Paul’s other poems, “September 9, 2001” opens with some suspenseful phrases like “when you leave New York,” and that makes me question why someone is leaving such a beautiful and well-versed city (Violi & Barker, 2005). Which city has he selected for his residence? Would that be a good alternative to New York and a safe place to live in? Similarly, words like “Felix,” “Felicity,” “Phoenix,” “Phoenicity” seem to contain in-depth meanings, and help me understand Paul Violi’s mindset and capabilities. No doubt, he has used an extensive number of unknown words to confuse the readers to an extent. After reading this poem, I got to know that life is full of struggles and that accidents can happen anytime, anywhere, so we should be ready for them. Another extraordinary aspect of this reading is the eclectic coherence of Paul Violi's oeuvre. No two lines seem alike, and the entire poem contains no stylistic mistakes. Instead, it reads fla...