Response to "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock"

The Poem:

 

Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock by Wallace Stevens

The houses are haunted
By white night-gowns.
None are green,
Or purple with green rings,
Or green with yellow rings,
Or yellow with blue rings.
None of them are strange,
With socks of lace
And beaded ceintures.
People are not going
To dream of baboons and periwinkles.
Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches tigers
In red weather.

My Response:

 

Disillusionment in the Hoggard Hallway
 

People think

That they’re different

With their

Fancy phones

Hanging out

Of their indigo pockets

Walking down the hall

On autopilot.

They don’t know where they’re going,

Like robots,

Mirrors of each other,

And no one’s different.

 

They think

That they’re unique

With their

Teal L.L. Bean backpacks

Because they have

Their initials on them,

But it’s all the same.

 

They carry themselves

Through the hall

Proudly

Showing off

The backs of their heels

Where everyone can see

That brand name,

Just words,

All echoing each other

In this empty hallway.

 

I chose to write a poem in response to “Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock” so that I could put my own ideas into a similar theme. The setting I chose was the hallway in between classes at Hoggard. The hallway is full of people rushing to their next class, half of them staring at their phones on the way. Everyone acts like they’re programmed, walking down the hall, not even paying attention to their surroundings. There are only a few people who are actually different. Most just want to fit in and have all of the coolest things, and I happen to be one of those people, just like the rest of them.