"Resilience" by Alex Elle
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look at you.
still standing
after being
knocked down
and thrown out.
Line One: 3
Line Two: 3
Line Three: 3-4
Line Four: 2
Line Five: 3
Pretty consistent. I wonder if the other stanzas will follow.
The following stanzas use a fairly consistent syllabic count. This could suggest the literal “resilience” of the poem. The stanzas to not change too much. Time after time, the same count repeats, which is what resilience itself represents.
Resilience is the capability to recover quickly from the difficulties life throws one’s way. This poem written by Alex Elle has the title of Resilience. Elle uses this poem to emphasize the power resilience can hold. In “Defying Definition,” by Shaun David Hutchinson. Hutchinson stresses the importance of the definitions people give words. In this poem Elle gives resilience power. Through this poem she gives resilience the meaning of getting back up, remaining hopeful, growing, being, and standing despite all life throws at someone. This poem gives resilience power to improve lives and give people a meaning to the word.
The title of this poem is “resilience.” Throughout the poem, the reader is being recognized for their acts of resilience, such as still standing after being knocked down. Not only is the resilience recognized, but it is praised, as if to show the reader they deserve to be recognized for their resilience. At the same time, the poem serves as a reminder to never stop being resilient, as it is a very important part of achieving success in life.
See how line one is “enjambed” even though there is no conventional capitalizing? This allows for that line break to be a little bit more powerful with the ST sound coming out of STill STanding.
All of the stanzas have the same set up. They are directed at “you” the audience and is very general in the issue "you are struggling with at hand so just about anyone could be able to relate to the poem. It them describes what “you” are still doing ,such as standing or thriving, and then the poet describes what has metaphorically happened to “you,” like being “knocked down” mentally due to a struggle one is suffering through.
look at you.
still growing
after being
picked and plucked
and prodded out of
your home.
The poem by Alex Elle titled Resilience, to me means to never give up. From paragraph 2 the author states “look at you. still growing after being picked and plucked and prodded out of your home.” Especially right now we can not give up and continue on with life.
This poem is the embodiment of resilience. Being in a lot of positions I have gotten myself into, resilience is not a choice, it is just an action. you always have to be resilient.
At the start of the poem, it is clear the intended audience is everyone reading – you. In line one, we read “Look at you.” Elle uses this poem as a personal address to acknowledge the strength we have within ourselves.
I completely agree, Karis. The poem is intended for everyone, but one step further, it is intended for everyone in NEED. The poem is for anyone who needs to see it/read it.Sometimes people need a lift, and this poem does that.
The poet, Alex Elle, takes the topic resilience and maintains this theme throughout the entire poem. Out of every line within the four stanza poem, this line “still growing” (line 7) sticks out to me. The poem seems to be based around cheering someone on and letting that someone know they survived their struggle. While as readers, we are never introduced to the struggle. This just allows for more creativity to blossom. “Still growing” (line 7) possesses multiple meanings, and the meaning can change with its location in the poem. Its current location gives this aura of being a miracle. Within the second stanza, the narrator expresses disbelief that the subject of the poem is still capable of growing and succeeding. Being “picked and plucked and prodded” (line 9-10) and “defeated and disassembled” (line 16), it should come as no surprise that the narrator would be in disbelief. However, what truly captures one’s attention is that each stanza is being directed at the reader. With the use of “you”, Alex Elle allows readers to not only feel empowered reading about someone succeeding. But discover themselves being the subject of success.
Amidst the corona virus outbreak, many people have felt dejected and lost. Yet this poem gives readers a chance to recognize they are still here pushing through. They are “still dancing and singing” (line 13-14). “Resilience allows this space for people to feel proud about the subject in the poem. While also recognizing they too have managed to persevere.
Do you know what the most resilient thing on this Earth is? A weed. They’ll grow through anything-gravel, dirt, rocks, concrete. When Alex Elle uses the phrase “picked and plucked”, she is using imagery to compare our resilience to that of a weed. Even when a weed is plucked, it will grow back as something more-more beautiful; disguised like a flower, and it will be more difficult to pluck.
Zach, I read your comment about a weed being the most resilient thing on earth. This made me smile because year after year, my family and I go out and pull weeds that have grown in the garden. Year after year, no matter how many times we pull them, they always come back. What I’m saying is that I never thought of weeds being resilient, they’ve been more of a pest in my opinion. I liked how you pulled imagery and symbolism when I was not able to find that on my own.
look at you.
still dancing
and singing
after being
defeated and disassembled.
The overarching theme can be perseverance. No matter the fall or defeat “you” still get back up and still grow. Alex Elle is also sending a message of encouragement.
I think we could say this “message of encouragement” could be what Elle wanted/needed to hear at some point(s) in her life. The only date I could find associated with this poem is March 22, 2019, and I think the author carries the word “resilience” with her as her life motto. It appears in our poem here as well as in her upcoming writing course this year.
On alexelle.com, what I assume to be her official website, she has a link tucked into the top of the landing page titled “RECLAIMING RESILIENCE,” which is the title of her fourth quarter writing course. Elle explains this “will prepare us for 2021 and remind us of our ability to reclaim our emotional strength.”
At the bottom of her website’s landing page, there are a few of her instagram posts. The one that stands out the most is from June 22, 2020. It is a message on a sticky note that says “dear younger self, I see you. I am here for you now. I love you.”
To bring everything together, I think this poem is a message to Elle’s younger self to remind her how strong she is and that she can get through anything.
look at you, love.
still here and hopeful
after it all.
After months of being locked away in our houses like Rapunzel, we were finally able to break away, and get out hair cut too… And seemingly trying to get better after a long battle of isolation. The message says, “we did it, we made it.”
With the past eight months in mind and the media coverage we have had, I think this poem could speak directly to the people. It tells the audience to “keep pushing.” Even with everything has pushed “you” down, you are “still standing…still growing… still dancing… still here and hopeful.”
The beginning two lines of each stanza repeat with “look at you. still…” The author emphasizes the intended audience of the poem by almost calling on them. “You” displays a want for connection with the audience. By using “you,” Elle wants the audience to feel personally spoken to. With the title of this piece being “Resilience” and “still” immediately following “look at you” in each stanza, the author is able to strengthen what it means to be truly “resilient.”
Love is the only reason human life exist.
Notice the comma just before “love.” This could signify an address to her younger self, someone who this poem may be intended for. in this case “love”
would be her term of endearment of choice. This makes sense because when reviewing Elle’s website and social media platforms, I found a strong theme-self-care, self-love and self-acceptance.
It is strong. And reading over the poem with love as the emotional state in mind, it becomes evident that Elle is emphasizing the resilience of love.
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The whole poem accurately portrays its title, Resilience, because each of the 4 stanzas is about “you” refusing to give up despite all the hardships you’ve endured.
I agree with this. These stanzas are comforting and have an act of resilience, or toughness. It shows that the author is acknowledging how strong the reader is. Alex Elle does not know the hardships and obstacles the reader has been through, but they know that since the reader is here and reading the poem, they have resilience. They have the strength to overcome anything that comes their way.
What is a gerund? How is a gerund created? What does the list look like if we just pulled the gerunds following, “look at you:”
I searched up gerund and I read that gerund works as multiple functions within a sentence. it says that it looks like a verb and but “functions” as a noun. It is usually created and can be seen with the “-ing” words.
look at you.
still
after
knocked down
and thrown out.
look at you.
still
after
picked and plucked
and prodded out of
your home.
look at you.
still
and
after
defeated and disassembled.
look at you, love.
still here and hopeful
after it all.
The result if the gerund is taken out.
Each stanza is broken into two parts. The period after “look at you” creates emphasis while the rest of the stanza flows together.
So, the “form”-ula becomes:
look at ________
still __________
after __________
and ____________
How might this “stem” be used to affirm ourselves in poetry? Or someone else? In poetry or in experience?
This poem fits into today and reading it now. All of us are learning but our growth is strong. We are slowly adjusting. This poem now for it can be useful for inspiration and a reminder for how we have come.
The narrator of the poem is someone watching over you and observing you and your way through life. The narrator uses “look at you” to explain what “you” have done which he has taken note of.
In this case, the narrator is the poet. And building on what Karis said, the audience is us-you. She is writing this poem to us-you because she wants us to know that there is always somebody that cares about us-you.There is always somebody that can appreciate us-you and all of the hard work we-you do.
And again building with Karis, this poem could be addressed to her younger self. And to any young reader that needs to hear these words of encouragement. “You are resilient. You are good. I appreciate you.”
I immediately made a connection from this poem to my Ivy Tech psychology class. It just so happens that today I did a full lesson on resilience. The psychological definition of resilience is the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly. This definition fits this poem perfectly which also explains the title and poem synthesis. Throughout this poem it is explaining someone who has gone through a hard time but is still going through daily life like normal. They are strong and have pushed through the hard times they encountered.
What I immediately wonder after reading this is “what happens next?” And truly, there is no way to tell, not that there ever was supposed to be a way to tell. Part of the beauty of the piece is how this is designed for a broad and diverse audience. Even with that in mind, I cannot help but wonder who is talking to who. The seemingly most obvious answer is the narrator is talking to his or her self. Like our article of the week, perhaps it is a meta moment of reflection. Another thought is that this is coming from a caring individual. Perhaps a friend or even a paternal person. Another thought is that it is from an adversary. Though I know this may not be pertinent, it shocked me how much the tone of the poem changes. It transforms from something caring and hopeful to something snide and harsh. This is just the ramblings of a thought I felt interesting.
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