Dear Khaled Mattawa,
When I first read your poem, "Ecclesiastes," I fell in love with it. I identified myself with it and gave a scenario for each rule and trick. For the first stanza, I imagined myself helping my friends with school work and genuinely wanting to help them, but acting like they have to owe me afterwards. I could relate to each station, putting myself in these situations thinking that I was playing a game, like life was a game when dealing with other people. I was thinking that life had rules, but you can always bend them to your advantage, loopholes. I enjoyed this aspect to the poem of the extended metaphor of life being a game, even though it wasn't generally stated. This poem just made me think on how I bend life's rules and reflected on my actions on how I act one way, but mean another. I don't know why that is, for me or for anyone else. It was a new interesting take on life for me and I feel aware to the rules and tricks I use in everyday life.
Thank you,
Kayleigh
Baltimore, MD