« The Nailbiter ( p.33) | Main | A Mother's Love »
February 20, 2007
Scars by William Stafford (P 24)
The poem talks about the different attitudes people have towards scars. How do scars change the way you feel about certain things? How does a person attain a scar? Can a scar be a good thing? Do you have a scar?
Posted by Benjamin Bowditch at February 20, 2007 11:59 PM | The Body Eclectic
Comments
Scars are visual testaments of the tribulations we endure. There are physical scars, which are caused usually by accident, or sometimes are the result of violence inflicted on you by someone else. They change our appearance and become part of our identity. SOmetimes a scar can be a good thing, as a reminder of suffering in birth (caesarian section scars) and the life that sprang from the womb. Sometimes minor scars, can remind us of childhood events that helped shape us. I have many scars and stories that go along with them. Each one bears witness to who I am today.
Posted by: Mary Wright at February 21, 2007 07:46 PM
I do have a big scar that I still remember how I got. I was riding my bike down a hill and wiped out. I have a huge scar on my knee. It did change how I felt about bikes for awhile. I was scared to get back on. I did however, and now whenever I look at my leg it is almost like a memory I will never forget.
Posted by: Jessica Tewalt at February 25, 2007 12:10 PM
Since scars are generally permanent, they do not necessarily change the way I feel about certain things, instead, they serve as a constant reminder of past events/situations. A person can attain a scar both physically (on the outside of a body) and emotionally (on the inside). For the most part, I consider a scar a mark left by a healed wound. In this case, I do believe scars can be a good thing. Scars can be a sign of courage, strength, and bloodshed. Whether a scar is good or bad really depends upon the history behind how you attained your scar. I do have a visible scar on my upper left arm.
Posted by: Megan Anderson at March 4, 2007 09:52 PM
im not torn up over a scar that i have. luckily none of them are very traumatic. a scars history all depends on the situation where it came from. some can be very memorable or serve as an idicator of somethings overcome. my most recent scar is one from .... dun dun dun. Bixby's. go figure. dang bagel pans. when i see it i just think.. way to go sam.
haha.
Posted by: Sam Larson at March 19, 2007 01:28 PM
When I think about attitudes I have towards scars I think about a wound I had that was great enough to leave a mark but has healed. External scars have left me with fun and sometimes embarrassing stories about how I got them. Internal scars have left me with painful memories; however, it is a scar and that means it might always be with me but the memory has healed and I have moved on from it. That’s the great thing about scars--they are signs of healing.
Posted by: at April 17, 2007 09:53 AM
I think scars are pretty interesting things. There's always stories about scars, and I love hearing about them and telling them. I think scars give a person character and makes them unique. So, in my book, scars are a good thing; it tells me a person is adventurous, wild, or stupid, haha, and I'd love to tell any story behind any of those types of scars. I have two scars; one on my stomach from getting my appendix out when I was really young, and a couple on my knees. I got the ones on my knees from running away from my older cousins, and falling onto a plastic that's put down for computer chairs to roll on carpet easier. It was sitting with the prickly sides up, and down I went.
Posted by: Kaylee Mitchell at April 25, 2007 05:21 PM
I think scars are pretty interesting things. There's always stories about scars, and I love hearing about them and telling them. I think scars give a person character and makes them unique. So, in my book, scars are a good thing; it tells me a person is adventurous, wild, or stupid, haha, and I'd love to tell any story behind any of those types of scars. I have two scars; one on my stomach from getting my appendix out when I was really young, and a couple on my knees. I got the ones on my knees from running away from my older cousins, and falling onto a plastic that's put down for computer chairs to roll on carpet easier. It was sitting with the prickly sides up, and down I went.
Posted by: Kaylee Mitchell at April 25, 2007 05:22 PM
I have a several scars. Most of them on my knees. I was not the most graceful child when I was younger and it seemed like my knees always paid for it. Everyone tells me that I have nice legs, but in my mind, all I can think about are my scars that they can see. I think some scars can be good, or at least leave you with a good story.
Posted by: Jennifer Flattum at May 2, 2007 11:11 AM
To me, my scars are reminders of things that have happend, good or bad. They can remind you to be cautious when doing certain things. Scars can by physical and emotional. Either way, they leave a lasting impression. I do have a scar from a crate of glass picture frames falling on me from a shelf. I got this scar at my job at a frame shop. It makes me more aware when I am working. I think scars can be good, because they make you who you are. They add character.
Posted by: Amanda Green at May 2, 2007 06:52 PM
To me, I think that there literal scars and emotional scars. I have a literal scar from landing headfirst on a coffee table at age 2, and I have an emotional scar from breaking up with my first 'real' boyfriend. The injury usualy hurts, but once it is a scar, it usually makes you stronger and is soemthing you are proud to have be a part of you. If I hadn't survived my breakup I wouldn't have met my current boyfriend, and if I hadn't survived the coffee table incident I wouldn't have been such an adventurous child.
Posted by: Heather Sirois at May 3, 2007 06:11 PM
I really like that your picture has words as the scars. Like everybody else, I know that I have attained personal, emotional scars from relationships with people and life experiences. I know that these scars were painful when I was hurt and I still feel some of that pain when I think back to those moments. And yet, I feel that they were all necessary in making me the person that I am today. I feel that I learned from all of them and learned things that changed the way that I act in my everyday life. At the same time, I have realized that I still have hurt and pain from some of those scars. There are things that I thought I was over and had moved on from. However, I have realized (with surprise) that I still carry baggage around from those things that I didn't even know I had.
Posted by: Sarah Stewart at May 5, 2007 01:44 PM
I think that this poem reflects about one's individual experiences of sadness or sorrows that had affected ourselves greatly. These experiences are so strong that it etches inside our heart or memory for a really long time. This is my own definition of scar. A scar can act as a reminder, but at the same time be a burden. I think William Stafford wanted to tell us that these scars are inevitable in anyone's life. Sooner or later, be it when one is still a child or not.
Posted by: Martin at September 9, 2007 08:34 PM
I think that this would be a good exercise - to take a simple body cut-out, and mark our scars on it, both emotional and physical. Then, each scar could be documented as to place/time/circumstance. Our scars are such a part of your life experience. I like looking at them as a positive, rather than the stereotypical "negative."
Posted by: Tammy at January 21, 2008 06:55 AM