Joyas Voladores

The essay, Joydas Voladoras, confused me the first few times I read it. After I read it several times, the piece of writing gained some meaning to me. The meaning I took was that no matter what size the heart is it will one day be broken. I think the essay is discouraging, because it basically says that everyone and everything is alone. It makes me think of times the heart is greatly affected in a positive or negative way. My favorite line was the last sentence because it shows that all the work someone can put in to protecting the heart can come crumbling down at the most powerful and simple touches of love. "You can brick up your heart as stout and tight and hard and cold and impregnable as you possibly can and down it comes in an instant, felled by a woman's second glance, a child's apple breath, the shatter of glass in the road, the words I have something to tell you, a cat with a broken spine dragging itself into the forest to die, the brush of your mother's papery ancient hand in a thicket of your hair, the memory of your father's voice early in the morning echoing from the kitchen where he is making pancakes for his children."

What's Worth Knowing?

People have their own opinions on what is worth knowing. In my opinion, a lot of the knowledge that is worthy is not taught in school. The core classes, like math and English teach you to succeed in career. However, they don't teach you how to make it through the everyday life. To some people the important things to know are the things that are useful in difficult times in life. Like said in the poem, knowing what to say to a person dying isn't taught in school. This is a time that almost everyone has to face at least once in their life. The response to dying person would be very useful and worth knowing. Knowing how to cook is knowledge worth learning. If you go to college and dorm, you will save a lot of money by cooking instead of eating out everyday. Survival skills are also another thing worth knowing. For example, knowing that when you are in a blackout if you have a gas stove or fireplace they can still work. To light the flame on the stove you turn the gas on, take a lighter and light it. I think survival skills are one of the most important things to know. Most people don't know what's worth knowing until you need the information.