FREE ESSAY ON THOUGHTS ON A PERSON/A PAPER/A PROMISE

THOUGHTS ON A PERSON/A PAPER/A PROMISE

A Person/A Paper/A Promise is by far my favorite poem. It may not be the best poem ever
written, but it expresses feelings and situations that I, as a human being and especially
as a teenager, can relate to very deeply. The author describes a series of situations in
the life of a person that resemble our own experiences or those of people we know. He
manages to create a deeply affecting and poignant mood and compassionate, sympathetic
feelings in the readers.
The poem is divided into four stanzas, each of which narrates an episode in a boy's life.
In each of the stanzas, the events and the people revolving around them are described,
and in the following stanza, we read about how those events or people have changed and
why. In every stanza, the boy writes a poem about a different subject, which we're led to
believe is of major importance to him. The topics of his poetry change as he grows up,
from his dog to the season, from his girlfriend to, in the final stanza, Absolutely
Nothing. These changes show us how the boy's perspective of life constantly evolves.
As a narrative poem, A Person/A Paper/A Promise has all the elements of a short story,
including a rising action, which begins in the second stanza with his discoveries about
how the people and things he took for granted, such as Santa Claus or Father Tracy, his
priest, or sex, even, are not what they seemed at first. This rising action intensifies
in the third stanza, when the kid, already grown-up now, is jaded, doing things because
he has to, his family life being practically non-existent. This situation inevitably
leads to the climax in the fourth stanza, when they boy writes his final poem, Absolutely
Nothing, and commits suicide.
Basically, over the years his life changes from perfect to meaningless, empty and
chaotic, and he decides to end it.
To me, this poem represents why we must rely on our inner strength when difficult
situation arises and not give in to despair, because life is too precious a gift to waste
it that way. I think that though it can touch anyone's heart, A Person/A Paper/A Promise
has a stronger effect on people who, like me, have lost (or nearly lost) a loved one to
suicide. Sometimes, we just don't understand how a person could kill himself. Throughout
the poem, we learn about the kind of life the character's living and we sort of come to
sympathize with him and understand his feelings. And yet, we can't help but feel
impotent, seeing someone, even if he is fictional character, end his life by choice. 
This poem has made me aware of how I should make the best of what I have and live every
instant to the fullest. And if I may ever find myself in a situation where I think I'm
completely helpless, I'll know that life goes on and ending isn't the way to solve my
problems.