There I was, a needle in the sky, in the Seattle Observatory as my dad picked me up to see the Seattle skyline. As my parents walked around the narrow pathway overlooking a fenced observatory, I excitedly ran around the circular perimeter with my older brother. My dad graduated from Seattle for his training, so it was no surprise that I wanted to explore this city. The mountainous background was a stark contrast to the flat plains of Illinois. I remember the fresh air blowing on my face since we walked outdoors on a balcony. We took public transportation, a bus from downtown Seattle to come to this structure, the Seattle Needle. On our way downstairs, we stopped by the gift shop, and I bought a small miniature Seattle Needle statue to put in my room; I was 8.

Fish fresh just in front of the ocean were thrown hand to hand in the Farmer’s Market: so many different species and bright colors of fish filling the large region. As vendors were throwing fish, swarms of people were buying them quickly. Pike place is famous for shipping fresh fish daily throughout the country, and this place respects the oceans and fishing. Surprisingly, this fish market began in the 1930s to sell fresh fish off the Seattle shoreline. Each fish is sourced carefully and caught not to damage the ocean. It is this standard that has made Pike Place so popular. Next to the Farmers Market, my dad spotted a Thai restaurant. My parents enjoy Thai food, so we went to eat, and to our pleasant surprise, the food was incredible. It was the best Thai food I have ever tasted, and even today, I still haven’t found a fresher, tastier Thai restaurant. 

Walking the streets of downtown Seattle reminded me of my days walking the streets of downtown Chicago, my birthplace. The streets buzzed with people, bikes and rollerblades, cars and pedestrians, and shops sharing walls. I went to the Cheesecake factory and bought some cheesecake to take home to our hotel that night-red velvet. Our hotel room was very small, and the building was very old, but staying downtown was worth it with the ease with which we could explore the city. 

My dad rented a Toyota Camry, and we drove for miles until we reached a mountain full of glaciers, Mount Rainier. My dad told me he always went hiking in these mountains. As we parked the car at the mountain’s base, I followed my family into an information session. After learning about Mount Rainier, we walked trails and hiked this famous mountain for the next few hours. Mount Rainier is over 14,000 feet tall, and an active volcano erupted in 1894. I was impressed by the fact that Seattle had a potentially dangerous mountain that could one day wipe out this city- a fact that kept repeating itself in the short video shown in the information center. I walked miles with my family, cutting through the glaciers and grassy trails. There are over 260 miles of hiking trails. When we reached the top of our hike, I witnessed people on ropes using pikes to ascend the steep portion of the mountain. As I smiled at my dad, he immediately clarified that we would not do anything this dangerous on our trip. After an exhausting, long hike, we drove back to our hotel. I was so exhausted from so much walking that I fell asleep in the rental car before reaching our hotel. 

Next, my mom dragged us to the shopping mall, stores that were no different from those I had been with her at Fox Valley. Even though we did not buy anything, it was still pleasant to walk around and observe the stores, also named brands in the Midwest. 

At the end of my trip, I headed to United Airlines to fly back to Chicago. As I lay my head to rest, I imagined my long hike to Mount Rainier. Suddenly, I woke up in fear as the airplane shook violently. The hostess screeched, and my mom grabbed my arm. I was strapped in my seatbelt but did not expect this much turbulence. Only after this panic did the captain come on the intercom to inform passengers that he was riding through some significant turbulence and that it would pass soon. The announcement was late, given the panic it caused. I was glad this turbulence was short-lived and that the rest of the flight was smooth. When the plane landed, I was sad that my vacation was over. But despite all the adventures in Seattle, I was so glad to be home.

The poem “The Liar” by Amiri Baraka, is a complex, elaborate, and confusing poem full of puzzling words. The title immediately caught my attention warning me of the distrust that will unravel. The layout of the sentences adds to the theme of distrust as the words occupy the left side of the page, but as the poem unravels, it takes space on the right side of the page until it decides to lay in the middle. Analyzing this layout makes me conclude that even though the turbulence of “the liar” is deviated to the left, ultimately the sentences should fixate to the middle, staying safe from the liar because in the middle, the common ground does not conclude anything-there is no right or wrong so therefore there can not be a lie.

 

Rereading this poem numerous times, I conclude that the speaker has to be Amiri warning the inquisitive audience about the liar. There are constant contrasts and conflicts throughout the entire poem. Yet none of these questions or inquiries are answered. Instead, the suspense just keeps building like a never-ending mystery. Moreover, Amiri never says who “they” are in this poem. I think the “they” are liars. The tone is bewildered as Amiri explains how the liar threatens him with “fear” and is “hideous” and even “erases familiarity” from his face. ​Consequently, informing the reader about the liar takes Amiri through so many twists and turns that as the reader, I feel like I am on a rollercoaster.

There is vivid imagery interwoven in this poem that I had to carefully dissect and decipher. Interestingly, the most stunning imagery is the shadow of a tree, and this imagery starts with an open bracket that never closes. I imagine this tree as a wicked, angry tree full of twisted branches, no leaves, no fruit, as its shadow of crooked branches and roots wraps around this unknown chair. I do not know why a chair is by the tree but I conclude that this is the chair is the throne of a king.The tree has a shadow that is “winding around a chair”, yet shadows do not wind like that, they are linear, and I find it peculiar that this tree can place its shadow around the perimeter of a chair. In addition to the imagery are numerous metaphors, like the “frozen birds rattling” that sound bizarre because the birds are frozen. So how are they also moving since if the birds are genuinely frozen in their bodies, then they are dead and dead birds do not make any noise. I hypothesize the birds are frozen because they are stuck, they can not fly, and they can only be heard. I concluded that this is because a lie can be heard, but a lie does not give the birds freedom. Instead, it strips away their power and forces the birds to freeze and only speak what is rattling noises because rattles are not clear; it is just noise, not words.

As I kept rereading this poem, I recognized more paradoxes and contrasts embedded in vivid imagery and strong metaphors. This poem seems to have both a superficial meaning and a deep inner meaning with each stanza. I noticed discussion about the supernatural when the poem talks about body or flesh and “the spirit” hiding inside. I also recognized the paradox between   “comforts of the body” being “hideous”. Reading birth as being “loud” seems to imply that Amiri is crying to the world at birth. I noticed the paradox of how Amiri claims that he “predicted them” which does not make sense because as humans we can not predict the future. I conclude that he is referring to his life  being thrown into the wrath of a lie.

Interestingly, I noticed a focus on religion. The Bible represents religion and is often the polar opposite of greed and money, so putting the Bible in this poem is confusing. While the Bible is a Book of God, how can the “chanting” possibly “erase his face” because when people read the Book, they are Blessed, not cursed. I concluded that a lie is where the effects of the Bible do not exist because the Book of truth can not talk about a lie so if Amiri has a face built by the lies of society, it will take the hymns of the Bible to erase these falsifications off his face.

Moreover, Amiri never says what “the answer” is when he mentions the word answer because this poem is about what is a lie and there are never clear answers with lies, only confusion and chaos. Also I think it is time that is “counting” the minutes and warning Amiri he is closer to death. Who is “Roi”? I know “Roi” stands for King in French, so Amiri talks about how the king is dead. This makes sense if the king is greedy, a king who makes others’ lives miserable for his own gains, and thus the king’s life is a lie. However, Roi is also similar to his former name LeRoi Jones. The only thing this king could be is either Amiri reaching death or the death of the liar. However, if Amiri is the king who dies, then is it not Amiri who is the liar? Does this mean that the twists and contradictions are the same contradictions that place Amiri into the category of not being truthful, but rather the consequences of living the life of a lie? I understood that this poem is the turbulence of Amiri’s life living a lie, through the use of metaphors, imagery and religion.