Response to Random Symmetries by Tom Andrews By Perry Wertheimer

After reading this poem I am still extremely confused and don't really understand it. Not that I dislike it, I just don't see what the message is or why the shots of this film are significant within themselves.

When first reading the title I thought that it would be like eighteen steps or ways in which your life changes. Some of the things that were mentioned I felt were extremely similar to those in which people experience in everyday life and we all seem to come across at one time or another. In addition, while reading through I felt the occurrences that the author was mentioning tended to become more and more singular where they involved thoughts going on within your brain as you they are happening.
My favorite line in the poem was when he says on line 9 that "The eighth shot is like the color orange". It is so vague where it leaves so much imagery in ones mind. At first I thought of an orange (the fruit) sitting blankly on a brown wooden table and the second time I read through the poem I envisioned an orange goldfish cracker that was filled in a bag with other goldfish crackers, but for some reason this one cracker stuck out compared to the rest. I also enjoyed the fourteenth shot where he mentions how it is like sleep. One can clearly see in a film where this is just a person lying there sleeping. After reading this it made me think more of an older movie because when I think of sleeping in a movie I feel more inclined to think of a middle aged mother or father that is sleeping after a long day of work.

Even though these shots of the film were rather clear they didn't really tie in to one another and also did not end well. I thought that each line and shot was much different than all the others especially the ones before and after it so how could they flow together? The last line is also about looking at yourself first glance after getting a haircut. Yes, that happens with everybody, but what makes this haircut so interesting? Did he/she cut a lot of hair? Get a type of haircut that would stick out? I didn't particularly understand this, but like the rest of the poem it was vague and left for my imagination which I did enjoy.

Overall, I did like this poem I just found it to be unclear. However, this could have been intentional by the poet because he wants the reader to imagine what they want. If I could change anything, I would just change the end to make it a little bit more dramatic or something that is more descriptive.

BY: Perry Wertheimer