Reflection on _In the Waiting Room_

       I chose to read In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop off of the website with all the poems on it. As I first went through reading the poem, I though about how easy it was to read and understand at first because it was a relatable feeling to be sitting in a waiting room for someone at a doctor's office and sit there and pick up a magazine to read. What I did not expect was for there to be such violent articles and images that this child speaker was going to be exposed to. It was just shocking to read because I'm used to dumb entertainment magazines in a waiting room rather than really informative ones. While reading, I was fist confused because I thought that because the magazine was described as yellow that it was old until I read further and realized it was extremely recent. I was confused as to why Elizabeth, the speaker, was starting to question her identity and compare herself to everyone around her. Then, I realized at the end that there was a War going on and I guessed she was getting scared. Upon reading this poem a second time and completing a TPCASTT, I was able to analyze this poem more in depth and realized certain significant things like the fact that the word "black" had been used in repetition three times each time describing events that incited fear into the speaker and the reader which helped convey why the speaker was so scared about the War going on. I think the significance of the fact she was in a waiting room and reading about the horrors of the war and world at the same time is to demonstrate how just because one person is ignorant of what is going on in the world, it does not mean that the war stops and you become frozen in time.  It's hard to deal with disasters, especially when humans are the one causing it, and just as you cannot stop a natural disaster like a volcano, you cannot stop the harshness of humanity altogether. One must face the reality of war regardless of reluctance to do so and endure the pain of waiting for it to end which will usually not come so quickly.