6. Life is Fine by Langston Houghs

          Life is Fine by Langston Houghs, this poem was a little confusing, to say the least, but after a few reads, I think a may be able to write a decent response to it. The poem uses two contrasting features: the fact that life is fine, and the fact the man IS TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF! The poem tells of happy thoughts, but then moves into the man trying to kill himself. After all this, it reminds us that "life is fine". The first section tells of a man trying to think things through on the edge of the river bank, when all of a sudden he's sinking to the bottom of the river! He thought things over, and made a decision: he decided that life is fine, but then he blames the decision on the freezing cold water. He took an elevator to the sixteenth floor, and thought about his lover, he went to the edge, and screamed. If he wasn't as high as he was, he would've jumped. After each of the sections, it emphasizes why he didn't do it. It's almost like he's making an excuse to the reader. In the end, he stopped trying to end it, but now he he has convinced himself, that he will not die for love, but he will live as he was born to do.