I decided to paint a portrait of Corona Del Mar in California. I am from California and it is one of my favorite places to be because I feel a connection to it and and because the weather is much nicer than Washington. This poem is supposed to be like a time lapse. It was the same beach, just at different times of the day. I was inspired by Monet because when he painted, he focused on how light and shadows affected an entire scene. He once painted 50 portraits of the same cathedral from the same spot, but at different times of the day. Each one was very unique and looked very different from the others. I used color to describe the beach at dawn, midday, and sunset. The morning is gray because, even though it is southern California, there are clouds in the early morning, especially at the beach. Midday is white because the sunlight is so bright and just reflects off of everything. The sunset was a variety of colors because in California, there is no sunset that is just orange or just red. All the colors just fade into each other and create a beautiful scene. Through personification, similes, and metaphors, I tried to create a distinct difference between the sky and land at the beach and the ocean. The things I love most about the beach are the beautiful colors of the sky, the blistering heat, the sounds, the feeling of sand between my toes, and the laziness of the atmosphere. The only thing I don’t like is the water. I love the sight and the smell of the ocean but it scares me and it’s very cold. Using phrases like “surfers retreat from the water/Like warriors from a hard fought battle” and “The monster that lies within is not kind”, I painted a picture of the ocean being a scary place. In contrast, I used words with good connotations like “golden” and “laughter” to paint a picture of everything else at the beach as being lovely. I started many of my lines with We+verb as repitition and used a little bit of alliteration with “singed skin” and “veiled venue”. Finally, my last line and the line “…we are nervous that/We might never retuern to our veiled venue…that can only be found here” are just complaints about our society. I think people these days are glued to their screens – TV, computer, and phone – too much. It feels good to step back and return to where we came from. There are only few moments in life where people are completely and utterly immersed in nature.