Twine 2 - Leaves From the Vine

The link to download my Interactive Poem: "Leaves From the Vine"

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZNOlFXZ6D4KIt4t7ifI6zHwbKV3HVImHk8X

My first reaction to the setting of this assignment was to jump at the chance to exercise my familiarity with html/css coding, and to at the same time, balk at my ability to make any sense of poetry. My sense of the English language has never been strong, and I often struggle with finding meaning from the particular skill of reading lyric. However, after the exercises we took in class to carefully analyze the Spinning Plates lyrics, I found myself completely able to visualize something fresh and new. I took an old song that I always found impactful in peaceful moments and reread it-isolating it from its origins in a television show. I found in the lyrics a constant theme of home. Leaves, falling from their home, the vine, fall slowly. The brave soldier boy comes marching towards his home. But it’s a slow march, and one that never seems to end. The vine misses the boy, and watches the leaves fall, helplessly in the bitter, cold, air.

I also discovered that my previous knowledge of html/css code was only minimally helpful as it has been a long time since my studies of it. I struggled to make what I wanted to happen, happen. But I also found new ways to incorporate creativity through the medium. I am convinced that this is the reason for the field of study known as “Platform Studies”. Working with the platform, I sought to add insight to my story of a parent waiting for their son. As I considered the line “drifting in the cold”, I thought that the color orange was wrong for it. We don’t drift in the cold while feeling the sun on our backs. We drift in blue. Whether it be the blue water of the ocean, the blue sky that invites our daydreams, or the blue, biting, cold of winter, we stray just the same. It was this color contrast that sparked my thought that the author must have been comparing the leaves’ drifting to the brave soldier boy’s own wanderings. I hadn’t made that connection and wouldn’t have until I made the conscious decision to make all the text orange. This platform influence on my work was also able to affect the struggle I had in making it appear blue. I was unable to make the link “cold” appear blue, and unable to find a solution for it. Because of this, the rest of the line turns blue, which makes the word “cold” remain orange. I believe this is a happy problem, as I believe the juxtaposition of the colors creates a feeling of hope, even when despair is nigh.