poem response

Bayle J. September 15, 2007

Footsteps to Follow
By
Kelli Carter


This poem teaches all of us a very powerful message and that message is that you should be careful who you look up to.

Everyone needs a hero to look up to, some one that you want to be like. This poem is telling you to be careful who that person is because if you look up to someone that isn’t a good person and you know that, and then you may become a bit like that person.

On Rosh Hashanah the rabbi was talking about how kids look up to famous people but you should teach your kids to make good choices. Some times the best people to look up to are right in front of you, because you know who they are and what they represent. I think that this relates to the poem because Kelli Carter looked up to an author that she didn’t know she only knew the image of the author not the actual author.

“What happened to all the Lone Rangers, the heroes on white stallions, the knights in white armor who fought for our honor?” This explains how she is questioning everything she believed. I think that she is still not over the fact that her favorite author is no longer her hero.

When I found out the background of the poem it really helped me understand why Kelli Carter wrote the poem. “Whose footsteps are we to follow now? Whose shoes are we to fill?” I think that this part is saying how she is in need of a new hero a new person to look up to. A new author she feels lost and alone. No tracks to follow.