TheaMcDarrah

OConnor
HonorsEnglish9
6April2016

EverythingWillBeOK
Inthatfirstgradeclasstheycameandgotme
"Yourmom'soutside,saygoodbyenowtoeverybody"
UHaulwaswaitingwithallofherthings
Atleastwhatshecouldpack
Inthetimemydad'satworkandbeforehecameback
Waytoyoungtocomprehendwhatwashappening
"Arewegoingtograndma's?Whenarewecomingbackagain?"
LittledidIknowthatwewereleavinghimbyhimself
AndtenyearswouldpassbeforeMomseesanybodyelse
Justus,inmiddleschoolIain'tunderstand
WhoMelissawasandwhyshewasn'tanotherman
Biasedandconfusedtheytrytoexplainbutnobodycan
WantedwhatIthoughtwasnormal,shehadanotherplan
Suchislife,evenifittooktimeformetoacceptit
NolongerDadnow,butawomanwithwhomshesleptwith
Orfortheyearswhenasecretwashowshekeptit
Iain'tgetit,admittedlyIwasskeptic
Icamearound,happinessIsee'swhatyoumayhavefound

Andthat'swhat'smostimportant
Idontwannaseeyoubreakingdown
Iwannaseeyousmile,Idon'twannaseeyoumakeafrown
Ifshelovesyou,thenthat'sallanybodyneedsmaybenow
By'05thingshadgottenworse
Movedtothebasement,deepdepressionsarottencurse
Hidinginadarkspace,hermindandherbodyhurts
Becomingmorereclusiveandthepillsshouldhavebeenalerts
Sotheworseitgot,Ibecamemoreandmoreafraid
Untilonenight,Iwentintothatroom,onthefloorshelaid
Ishookhershewasblue,herskinwascold,shewasn'tbreathing
Screamed,"Melissawakeup"couldn'tfathomthatshewasleaving
MomandBrowasrunningdown,Iscreamed"somebodyhelp"
Trypumpingherchest,CPR,butitdidnthelp
Toughestpilltoswallow,butwelost,thatsforcedreflection
Whileinherlifeyoumadeherhappy,thankyoufortheblessing

EverythingWillBeOk,
anelegy

bythelyricistGeraldGillumisliterallyaboutGeralds
motherandherrelationship.Throughoutthepoem,Gillumreliesmainlyonimagerytogethis
pointsacross.Imageryisnothisonlytacticthough,heusesdiction,syntax,tone,andevenalittle
bitofironyaswell.Tosummarizethepoem,Gillumsmotherendsupleavingherhusbandfora
womannamedMelissa.Throughouttheirrelationship,GeraldandMelissabecomeveryclose.

Sadly,theirfriendshipcomestoanabrupthaltwhenMelissaoverdosesonantidepressantsand
dies.ThisseriesofeventswereverytraumaticandinfluentialinGeraldslife.Heshowsthisby
incorporatingtheseeventsintolotsofhisworkviaimagery,tone,anddiction.
ImageryisthemostpresentpoetictoolGeraldusesin
EverythingWillBeOK.
Sincethe
poemhappenstobeanelegy,thepoetusesimagerytotellhisstory.Gillumdescribestheimages
usingdescriptivelanguage.Hiswordspaintavividimageinthereadersmind.Iwentintothat
room,onthefloorshelaid,Ishookhershewasblue,herskinwascold,shewasn'tbreathing,
Screamed,"Melissawakeup"couldn'tfathomthatshewasleaving,MomandBrowasrunning
down,Iscreamed"somebodyhelp",Trypumpingherchest,CPR,...(lines2832)Inthisquote,
Geraldusesimagerytohelpthereaderunderstandwhatisgoingonwithhisstepmother.This
examplealsoshowshowintensethiseventwasforhim.Thiseventandimageryalso
demonstratethemournfultone.Couldn'tfathomthatshewasleaving(line31)isdescribing
Gillum'snotreallyunderstandingwhatwasgoingon.Thisisarecurringthemeinthispoem.
First,whenGerald'smomleaveshisfather,nextwhenhismothermarriesanotherwoman,and
finally,whenMelissadies.Anotherexampleofimagery:"Yourmom'soutside,saygoodbye
nowtoeverybody"UHaulwaswaiting(lines23)ThislinesymbolizesGeraldandhismother
movingon.ThisisbecauseaUHaulisamovingtruckanditrepresentsthemopeninganew
chapterintheirlives.ThisquotealsosymbolizeswhatGillum'sisleavingbehindhisoldlife,his
father.
Dictionandsyntaxareanothermajorpartofthispoem.Inthepoemtheauthoruseswords
andphrasestoillustratehisthoughtsandfeelingsthroughouttheelegy,
EverythingWillBeOK
.
Onecanextractthetruemeaningofthispoemiftheyexaminethedictionthroughoutit.I

wannaseeyousmile,Idon'twannaseeyoumakeafrown(line21)Thislineshowsthatall
Gillumreallywantsisforthepeoplearoundhim,inthiscasehisfamily,tobehappy.Gillums
wordchoiceissimple.Bydoingthis,hegetshispointsandthemeaningofthepoemacrossvery
easily.Whileinherlifeyoumadeherhappy,thankyoufortheblessing(line34).Thisis
anotherquotethatreinforcestheideathattheauthoronlywantshisfamilytobehappy.Heis
eventhankingGodforbeinginherlifewhenshewasnotdepressed.Anotherthingthattiesinto
dictionandsyntaxisirony.Gillum'susesalittlebitofironyattheendofhispoemaswell.
Toughestpilltoswallow(line33).Thisisthemainuseofironydemonstratedinthispoem.
Mentioningthewordpillisironicsincethat'showMelissadied.Thefactthattoughestpillto
swallowisalsoasayingwhichbasicallymeansitwashardisironicsinceitwasveryhardfor
GeraldandhismothertogetoverMelissa'sdeath.
ThefinalliterarydeviceGeraldGillumusesistone.Asmentionedbefore,thetoneis
verymuchpresentthroughimagery.Thetoneofthispoemismostlysadandmournful.Atthe
beginningofthepoem,Gillumismovedabruptlyfromlivingwithhisfathertoawholenewlife
withhismotherandMelissa.Thismusthavebeenveryhardforhimsincehewassoyoungand
didn'tunderstandwhyhismomlovedanotherwoman.Towardtheendofthepoem,thetone
becomesdarkeranddarker.LosingMelissatotheantidepressantswasalmostsurelyharderto
copewiththanhercomingintohislifeinthefirstplace.Asmentionedbefore,themessageofthe
poemisnotasdepressingasthetone.Geraldjustwantstokeephisfamilyhappybutindoingso,
ortryingto,hehadtosufferthroughmanyroughpatchesandcertaineventsthatmostpeople
don'texperienceuntilthey'remucholderthanhewas.

Throughimagery,dictionandsyntax,andtone,GeraldGillumdemonstratesthemeaning
ofhispoem,
EverythingWillBeOK
.Themessagethatthepoetwantstogetoutofthiselegy,is
thathejustwantshisfamilytobehappy.Sadly,thisdoesn'tworkoutverywellforGillumsince
therearelotsofheartbreakandtoughsituationsthroughoutthepoem.