"Homage" as defined by Merriam-Webster is the "expression of high regard". I found this to be an interesting definition in the context of this week's topic. Though this expression may not be as dangerous as we think, it often times does not come in as unguided of a manner as we may expect or anticipate. The two poets assigned from Inclined this week mirror this dichotomy. Through each of Hamza's pieces in Inclined, the reader gets a strong sense of struggle and rebellion against the traditional family on behalf of the narrator. Majaj, on the other hand, conveys a strong sense of deep-seated, long-living respect and admiration for her family. These striking differences can be detected in the the structure of the poetry as well as the language employed by the authors. Hamza, for instance, makes use of prose rather than the typical structured form of poetry. She uses no strategic line breaks to emphasize her poetry, but rather allows the lack of structure to represent a stream-of-consciousness, real-time feel to her work. In "On Eating", she writes:

We gathered around the dinner tables, my three brothers, mother, father, and me. My father cooked steak and potatoes that evening. I knew they didn't expect me to eat because for almost a year, I had stopped.

The writing is terse, unadulterated, & effective. She makes no attempt to sugar-coat or direct the reader's progression of thought. In doing so, she opens her writing up to a multiplicity of interpretations. She states the facts and leaves the conclusion an open-ended question. At the end of "On Eating" she finishes

After chewing the tenth bite, I went to the bathroom, stuck two fingers deep inside my throat, and threw up my meal. This is how I started eating again. It took a while to learn how to keep things inside.

Though superficially the narrator has nothing more than an eating disorder being addressed in the poem, the reader is left with the sensation of something deeper happening. The dynamic of the family and the eating situation causes me to see the struggle that proceeded the narrator's eventual acceptance of her family's support, traditions, and love. Through the metaphor of bulimia, the narrator illustrates her own inability to accept what her family had to offer her. The homage that she eventually experienced (as is alluded to by the line "It took a while to learn how to keep things inside") did not come easily.

The poetry by Majaj conveys a starkly different situation. Through each piece the reader picks up a strong sense of familial affection and appreciation. The narrator is constantly referring to her father's hands, his "counseled patience", and her undeniable ties (physically and emotionally) to her family. This strong familial association is not flawless (as demonstrated in the piece "Arguments"), but such events do not taint the overall feeling of her work. The pieces "In Season" and "I remember My Father's Hands" struck me the most. The imagery and adjectives that the narrators selects conjure up ideas of admiration and genuine affection. In "In Season" Majaj writes

He counseled patience,
though, dying, refused his own

advice. Today his words surround me
with the quiet intensity

of growing things, roots planted a long time ago
lacing the distances of my heart


Furthermore, Majaj writes in "I Remember My Father's Hands"

because when I look at my hands
his own speak

The contrast in the development of admiration and respect for the familial unit is especially interesting between these two poets.


-e. gutilla