Each poet approached and defined politics differently; however, each poet spoke about politics pertaining to a community rather than a world view. They did so by exposing the human condition, the struggles of everyday life and situations. Some themes the poets dealt with
were issues of racial discrimination, rape, self-image, spousal abuse, poverty, etc. etc. For me, the poems that stood out were the one's in BUM; particularly, Samiya A. Bashir's, "Her Scream Has Been Stolen."
From my understanding of the poem it is a piece about about a woman who doesn't realize her body is hers until it has been taken away from-- it is taken from her through the act of rape. The speaker of the poem states:
What does her scream sound
like can she hear it
when it echos off the leaves or the
cliffs or the streams or the mountains
peaks or canyons gardens marshes
beaches over water and land she
didn't know was her until she was told
it wasn't?
Here, the poet asks the questions if the subject could hear her screams when echos through nature. For me the act of screaming in this poem comes off as something violent because of the questions the speakers asks, particularly the last two lines, "she didn't know was her until she was told it wasn't. Reading this line made me think of rape because although one is aware his or her body belongs to themselves one isn't fully aware--i guess unless the situation arises (Like we don't walk around saying this is my body, I own it, it's something that we save in the back of our heads). Also because the areas she mentions seem to be places that are usually desolate--without people (at least that is the image in my head, because these are relaxing places).
Prior to the stanza I quoted above the speaker states: "What does her/ river taste like upstream and / downstream and how does it/ make love to her body as she bathes" I read this line as a symbol of her be private areas as well as her mouth. The speaker tends to also make lots of reference to mother nature which can be equivalent to describing women given that mother nature is always personified as a woman.
(For some reason I feel like I misread this poem just because it seems to be subtle in revealing the message of the poem).
That's true, a lot of the time when people talk about nature they give descriptions of a woman (hence mother nature). But giving reference to things that may seem much more personal than how the poem states it is a great thing you acknowledged! There is always something underlying the surface. I believe nothing can be "that" simple in life.
ReplyDelete-Dorothy
i thought it was interesting that this poem came up as the movie precious is coming out. the have similar themes. the violence of this poem is almost it's music.
ReplyDeletee
good point about recognition of ownership. makes me think of you-don't-know-what-you-got-til-it's-gone. i never related that to my own body before.
ReplyDeleteLizzie, I love the fact that you pointed out how the poets spoke about politics from their community view instead of a world view, but that they exposed the human condition. This is so powerful because in focusing on the specifics, we often uncover the shared emotion that moves the reader from our doorstep to their own -- in essence, it's a world view from our neighborhood. I LOVE IT and I've got to think more about this idea...
ReplyDeleteKiala
this piece also comes after the moment of violence. It is the attempt to integrate an impossible and that seems a unique position to write from. Often the moment of violence is the focus, not the immediately after, which is the more lasting negotiation.
ReplyDelete