Peace Poetry - Ali

What is peace? Can it only be defined in relation to war or is it more than that? People can look at peace in many different ways. It could be a time without war, freedom from disturbance or more simply a quietness or tranquility. I could go on forever describing peace and each individual has a different peace whether it be yoga, religion, sports, etc. When Philip Metres writes, poetry is “great & unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one’s soul”, I feel this is a true definition of peace poetry. Considering everything that could be incorporated into peace, I do not think there can only be only a shelf to show what peace is. What does a measly shelf say about our country? That we are aggressive, violent, dominant, and do not really seem to know what peace is...To me there seems to be no balance.

I think we need to keep this broad definition because if peace was only a magic instance between wars, no one would know what peace is. As the author said, countries like the United States are either in a war or preparing for one. When is it time to stop and really see the beauty of all people being together in harmony? It could be said our country is never in a time of peace, therefore we have to rely on ourselves to define peace; find peace within ourselves. Is this not one of the main reasons of writing poetry? Can a computer room or a t.v. area not be a sanctuary for people to write? Do they not release emotions and thought so they can achieve this inner peace? Each poem an author writes can give an author peace. I feel that Audre Lorde especially did this in her poem entitled Power. As a reader, I feel she is purging all these thoughts and emotions about society so she can get a clear head, a quietness. This poem is a wrath of emotion that may have given her peace, but for me it was quite disturbing and upsetting. It left me wanting more, more of an answer, more justice, more morals. How can something this upsetting be considered peace poetry? I think poetry like Power is almost acting as a piece of activism. It causes the reader these feelings so they can take the lesson in this poem with them and spread its message so our country can come closer to peace. This is a reason why I also think that Monday Morning could be a peace poem instead of a war poem. The underlying message in this poem is there is no beauty in unnecessary death. The persona is showing the destructiveness of violence through a boys death which brings up an uneasiness in the reader as did Power. Going back to the poetry shelves, how can there even be a poetry shelve when an intangible concept like peace is defined on such an individual level? I believe there cannot only be a shelve but a whole store of peace poetry. Therefore, I think anyone can go into any discourse community and relate it to peace.

Peace Poetry - Joe

For quite a while now our class has been discussing the idea of discourse communities. What are they, who composes them, how to enter them, and their subject matter. Concurrently, we have been discussing the subject of peace poetry, so it was only natural we talked about the discourse community of the peace poetry.

Generally speaking, a discourse community is any group of people engaged in some literary work. More specifically it is automatically the author and any other referenced professionals the author uses to solidify research for their work. People who read the texts are automatically a part of the community for the sole reason that they have critical analysis. As soon as they read the work they naturally have an opinion and criticism, they have become connected to the piece by learning of its contents. People who engage in critical response back towards the author and in topic analysis with each other are yet more people who belong in the community.

Metres has delved into anti-war, pro-peace poetry. He and his colleagues have established a set of appropriate poems that scream out against the idea of war and protest the very roots of violence. They bring to life the very real horrors of war, able to be publicized through the literary art form. He looked for a way to engage the world in a new community, one that promotes the right values of life and denounces all the rest. I feel as if Metres does this less for the sake of the continuance of poetry but rather for the sake of the human cause. Metres looks at the Peace Shelves as a deterrent from the natural American tendency to side with the contemporary view that war is always on the horizon. He ponders how peace could come about, how best to instill into the target American audiences how a change in nature could come about. He focuses principally on learning. We have had the experiences in history that have shown us the violence of war. We should take the experience, understand it’s what is evil, and work to make different outcomes in the future. Here, in this essay, Metres calls to his audience to involve them, reaching out to the discourse community to utilize their goal and make it one for social change.

Metres himself compiled a list of poetry he deemed effective for his purpose. Just by doing this is his discourse community is taking one more step towards his goal. He is actively taking information around him and making it known through the piece of his own. Going even further, in the coda, Metres leaves an opportunity for readers and members of the discourse community to engage themselves in poetry directed towards large corporations against the drive for precious resources in Africa. This one step Metres takes further gives the readers a chance to participate more actively in the community. Joining a community requires nothing but research and thought, but what you do after, the active participation, is what makes a difference.

Peace Poetry - Emily

Philip Metres’ essay “Poems for Peace” addresses the issue of peace poetry, the peace movement, and the responsibilities of poets in regards to this movement. He is not alone in pursuing these topics, bringing in views and works by other influential poets to support his exploration. One poet whose opinions he calls on is Denise Levertov. Levertov’s views on peace poetry confront the idea that we know nothing of what peace beside the time between wars. She speaks out for poetry that paves the way for peace. She calls for “poetry of preparation for peace, a poetry of protest, of lament, of praise for the living earth; a poetry that demands justice, renounces violence, reveres mystery.”

It is this concept of peace poetry that Metres explores throughout the essay. He calls upon poets of renown, who exemplify these aspects of peace in their work. A thorough examination of the many kinds of poetry that compose the genre of peace poetry is made, in order to better understand what is being done in the poets’ call for peace. A common theme is that which Levertov calls for- peace, but not just a peace defined by the absence of war. Because this concept is so foreign to us as to be unimaginable, we must rely upon the preparations to which Levertov refers.
In Levertov’s poem “Making Peace” she responds to the address that it is the responsibility of poets to imagine peace. Throughout this poem, references to process of peace are compared directly to the creation of a poem. Both processes have little idea what the finished product will be. It is the creation that provides us with the knowledge of what has been made.

The process of peace, like the process of poetry, is formed through the discourse of the community. As people contribute to the ever evolving ideas and concepts that come to create the notion of peace poetry, a community is formed. By speaking out on these topics, writing essays such as Metres’ and being well read in a wide variety of relevant poetry, an academic atmosphere is created, where those with similar passions can work for a cause. Metres’ essay on peace poetry gives a snapshot of the community as it stands and calls out to others interested in the subject.

Only through diligent work and attention can the idea of peace become realized as no longer merely a concept speculated upon through poetry. A community of poets and intellects working together can bring the concept to those outside merely the realm of literature and show the world the potential of peace movements. It takes all kinds of people, just as peace poetry incorporates all kinds of poems, to transform awareness into action and movements for peace into peace itself. Through the work of peace poetry and through the efforts of poets themselves can peace be realized. It is the academic community that gives these efforts strength and provide a starting point for efforts. If peace can be talked about, or written about, it can be realized. That is the power of peace poetry.

Poetry of Peace- Entering a Discourse Community - Adam

A discourse community, in broad terms is a group of people who share a common interest in certain topics and share a body of knowledge of those topics with one another. More specifically, in poetry a discourse community is community of scholars and researchers in the field of poetry who respond to and communicate to each other through published articles along with other credible means of discussion. These communities help people develop more knowledge in any topic they are interested in.

At this point you already belong to a discourse community due to the fact of your interests, religion, family and activities. If you are a student by attending university you have entered a discourse community as well as many smaller ones within the institution such as classes and clubs. It is simple to enter a discourse community even if you do not attend a university. All it takes is a little research so you are credible in the field and your interests will take you to where you want to be. It is not difficult to enter discourse communities and they can be very influential in helping you expand your knowledge the topic of your choice.

In Philip Metre’s “Poems for Peace” the discourse community can be looked at in several different ways. In my opinion, the discourse community in general is a The Poetry Foundation, “an independent literary organization committed to a vigorous presence for poetry in our culture” (Poetry Foundation). This site allows users to read and comment on poems, collections, and essays. More specifically, I believe the poets Metre’s mentions throughout his collection are part of the discourse community. They all come from different background and universities, which makes the discourse community diverse. This makes the topic more interesting because the reader sees the view from many different scholars that possess their own differing values. Furthermore, one may consider my classroom and peers a discourse community within Metre’s “Poems for Peace” through our discussions about this work. Discourse communities can be defined loosely or strictly either way they can be very influential. The concept of these communities can effectively and immediately enhance your writing or educate you further in anything that interests you.

War Poetry - Sam

After reading The Monday Poem, one does not necessarily think of war poetry. The poem starts out by making reference to Wallace Stevens’ Sunday Morning poem and the claim that “Death is the mother of beauty”. DJ Renegade leaves this thought to resonate with the readers as they continue through the poem. The general plot is about the narrator and his friend Gary recalling the death of their friend Ronald. They are walking through the neighborhood as they recall these memories and are interrupted by another old friend, Melvin, who changed drastically after serving time in prison. They proceed to talk about Melvin, cracking a joke about “The Killer”, which implies violence and hatred. They were so distracted that they almost didn’t notice the makeshift memorial set up honoring the death of a kid he had seen coming out of the liquor store just the week before. This event marks a shift in the poem to a much more somber tone as we see how prevalent death is in their lives.

After hearing this brief summary, one would clearly not classify this as war poetry. It doesn’t talk about soldiers or battlefields like the more traditional wars such as WWII or the Vietnam War. However, no one said that war poetry is confined to those strictly traditional wars. Other types of wars exist out there, such as gang wars, drug wars, racial wars, etc. Based on the context clues in The Monday Poem, it seems that the narrator lives in a world of gang warfare, alcohol, and violence. The harsh streets and even their very own front steps are their battlegrounds, as shootings take place right in front of them and lives are forever changed. They even have tributes for their “fallen soldiers”, by setting up makeshift memorials of flowers and pictures where the act of death took place. Of course the traditional wars have their famous memorials located in DC such as the Vietnam and WWII memorials. These kinds of wars are known and regarded on a much wider scale than those of street warfare, attracting more attention from the public. I personally don’t think that this makes the Monday Poem any less of a war poem. I believe that all wars are a man vs. man struggle that ends in some sort of violence, which essentially describes both of the types of warfare that I’ve described. When reading Here, Bullet, it made me realize that war is very much a struggle between man and bullet, or general weaponry, as well as the struggle between men. Whether it’s in the battlefront of Iraq or the less desirable areas of DC, the soldier’s pull of that trigger has immense and sometimes irreversible effects.

DJ Renegade concludes by challenging how Wallace Steven’s can write of war poetry when he has probably never “held a gunshot friend” or had a personal experience with death through acts of violence. Renegade writes of a kind of war that is real and happening every day, a war that is close to his heart.

War Poetry - Betsy

For those of you who are skeptical on what war poetry actually is, I understand. I was in your position not too long ago. What can be the difference between war poetry and poetry that is just violent? How can you classify the difference when clearly, they can be closely related? Well let me ask you one question, what are the first words you think of when you read a poem about war; assault, weapons, maybe even death? Let me clarify, that is violence poetry. War poetry means something much more. When I read a poem about war I don’t think about violence, I think about each and every solider that at one point in their life, wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount that includes their life. I think of the many lives they have saved, are saving, and will continue to save to keep our country “free”. When I read a poem about war, I don’t think of the negative words that come to mind like many people do, I think of the respect those men deserve for standing in the front line, in the line of fire, to protect strangers that they don’t even know. These soldiers serve our whole country and so do their families. His or her families go through sacrifice in order for everyone else to be free. Soldiers give up their life for this country. That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact.

When reading “Here Bullet” by Brian Turner, my first response was not someone loading a gun, not someone shooting the gun, and not someone being shot by the gun. But in fact I thought of who that person was with the gun. What kind of courage that they must have in order to even be in that position or situation. Sometimes its not the effects of the war that matter, its the people that are fighting for the cause and whether or not they come home safely that matters. In line 6 it states, “Here is the adrenaline rush you crave”. This “adrenaline rush” can come from a numerous amount of things. For me, if I were in that situation, that “rush” would come from just knowing that I am making a difference. People might not know my individual name but they will know that I was part of a cause that made history. So next time you read a poem about war, don’t think of the negative words that will pop into your head because there will always be negative words surrounding a battlefield, think about the difference those soldiers are making every second just so you can say you live in a free country. Everyday should be a day that we pause, reflect upon, and recognize the great service and sacrifice of those who protect and defend our freedom and this country. Everyone should have time to take a moment in your busy lives and realize that because of these brave young people and the grace of God, you are able to be free and make choices about how you live your life.

War Poetry - Zach

‘Here, Bullet’ by Brian Turner is a poem about war and its fatal costs. Turner served in Iraq himself and a lot of his poetry was first hand experiences of him touring as an infantry team leader. His poem doesn’t express anger or hatred like most war poetry when the poets are veterans who are torn up by the events that occurred in Iraq. Instead, Turner took the approach of looking at the war stirring inside every soldier’s minds and hearts instead of the physical war itself. Many argue that war poetry can only be successful if the poet has lived through an era of war and experienced the physical and mental torture. However, I think that war poetry can be effective even if the poet hasn’t actually been in the military or a war situation.

An opposing school of thought on this matter is that poets cannot write about events that they have never personally experienced. Their reasoning behind this is that even with the most detailed research and accounts of different people who did experience the event, the poet cannot convey these emotions unless they felt it themselves.

They believe that poets who write beyond their own experiences cannot connect to the deepest part of their minds where poetry is created. Something that is imagined is different from something that is lived and emotions felt from both these things are different although the ‘scenario’ can be the same. By writing from imagination, they are guessing what the emotions feel like instead of actually experiencing them and they argue that poetry cannot be constructed this way.

However, I believe that the important thing is not what one knows or lived, but their ability to persuade others about what you know or lived. Even if a poet has never been in a war, they can create an emotional and intellectual bond by using imagery and vocabularies of the familiar. If one can fully immerse himself into his own imagination, the same part of their brains would be stimulated if one were actually in that situation.

By using the right words, the poet can truly ‘capture’ the emotion and transfer it to the readers. If they could almost paint a picture with their words, then the readers themselves would be absorbed into this new world that the poet created whether it be a war or something completely fictional. Once the readers are immersed in the poet’s imagination, the emotion caused by the poem is real. This means that even though the poet himself might no have lived through the experience, he could still induce the same result in the readers, which is the ultimate goal of poetry.

In conclusion, I believe that poetry does not necessarily have to be created by those who have lived it. This is because poetry is constructed on language, which is used by both fictional and non-fictional poets. One set of language cannot induce different emotions in the same person. Therefore, poets who write beyond their experiences can still induce the same emotions in the readers and thus making the poem effective.

War Poetry - Chris

When it comes to traditional “war poetry”, the skeptical reader may think that this genre belongs solely to the poets who wrote gory recounts of the World War One battlefield. Poetry involving modern warfare is not even as distinguished without the use of heavy diction and a dark atmosphere. Although the war discussed in “Monday Morning” by DJ Renegade does not include a traditional critique of war, it is nonetheless a war poem. Before arriving at this conclusion however, I believe it is important to understand what a war poem is. We will see that similar themes, diction and figurative language aid us to label “Monday Morning” a war poem.

With no personal authority on war poetry, I turned to Oxford’s dictionaries for a definition. In their mind a war poet is “a poet writing at the time of and on the subject of war, especially one on military service during World War I” (“War Poet, noun”, Oxford). DJ Renegade in his poem makes his references specific in order to illustrate the circumstance in which he is writing. We even get specific streets such as “First St. NW and Florida Ave” (Renegade 3, 20). On a national level, his references to streets and names like “Gary, Ronald and Melvin” mean nothing (1, 5, 10). Therefore we can infer that this is first-hand experience, like most war poems of the World War Two period, Renegade in his poem is trying to personalize violence for the masses.

Renegade’s work is certainly poetry, but war is a term yet to be defined. Again referring to Oxford’s dictionaries, war can be defined as “a state of armed conflict within different groups of a nation” (“War” noun, Oxford). Now, in “Monday Morning” there is little diction that would lead us to believe the author participated in any warfare, but in war poetry it is sufficient to speak at the time of war. Renegade uses imagery of “empty wine bottles...carnations” to depict a “cemetery” (Renegade 16, 17, 19). This is referring to someone recently deceased and context will tell us that southeast DC is notorious for gang violence and thus, his friend was probably a victim of this conflict.

Armed with an authority of definitions, Oxford, as well as common themes and figurative language, I ask the skeptical reader: How can “Monday Morning” not be war poetry? Renegade’s retort to “Sunday Morning” by Stevens and humanizing of the war front at home provide more of a protest than traditional war poetry. It is difficult to relate to scenes of machine guns and graphic descriptions of bullets ripping through tissue, but on the news daily we hear about a shooting. In Renegade’s poem we can picture “Ronald’s Nikes [hung] from power lines” and we can relate to his “eyelashes [that] are wet” (26). At the same time however these themes are not farfetched for war poetry. We have tears, death, and reflection. This message of this war is brought to you from right here in the United States.

Responding to Lorde - Gabriel

Language is a very subtle way to attract an audience. As writers, making ourselves relatable to an audience does not solely rest on the topic or argument we are presenting, but on the way we chose to address the audience.

As a female writer, Lorde addresses issues of women in her poetry. ‘’Poetry is not a Luxury’’, describes how women need poetry in order express themselves. One could easily argue that Lorde’s female audience is defined by the topic and argument she presents, to which I strongly agree; however I believe that the reason this is so successful is by the delicate placement of pronouns.

Lorde attracts women to the essay, by addressing the reader in the female category, therefore making herself relatable. The opening line of the second paragraph, ‘‘For each of us women’’, demonstrates the particular readers that Lorde expects of this essay. The use of ‘‘us’’ makes her argument the reader’s problem; and it is the use of subtle pronouns like that, which draw in the female audience.

When reading ‘’Poetry is not a luxury’’, we see that excessiveness of Lorde’s language manipulation; in some cases Lorde does not even use correct tenses. ‘’Women see ourselves’’, does not make sense as a phrase but is the only way Lorde can avoid alienating women (as the correct phrase would be ‘Women see themselves’). I think errors like these are done purposefully in order to force the reader to stop and think about Lorde’s passion to always be associated with Women.

Most of the language Lorde uses, is far subtler than these purposeful errors. Whenever she discusses women, she uses ‘’we’’. The use of this tiny word is deceptively powerful in convincing her female audience of the argument. One the best examples of this is, ‘’Poetry is the way we help give name to nameless so it can be thought’’. The subtle drop of ‘we’, rather than ‘I’, ‘you’, or ‘they’, is crucial in the successfulness of Lordes argument, as it groups together and seperates women from all others.

For us men, the use of these pronouns makes Lorde and her topic alien and un-relatable. However, this essay is not a case of ‘Us and Them’. The usefulness of grouping people together makes them more involved, as it is something that they hold for their own. Although I am not in Lorde’ targeted audience, the effectiveness of the pronouns exemplified in ‘’Poetry is not a luxury’’, should be used by all of us as a template for how to attract and involve an audience.

Poetry Is Not a Luxury- Lorde’s Vocabulary Inspires Inclusiveness, Value, and Hope - Rachel

In Audre Lorde’s essay Poetry is Not a Luxury, she uses specific terms to define her audience and present an appealing and convincing argument. Lorde’s essay, about how important poetry is in the life of women, defines her audience as other women by defining her authority as one of the women; she uses “we” when making claims and statements. This use of “we” gives her voice more authority, the reader automatically assumes that she is not alone in her belief; “we” adds more voices to Lorde’s own, and claims that this is a widely held theory. Lorde also categorizes any that disagree as “they” which automatically separates “them” from the reader. This clear distinguish between the reader, “us,” and everyone else, “they,” draws us in and makes us feel included.

To further shape her theoretical argument, Lorde relies on imagery and metaphors to engage and persuade readers. She describes “poetry as illumination” and calls the “quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives” a deciding factor in we act and think, and in the end relate to poetry. Lorde describes our inner voices as “deep,” “dark,” and “ancient.” Using these words Lorde describes something that is valuable, something that everyone has, something that must be reckoned with and something that must be listened to. Why doesn’t Lorde just say this? Why doesn’t she say that everyone has an inner voice and this voice is very important? Because that would be too simple and that would be undervaluing her claim. By describing our need for poetry in poetic, elemental, and more natural terms, we are able to value Lorde’s claim just as much as she does, which is very highly.

By using words such as “births,” “flourish,” “possibility,” “light,” “dreams,” and “horizons” Lorde chooses to create an environment of hope for readers. She says that poetry “is a vital necessity,” which to some seems daunting, but Lorde over rides this fear by trying to inspire not a fear that we have not listened to our inner voices and are therefore doomed, but that our inner voice of poetry will always be there to be called upon and counted on in times of need. Lorde says “possibility is neither forever nor instant,” that poetry is what allows us to face the hardships of each day and it is what allows us to continue to fight and to survive. In order for Lorde to have created such a hopeful and inspiring message she chose specific words that would set the essay’s tone as one of hopefulness and not as one of despair. By choosing words that are relatable and understandable to the average, mainstream reader, those women readers Lorde is seeking to inspire, she makes her essay appealing to a specific audience and this makes for a successful essay.

Lorde’s last paragraph is a perfect example of all of this; she describes those scenes that women of all kinds are a part of every day. She uses “we” to create a sense of inclusiveness, describes scenes women would be familiar with and would value, and ends with the hope of “new possibilities and strengths.”

Responding to Audre Lorde - Casey

Within writing, especially academic writing, the audience of a piece proves to be a central concern of the writer. The writer must keep in mind whom they strive to write for and what group of the population they hope to convey their message to. One way of effectively communicating to one’s audience is through vocabulary choice. Words chosen must be comprehensible by the reader and target their demographic. If one utilizes vocabulary that does not meet these requirements, they fail to connect with their readers. Audre Lorde demonstrates how well chosen vocabulary can build an audience as seen through her essay “Poetry is Not a Luxury”.

First off, Lorde’s use of vocabulary clearly singles out women as her audience. Referring to “us women” in the paper, Lorde defines her audience. Once her audience has been defined, Lorde continues to use applicable vocabulary, which makes the essay more effective in conveying its message to its audience. Since she writes to women in general, her vocabulary does not always reflect that of academia. Instead she writes to the common reader, using everyday language seen in direct passages such as: “ For there are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.” The phrase demonstrates the plain nature of the language in the essay. This, paired with the use of first person, allows the piece to flow as a discussion. The reader feels apart of a conversation with Lorde. It is as if Lorde speaks directly to them. Even though plain language can at times be looked down upon by academia, Lorde uses it in a way that helps her connect with her reader. The vocabulary within Lorde’s writing creates a clear audience and communicates effectively with them.

However, this is not the only purpose well chosen vocabulary may serve. Lorde also shows how vocabulary can convey mood and tone within a piece. Word choice allows the reader to feel certain things. It allows different emotions to shine through the writing. Throughout her essay, Lorde repeatedly chooses words, which create a feeling of hope and optimism. By constantly referring to the hopes and dreams of the reader and herself Lorde allows the reader to look ahead in their own lives. The abstract thought of ideas and futures presented in the piece create a sense of looking forward and impending hope. Clearly Lorde intentionally chooses specific words to shape the nature of her pieces, something that takes her writing to the next level.

Through both audience and mood, Lorde’s vocabulary strengthens her writing and connects her piece to her reader. In general, vocabulary and the effective use of it can help strengthen writing. It serves multiple purposes including defining audience and creating mood and tone. However well chosen vocabulary can serve other purposes as well. Vocabulary can make arguments more persuasive, reveal biases and establish the level of writing in terms of academic standards. Overall, vocabulary and word choice reveals itself to be pertinent in writing quality pieces as demonstrated by Lorde’s “Poetry is Not a Luxury.”