I have always had a passion for art. The fact that I could create something that would be completely representative of the person and still mean dozens of different things to my audience was something I believed to be unique about art. However, I never really held the same passion for poetry; in fact, quite the opposite. I used to hate the idea of poetry; I found it boring and pretentious. And to be fair, after only being exposed to the world of Shakespeare, I think I had every right to feel that way.
During the past few months I have been exposed to hundreds of poems and dozens of styles and techniques. What is fair to say about each one is that it reflects the writer better than anything else could and this is due to the process of creation. One of my favorite things that I have found in my research is Tristan Tzara’s ‘Recipe for A chance Poem’. The idea behind this is that you could pick random words out of a hat and form them into a poem through this sequence and ‘The poem will resemble you’. Through this lens every poem holds the writer’s purpose because it has gone through the process of creation.
What is interesting about art and poetry is how the audience adapts them. Looking at a piece of art, I can choose to see the things that I want and believe them to depict any emotion or belief that I feel. The beauty of art is that it is completely personal. Recently I found this to be true of reading poetry too; the ways I see poetry is completely conditional of how it is read.
Our class spent time reading poetry aloud and each time, I saw the poem as meaning something else. Whether it was a subtle flick of sarcasm at the final line that created an omnibus conclusion, or the emphasis on the alliteration that gave the poem, or even the change of voices to give objects personification, each person demonstrated their own personality through there reading of the poetry. Just like Tzara’s ‘Recipe’, no matter what you do, ‘’the poem will represent you’’.
So I feel that there are very little ways for a poet to create purpose in his poetry. When writing a poem, one cannot avoid it resembling their own personality and when reading a poem, one cannot help but make it relatable to themselves and their personality.
Poetry is the cohesion between the writer and the audience. Just as in art, we take from poetry what we want. There is no correct way to read poetry, as the subliminal creating of poetry allows the reader to explore ideas that poet did not even intend to be written.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Poetry is Personal - Rachel
Reading poetry is something that can easily be taken for granted. Throughout our primary education we deal with it. We learn how to read it, how to understand it, how to take it apart and put it back together, and then eventually how to write it. In some cases this turns some of us students off of poetry. We say that forcing us to look at every word and dissect it makes us annoyed with poetry. For me it was always the very opposite, I always thought it was amazing how every word was more than just a word, how when taken apart I found so many more meanings than I had thought were originally there. But I understand the feeling many students get when they say this type of analysis heavy focus on poetry sucks the joy right out of it. Because joy is what poetry is really there for. Yes, it has literary merit and deserves to be studied and understood, but it is primarily meant to be enjoyed. It is there to enrich our senses and make us feel, it is there to connect us for one split second with someone else, to allow us to empathize, to share consciousness with another person, if only for a moment. It is there to play with our feelings, to make us laugh or cry, or to just be in awe of the world. It is there to point out our flaws and our accomplishments, to remind us that there is a world out there beyond what we know. So I understand when some students say, “I never enjoyed poetry, we just analyzed it, I never understood what the teacher was saying.” But poetry is not there to make you feel dumb. Once in an English class for an exam we were told to analyze “Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town” by E. E. Cummings. I loved the poem and wrote this incredibly long detailed analysis for it, partially because I just thought it had so many meanings and was not entirely sure what my teacher wanted. After the test everyone was discussing how easy the analysis was because Cummings’ had just substituted “anyone” and “no one” as names for the two main characters in the poem, something I had completely missed in my long analysis. But does that mean that what I thought about the poem was wrong? Of course not. Because poetry is a personal experience. Whatever we take from a poem is not wrong. Even if the author decides to write about the poem and say, “This is what I meant” and it is entirely against what you thought it meant, are you wrong then? No. When you read the poem, you felt a certain way about it, you were not wrong. How could the way you feel be wrong? That is why I love reading poetry and think it is so important. You take away from it as much as you put in to the poem. No poem is the same for two people; you may have similar ideas, but the way you feel and think about it is a personal experience just for you to cherish.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Creating Purpose and Shaping Arguments - Casey
When writing, authors and poets must take many things into account. This ranges from what type of piece they hope to write, who they want to write to, and how they are going to go about accomplishing both of these things. However there exists two major facets of writing which determine the success of a piece. First, the ability of the author or poet to create a purpose with their writing and secondly, the effectiveness of their arguments as it pertains to their audience. Authors and poets must strive to create both purpose and an argument, which targets their audience.
These two concepts of writing are often linked. The purpose of a piece stems from the argument. The purpose, defined by the writer may vary. One could hope to instill some sort of change with their writing. They could be trying to expose an issue and bring awareness to a problem, or the purpose of the piece could be plain entertainment. Different poets express these purposes within their writing. For example, both Patricia Smith in “Blood Dazzler” and Joseph Ross in his poems on Darfur strive to bring awareness to worldwide issues including natural disasters and genocide. Other poets such as children’s poet Shel Silverstein instead follow the purpose of entertainment within their writing. Purposes in writing vary from piece to piece and often reflect the poet’s own beliefs and personalities.
Although, the purpose and argument of a piece must reflect the audiences beliefs as well, expressing a knowledge of the audience. Therefore, the writer’s perspective on their audience shapes their purpose and argument. Audience must be taken into account when creating an argument. If the argument proves to be too radical for the proposed audience, it loses its purpose and place in the discourse community. If an argument does not target an audience effectively, it loses its credibility and purpose in the discussion upon the issue. Thus, an audience plays a major role in the creation of pieces. The author must shape the argument of the piece to satisfy the needs of the audience. This does not mean they have to completely conform to the thought process of the audience, but they should be sure to challenge it in an appropriate, non-aggressive manner.
This shaping of argument relates directly back to the purpose created in the writing. The argument helps demonstrate the purpose of the piece. If no argument exists, such as seen in the children’s poems by Shell Silverstein, then the purpose of the piece falls under entertainment. However, if an argument does exist and if it addresses the audience form an informative viewpoint, as characterized in both Patricia Smith’s and Joseph Ross’ poetry, then the purpose of the writing is to bring awareness to an issue. Overall, audience proves vital to the creation of effective pieces. It not only shapes one’s argument, it also defines the purpose of the piece. If a piece fails to recognize it’s audience, it fails in the communication of its argument and it ultimately loses its purpose within the discourse community.
These two concepts of writing are often linked. The purpose of a piece stems from the argument. The purpose, defined by the writer may vary. One could hope to instill some sort of change with their writing. They could be trying to expose an issue and bring awareness to a problem, or the purpose of the piece could be plain entertainment. Different poets express these purposes within their writing. For example, both Patricia Smith in “Blood Dazzler” and Joseph Ross in his poems on Darfur strive to bring awareness to worldwide issues including natural disasters and genocide. Other poets such as children’s poet Shel Silverstein instead follow the purpose of entertainment within their writing. Purposes in writing vary from piece to piece and often reflect the poet’s own beliefs and personalities.
Although, the purpose and argument of a piece must reflect the audiences beliefs as well, expressing a knowledge of the audience. Therefore, the writer’s perspective on their audience shapes their purpose and argument. Audience must be taken into account when creating an argument. If the argument proves to be too radical for the proposed audience, it loses its purpose and place in the discourse community. If an argument does not target an audience effectively, it loses its credibility and purpose in the discussion upon the issue. Thus, an audience plays a major role in the creation of pieces. The author must shape the argument of the piece to satisfy the needs of the audience. This does not mean they have to completely conform to the thought process of the audience, but they should be sure to challenge it in an appropriate, non-aggressive manner.
This shaping of argument relates directly back to the purpose created in the writing. The argument helps demonstrate the purpose of the piece. If no argument exists, such as seen in the children’s poems by Shell Silverstein, then the purpose of the piece falls under entertainment. However, if an argument does exist and if it addresses the audience form an informative viewpoint, as characterized in both Patricia Smith’s and Joseph Ross’ poetry, then the purpose of the writing is to bring awareness to an issue. Overall, audience proves vital to the creation of effective pieces. It not only shapes one’s argument, it also defines the purpose of the piece. If a piece fails to recognize it’s audience, it fails in the communication of its argument and it ultimately loses its purpose within the discourse community.
Creating Purpose in Poetry - Alex
Creating Purpose in Poetry
To a person that has not immersed himself or herself into the world of poetry, it may seem that the poetry they read already has a pretty clear meaning, a meaning that the author is trying to portray. However, to those people that have been to poetry readings or who have discussed poetry with those around them, it is very apparent that a simple change in tone can change the entire meaning of a poem.
Even in our writing class, when two different people read a poem the meaning and underlying tone of that poem changed completely. It could go from being sad to empowering, happy to judgmental, all because of a simple change in inflection. I believe that this is one of the reasons that going to poetry readings are important. By experiencing the environment and the emotion of one such poem, you can feel the passion of the writers, or of the readers that are performing these poems.
Personally, I much prefer poetry readings then reading a poem inside my head. I went to Busboys for an open mike night, and the enthusiasm and excitement that was portrayed by each poet really made you feel something, anything, about their poem. Creating purpose in poetry is not necessarily making people feel the emotion that the writer wanted; it is simply making people feel anything about the poem. This brings up the second part of creating purpose, which is allowing for different experiences to all relate to the same poem.
As a poet, the writers job is to make sure that people can relate to the poem, that it can invoke some type of feeling, and part of that is making sure that others’ experiences can somehow affect how they read the poem and interpret what is it that the poem is saying. This can be connected to the idea of war poetry in that depending on if you know anyone in the war or if you have been in the war yourself, you have a completely different view than anybody that isn’t directly connected. By writing a poem that allows all of these different groups of people to relate, but in a different way, is really a talent and makes a poem that much more relevant to society as we know it today. By reading a poem in a different manner, you allow it to relate to different groups of society by using the different emotions that can be portrayed.
Thus we see the importance, and the difficulties, of writing poetry. Poets have a way of writing poems for many different groups of people, all dealing with different things and relating the poems in different ways to their lives. And along with all of this, poets also write in a way that allows different people to read poetry and turn it into a different poem, one that reflects who they are and their life experiences. Through this widespread acceptance of all different types of people through one poem, poetry really finds a way to bring people together, even if it isn’t because they all find the same importance in a specific poem. By bringing these people together, allowing this connect, there is a purpose to poetry- bringing different people together in a common acceptance.
To a person that has not immersed himself or herself into the world of poetry, it may seem that the poetry they read already has a pretty clear meaning, a meaning that the author is trying to portray. However, to those people that have been to poetry readings or who have discussed poetry with those around them, it is very apparent that a simple change in tone can change the entire meaning of a poem.
Even in our writing class, when two different people read a poem the meaning and underlying tone of that poem changed completely. It could go from being sad to empowering, happy to judgmental, all because of a simple change in inflection. I believe that this is one of the reasons that going to poetry readings are important. By experiencing the environment and the emotion of one such poem, you can feel the passion of the writers, or of the readers that are performing these poems.
Personally, I much prefer poetry readings then reading a poem inside my head. I went to Busboys for an open mike night, and the enthusiasm and excitement that was portrayed by each poet really made you feel something, anything, about their poem. Creating purpose in poetry is not necessarily making people feel the emotion that the writer wanted; it is simply making people feel anything about the poem. This brings up the second part of creating purpose, which is allowing for different experiences to all relate to the same poem.
As a poet, the writers job is to make sure that people can relate to the poem, that it can invoke some type of feeling, and part of that is making sure that others’ experiences can somehow affect how they read the poem and interpret what is it that the poem is saying. This can be connected to the idea of war poetry in that depending on if you know anyone in the war or if you have been in the war yourself, you have a completely different view than anybody that isn’t directly connected. By writing a poem that allows all of these different groups of people to relate, but in a different way, is really a talent and makes a poem that much more relevant to society as we know it today. By reading a poem in a different manner, you allow it to relate to different groups of society by using the different emotions that can be portrayed.
Thus we see the importance, and the difficulties, of writing poetry. Poets have a way of writing poems for many different groups of people, all dealing with different things and relating the poems in different ways to their lives. And along with all of this, poets also write in a way that allows different people to read poetry and turn it into a different poem, one that reflects who they are and their life experiences. Through this widespread acceptance of all different types of people through one poem, poetry really finds a way to bring people together, even if it isn’t because they all find the same importance in a specific poem. By bringing these people together, allowing this connect, there is a purpose to poetry- bringing different people together in a common acceptance.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Discovering the DC Poetry Community - Kaleigh
With resources such as the Library of Congress, the American Poetry Museum and thirteen university libraries, DC is a central gathering ground for the literarily inclined.1 Every day, poetry is integrated into the lives of thousands of DC residents through a number of readings, workshops, and national poetic events. The community of poetry enthusiasts that is ever-present in the city today adds a vivacious culture to the DC area that can only be described as one-of-a-kind.
Earlier this semester I attended the National Book Festival, hoping to explore the full scope of DC culture. At this annual event, ten nationally acclaimed poets, including Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, presented and signed their works in for over one hundred thousand poetry fanatics. 2 To feel the immense passion that the DC community exudes for the literary arts is a mind-opening experience. Elizabeth Alexander, who performed her poetry in front of President Obama at his inauguration, was one of the speakers I had the pleasure of hearing. Standing under her tent in the sweltering heat, I not only absorbed her powerful message of the importance of poetry, but I also noticed the intent silence that surrounded the crowd. People from across the country had assembled in the masses to recognize the power of words. The immeasurable appreciation for poetry available in Washington, DC, which became apparent to me that day, is a rare and precious occurrence.
The high presence of poetry in Washington dates back to the 1970s, which as nationally recognized poet and DC resident Terence Winch affirms, “[was] a very active time on the avant-garde poetry front in DC.”3 The 70’s were the years of the Beat Generation and artistic non-conformity in the urban areas of the United States, and Washington, DC was no exception. Poetry played a pivotal role in Washingtonian culture during this time, and led to the establishment of weekly performance events such as Mass Transit in Dupont Circle.4 Community members gathered to appreciate the artistic expression of others and share their own personal, social or political messages during.
Many would say that the level of appreciation for poetry as vastly decreased in America over the last few decades; however, in Washington DC, this decline has not been noticeable. Winch states, “I think there's been an amazing degree of continuity between the scene of 25+ years ago and today,” 3 observing the still thriving poetic community we have in DC today. Whether it’s weekly events at Busboys and Poets (at both 5th and K or 14th and V street locations), MotherTongue at the Black Cat, or Wednesday Verses at Bohemian Caverns, there is no shortage of opportunity for poetic appreciation.
As a new member to the DC poetry community and a student of poetry analysis, I have been both welcomed with open arms and encouraged to participate. Through my experiences I have found that there are endless opportunities for poetic expression in this city. Through attending creative writing workshops at a local university, performing at one of the weekly open-mic nights, or simply listening to presentations by the number of nationally recognized poets that visit DC, any member of the community can experience Washington’s vibrant culture of poetic expression.
1 http://www.publiclibraries.com/university_dc.htm
2 http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/authors/?PHPSESSID=a32430798f8d0ed2a4479
131a530225d
3 http://www.dcpoetry.com/history/winch
4 http://www.gelman.gwu.edu/collections/SCRC/current-events/mass-transit-take-a-trip-through-dc2019s-1970s-avant-garde-poetry-scene
Earlier this semester I attended the National Book Festival, hoping to explore the full scope of DC culture. At this annual event, ten nationally acclaimed poets, including Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winners, presented and signed their works in for over one hundred thousand poetry fanatics. 2 To feel the immense passion that the DC community exudes for the literary arts is a mind-opening experience. Elizabeth Alexander, who performed her poetry in front of President Obama at his inauguration, was one of the speakers I had the pleasure of hearing. Standing under her tent in the sweltering heat, I not only absorbed her powerful message of the importance of poetry, but I also noticed the intent silence that surrounded the crowd. People from across the country had assembled in the masses to recognize the power of words. The immeasurable appreciation for poetry available in Washington, DC, which became apparent to me that day, is a rare and precious occurrence.
The high presence of poetry in Washington dates back to the 1970s, which as nationally recognized poet and DC resident Terence Winch affirms, “[was] a very active time on the avant-garde poetry front in DC.”3 The 70’s were the years of the Beat Generation and artistic non-conformity in the urban areas of the United States, and Washington, DC was no exception. Poetry played a pivotal role in Washingtonian culture during this time, and led to the establishment of weekly performance events such as Mass Transit in Dupont Circle.4 Community members gathered to appreciate the artistic expression of others and share their own personal, social or political messages during.
Many would say that the level of appreciation for poetry as vastly decreased in America over the last few decades; however, in Washington DC, this decline has not been noticeable. Winch states, “I think there's been an amazing degree of continuity between the scene of 25+ years ago and today,” 3 observing the still thriving poetic community we have in DC today. Whether it’s weekly events at Busboys and Poets (at both 5th and K or 14th and V street locations), MotherTongue at the Black Cat, or Wednesday Verses at Bohemian Caverns, there is no shortage of opportunity for poetic appreciation.
As a new member to the DC poetry community and a student of poetry analysis, I have been both welcomed with open arms and encouraged to participate. Through my experiences I have found that there are endless opportunities for poetic expression in this city. Through attending creative writing workshops at a local university, performing at one of the weekly open-mic nights, or simply listening to presentations by the number of nationally recognized poets that visit DC, any member of the community can experience Washington’s vibrant culture of poetic expression.
1 http://www.publiclibraries.com/university_dc.htm
2 http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/authors/?PHPSESSID=a32430798f8d0ed2a4479
131a530225d
3 http://www.dcpoetry.com/history/winch
4 http://www.gelman.gwu.edu/collections/SCRC/current-events/mass-transit-take-a-trip-through-dc2019s-1970s-avant-garde-poetry-scene
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Artist Networking - Nick
An important aspect of career development in any field is networking. For any poet to establish themselves into the poetry community, the poet needs to be deemed credible and a worthy contributor. A simple way for a poet to gain access to the community and promote their own work is to reference other poets they have worked with or studied. Referencing other famous poets’ work proves to readers and the community that the poet is invested in their art form. By referencing another famous poet, the poet has researched and studied the great poets’ style of writing, and hopefully from their research, has developed a style that highlights devices used by the famous poets and includes new original forms of expression to the audience.
When this topic was initially discussed in class, my immediate reaction was to compare the networking process used by poets to the networking process of musicians. Both art forms are similar in the sense that it is assumed that by referencing other artists who are successful, the artist who is referencing the successful artist has researched extensively on the successful artist, has learned from the successful artist, and/or has developed a lasting relationship with the artist whether that be personal or professional. A great example a poet who is often referenced is Walt Whitman.
One of the most well renowned American poets, Walt Whitman is frequently referenced for his free structure and poetic style. He championed free verse and dealt with important issues such as the abolishment of slavery and the concept of democracy. As Joseph Ross, an active poet in the Washington DC and online communities, stated in a guest lecture after studying Whitman he concluded, like others who have researched Whitman’s work, “Whitman struggled with the idea of democracy.” Poets like Joseph Ross learned from Whitman’s statements within his work, as well as other poets such as Langston Hughes; who often referenced the work of Whitman and directly addressed some work to Whitman posthumous. Hughes wrote “Old Walt” that addressed the way Walt Whitman often struggled to come to a conclusion of his ideas. This poem could be referencing his struggle with the concept of democracy and how it was applicable to the time. This makes Hughes credible because he shows the audience he has researched Walt Whitman’s work and biography to understand the struggles Whitman addressed. Joseph Ross also has established his credibility amongst the DC poetry community by referencing his research on Whitman. Ross also comments and engages the community within the DC metro area by visiting university classrooms that deal with poetry, as well outside of DC through forms such as the Poetry Foundation online. By engaging the community Ross, is networking and providing name recognition to establish himself as an influential poet in both communities.
Networking is a key element to any line of work; but even more so in the artistic fields such as poetry. Poets rely on the process to connect share work with others and spread the distribution of their work through their peers, as well as spread of their concepts through the development of poetry.
When this topic was initially discussed in class, my immediate reaction was to compare the networking process used by poets to the networking process of musicians. Both art forms are similar in the sense that it is assumed that by referencing other artists who are successful, the artist who is referencing the successful artist has researched extensively on the successful artist, has learned from the successful artist, and/or has developed a lasting relationship with the artist whether that be personal or professional. A great example a poet who is often referenced is Walt Whitman.
One of the most well renowned American poets, Walt Whitman is frequently referenced for his free structure and poetic style. He championed free verse and dealt with important issues such as the abolishment of slavery and the concept of democracy. As Joseph Ross, an active poet in the Washington DC and online communities, stated in a guest lecture after studying Whitman he concluded, like others who have researched Whitman’s work, “Whitman struggled with the idea of democracy.” Poets like Joseph Ross learned from Whitman’s statements within his work, as well as other poets such as Langston Hughes; who often referenced the work of Whitman and directly addressed some work to Whitman posthumous. Hughes wrote “Old Walt” that addressed the way Walt Whitman often struggled to come to a conclusion of his ideas. This poem could be referencing his struggle with the concept of democracy and how it was applicable to the time. This makes Hughes credible because he shows the audience he has researched Walt Whitman’s work and biography to understand the struggles Whitman addressed. Joseph Ross also has established his credibility amongst the DC poetry community by referencing his research on Whitman. Ross also comments and engages the community within the DC metro area by visiting university classrooms that deal with poetry, as well outside of DC through forms such as the Poetry Foundation online. By engaging the community Ross, is networking and providing name recognition to establish himself as an influential poet in both communities.
Networking is a key element to any line of work; but even more so in the artistic fields such as poetry. Poets rely on the process to connect share work with others and spread the distribution of their work through their peers, as well as spread of their concepts through the development of poetry.
DC Poetry Community - Beth
As a college student from the suburbs of New Jersey, I find myself somewhat sheltered from the pains of the real world. I have emotional and humanitarian ties to the poverty of Newark, one of the poorest cities in the state, but am fairly removed from it in my day-to-day life. The economic crisis ravaged towns in the area but left my Montclair fairly untouched. I know people whose family members are off fighting in the war, but no one that I’m close to has had to make that heroic choice.
In some ways, I, and many other college students like me, are islands with miles and miles of calm, blue oceans to buffer us from the pain and hurt of real society. Because of this, anthologies like D.C. Poets Against The War are my connection to the city, are the only real links between my comfortable life at a university in Foggy Bottom and the cold, hard pavement of Shaw and Columbia Heights. I come from a town where “inflatable Dick Cheneys mingle like Disney characters” (Smith, “At the Haliburton Family Picnic”). I come from a town of blissful ignorance where we give deep sighs of relief and thank God that the issues we see in the news aren’t on our doorsteps that day. But we need, I need, this brutal reality that poetry unforgivingly deals out. I need this D.C. immersion, this slap in the face that the world really is happening, whether I realize it or not. I desperately want to feel Didden’s frustrations at the world; I want her to force me to look into the eyes of “the woman in Iraq / for whom the very sky’s / a menace” (Didden, “Letter From Washington, D.C.”). D.J. Renegade, please make me feel my heart skip the same beat that Gary’s did from “the blown-up photograph held to the fire-box”; all I want to do is to “sniff the carnations [and wonder] how long until they wither” (D.J. Renegade, “Monday Poem”).
With this, I beg of D.C. to take me, shape me, inspire me to change my perceptions of these global issues. Let my college experience move beyond the classroom and the parties and plant within me the desire to care about the world around me. I don’t want the passive culture I came from, I whole-heartedly reject the skin of my prior ignorance. I want my hands in this city’s past, present and future. Cornelius Eady, I believe your dream will come true; this anthology will be “proof against silence” (foreword of the anthology). This poetry has sparked me, moved me; with the past blindness gone, I want this city to be a part of me.
In some ways, I, and many other college students like me, are islands with miles and miles of calm, blue oceans to buffer us from the pain and hurt of real society. Because of this, anthologies like D.C. Poets Against The War are my connection to the city, are the only real links between my comfortable life at a university in Foggy Bottom and the cold, hard pavement of Shaw and Columbia Heights. I come from a town where “inflatable Dick Cheneys mingle like Disney characters” (Smith, “At the Haliburton Family Picnic”). I come from a town of blissful ignorance where we give deep sighs of relief and thank God that the issues we see in the news aren’t on our doorsteps that day. But we need, I need, this brutal reality that poetry unforgivingly deals out. I need this D.C. immersion, this slap in the face that the world really is happening, whether I realize it or not. I desperately want to feel Didden’s frustrations at the world; I want her to force me to look into the eyes of “the woman in Iraq / for whom the very sky’s / a menace” (Didden, “Letter From Washington, D.C.”). D.J. Renegade, please make me feel my heart skip the same beat that Gary’s did from “the blown-up photograph held to the fire-box”; all I want to do is to “sniff the carnations [and wonder] how long until they wither” (D.J. Renegade, “Monday Poem”).
With this, I beg of D.C. to take me, shape me, inspire me to change my perceptions of these global issues. Let my college experience move beyond the classroom and the parties and plant within me the desire to care about the world around me. I don’t want the passive culture I came from, I whole-heartedly reject the skin of my prior ignorance. I want my hands in this city’s past, present and future. Cornelius Eady, I believe your dream will come true; this anthology will be “proof against silence” (foreword of the anthology). This poetry has sparked me, moved me; with the past blindness gone, I want this city to be a part of me.
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