I(t) sunk.
The polarity
forcing, melting away to fit
never hot enough to break shape.
Hit and hit and hit, with miss:
concave, aching, bending, breaking
to be
whole.
To round out the dents,
smooth the curves,
pave the cracks.
To fill the space,
(your space)
with spaces and places
and names
of
my own.
Of mine, my fingertips reaching
to find the brink of
your tongue,
the well boarded shut,
and sing sweetly
and low
and slow
as soft
as tender
as all
of
you.
Welcome to the Poets of Color of the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries A small sampling of poetry by poets of color are examined in this class as a way of expanding our perception of the American poetry cannon. Our discussions investigate the new forms, open languages, and cultural origins of the works, and also how these poets intersect with the literary terrain.
Poets of Color
Elmaz Abinader, Instructor Office: 313 Mills Hall
510 430 2225 elmaz@earthlink.net
office hours: 5-6:30 Thursday and by appointment
Here are the texts for the class.
• Asian American Poetry: the Next Generation edited by Victoria Chang
• Voices from Leimert Park, ed by Shonda, Buchannan
• Effigies, An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing Pacific Rim, 2009, Okpik, Rexford McDougall, etc (Salt Publishing)
• The Wind Shifts, New Latino Poetry, Edited by Francisco Aragón
• The Essential Etheridge Knight by Etheridge Knight
• Mercy by Lucille Clifton
• Zodiac of Echoes by Khaled Mattawa
• Diwata by Barbara Jane Reyes
LOVE! So so good.
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely, lovely. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteElmaz says: Bam!
ReplyDeleteHELL YEAH THIS IS AMAZINGGG.
ReplyDeleteThe first line did something brilliant! You took it a step further! I(t) !!! The space I want to see, the two that exist... This was very visual!
ReplyDelete