Staceyann Chin Poetry Reading

When I attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in Washington D.C. I learned a great deal not only about who I was but also how I wanted to express my individuality. I realized that life really is too short to go through it pretending to put on a mask and pretend that everything is normal. First of all, what is normal? I guarantee you that your "normal" is my strange as my "normal" is to you. Secondly, I learned that poetry and more specifically spoken word, is a great way to put yourself out there and express your voice. On my trip to D.C. I saw one of the greatest, most outspoken poets I have ever heard, her name was Staceyann Chin. Chin grew up in Jamaica and I already knew that she would have a special connection just because of the experiences she had been through. Chin performed a variety of poems, none of which I could find online but I found a YouTube video of one, which we watched in class. This video can be found here. 

From a spoken word, point of view. Chin presents herself really well. She uses words like "slut", "bitch", and "fuck" throughout her poetry. Although these words are very vulgar, they do their job. They're in your face. I don't feel entirely comfortable using these quiet yet (if ever) just because I don't feel like I'd need them in poetry, or at least as often as she relies on them. Chin focuses a lot on specific issues such as being lesbian, from Jamaica, and dark-skinned woman but just by tackling these problems she tackles a much larger set of them; Homophobia, to a certain degree class-ism, racism and sexism. All of these are huge cultural identifiers and therefore it is important to talk about them. In her poem "Feminist or a Womanist" Chin goes a step further by addressing religion. She calls conventional Jesus ("blonde, blue eyed") and brings him into what some might consider "reality". She point out the fact that Jesus was a "Middle Eastern rasta man"  which already causes some racial tensions, especially if you were a white person who strongly believes in the image of Jesus being white as well. Chin's poetry is very direct and confronting and this is definitely the direction I want to take with my own poetry, so I'm excited to start working on this. I may not necessarily agree with everything she says, but she says it with such strong character that its hard to refute it.

SDLC-Inspired poetry (Spoken Word)

You and Me

What do you see

When you see me?

Do you see what I see?

Can you see what I see?

See, the things is…

It’s not what we see

But what we choose to see

For you see me

And what you see is white.

That in and of itself brings to you

A pre

conceieved

notion of 

who 

I 

am

But…

I am not what you see.

I am rich in heritage beyond your belief.

This new vision of me brings you a relief.

“Oh, it’s one of those”

“I don’t mean it that way.. It’s cool, I’ve got a black friend.”

Well mean what you say

Say what you see

And most of all…

SEE ME

Final Project Proposal

For the final project, I'd like to make a chap book or a video. If I were to make a chap book, I'd have 10 poems and make a bunch of copies and place them all over copy shops. I would make it on half-sized pages to make it look different. I might even put my twitter name on there so people can tweet at me what they think about my poems. This would allow me to grow as a poet and get some anonymous feedback. I would probably focus my poetry on Guatemala and my experiences there because it would be so new and different for everyone.
If I were to make a video, I'd make a long one that was around 3-5 minutes long. I would dedicate a good amount of time and use a real camera to get some nice camera angles. Personally, I'm attracted towards making the video because it's a little more challenging and much more visually pleasing.

I think this is what you wanted, not entirely sure...

Poem of the Day

I looked for almost an hour for a good poem, I was trying to stay away from Sulibreezy because Nick O already did one from him. But I found this one to be very powerful:

Louis Jenkins response

As I begin to explore more and more poetry, I find that I am drawn towards certain types of poetry. Especially with my Latino poetry blog post, I found that poetry is so much more than working with a small anecdote and applying that to a bigger picture, which I feel we have looked at a lot lately.
Jenkins' poetry seems to do just this. He starts off with a snap shot of an event that may/may not have happened to him and then he zooms out to the larger focus. His style is different to Martins' as it does not fluctuate from snap shot to larger picture over and over again.
Football is a poem that I found hard to fully understand. I think that it's about life and the opportunities we get. The football itself represents all the unique chances we have in life to create a change, positive or negative. The narrator analyzes his options as he's about to pass the ball and realizes he's got a support system and different option, which in my opinion represents the different changes we have in life and it is up to us whether or not we pursue them, although this is something I'd like to ask Mr. Jenkins. Jenkins also talks about a pancake and about the different syrups he uses. The syrups represent the different socio-economic status' that the narrator has exeprienced. I think that when he is about to throw the football, he stops and think about where he's come from and what he's accomplished and finally decides against throwing the ball.

The Afterlife is a poem that is easy to relate to. We've all walked out of a cinema saying those exact comments. When I look at older people and hear them talk about their past experiences it sort of sounds like this. The poem reminds me of all the regrets we have in life, how it wasn't perfect. When was the last time you walked out of a movie and said "That movie was perfect! I wouldn't change a single thing!"? Our lives aren't ever perfect but I think Jenkins wants to get to the point that we have to enjoy what we're given and run with it. In this poem, I like the transition from being inside the theater to outside walking. It's a walk where you just process everything you saw for the last two hours, or ~80 years. I found that the poetry that Jenkins uses makes the factual content of the poetry easy to use but as always, you have to dig deeper and find the hidden meaning of the poem which is a little harder to do.

Observation poem

Blades
Sharp to the skin
Wet
Prickly
Shades of green
Moss crawls all over the floor
Leaves provide refreshment
Speaking of leaves, they're yellow
The air feels cooler
In just a few months this ground will
be covered in snow

Wait why am I focused on this
It's nice
The sun is out
The leaves are still green

Latino Poetry Journal

I chose to do Latino poetry for this Journal for two reasons: the first one being that during the whole poetry course, we have encountered no Latino-inspired poetry and I wanted to explore a little more of its origins. The second reason being that Mr. Wensman has suggested that I dig deeper into my own Guatemalan experiences, which from my point of view seems a little cliche primarily because that's the identity I've grown up with/around. As a result, my experiences, different culture and way of life seems normal to me, where as to you, the readers, it will be completely new. Therefore, I'm going to give it a shot and see where I will take this next chapter of my poetic writing.

The online poetry journal I found was the Acentos Review, a tri-annual journal that includes 9 poets in each issue. All of these poets have Latino/Chicano roots and most of their writing if focused on Latin experiences. I found that many of the writers focused much of their content on Mexican themes. Perez, is one example some of her writing focused on the struggle that Mexican-Americans face. I found this not only unappealing but my "shields" were immediately put up once I found out what she was writing about. I think that's because from a very young age, us Guatemalans are taught that Mexicans are inferior to us. To a certain degree, it's racist but it's really a cultural thing where both cultures hold resentments towards each other.

Instead, I decided to focus on Roy Guzman's work. From his content, I figured he was from Honduras and there isn't as much social tension between the two countries so I found it easier to actually enjoy his writing. I found that Guzam's style of writing somebodies much of the Latino culture itself. Guzman's lines are longer than most of the other poems we have read so far in class (other than W.W.'s) which reminded me of how Latinos often just talk for hours without stopping, I believe Guzman is attempting to convey this with the longer lines. He includes an overwhelming amount of references to Latino food and slang which he writes in Spanish, and that just adds to the over all ethnicity of the poem. The Spanish words in the poem have such a pivotal meaning in my opinion that without understanding them, and their context, more importantly, it would be hard for a reader to fully grasp the concept of his writing.

Two New Poems

Her

Her presence lights a room up

Not always with her words but

With grace only known to Her.

For what takes us places

Aren't buses, planes or trains

No, it's something that forever remains

It's that connection that

Sparks fire, comfort provides and grasps on

divides despite

Atitlan

“Yo, get up.”

Hands wipe across my face

Yawns, complaints, all gone

With that motion.

Step out tent.

Crunching beneath my feet

Sounds of volcanic gravel

All around us.

Look to either side

A cold, steep, unforgiving volcano

Surrounds me and my friends

Clouds hang low, visibility? Naught.

This isn’t what I got up for.

It’s 3 AM, too early to hike

Finally, sit down close to each other

One sleeping bag for the three of us.

“Just wait” it’s worth it, I promise.

Nylon is no match for these

Extreme conditions

Better be worth it.

We agree, just 5 more minutes.

2, 3, 4, start packing up our stuff

When suddenly,

A warm ray shines off the surrounding obsidian.

The black rock absorbs it all.

It’s a sign, the sun is soon here

We wait more, more

Suddenly, it happens.

Too fast for my mind to capture.

Colors bursting all around.

Red blue, every shade of hue.

The rays shining through the clouds.

Oh boy, what’s this.

A lake, the beach one on either side.

I can’t believe it for one moment.

This is my country, joy and pride.

Response to Chris Matins poems

Chris Martin's poems are unlike any I have ever read before. Not only the physical aspect of the way they are presented but also their content. Recently, in class, we have been looking at romanticism and poets such as John Keats who truly stick to the "classic" structure and content of poetry. Martin's poetry is very modern and uses topics that we experience in our every-day life. For example, his trip to the zoo is something that we have all experienced and we are each left to create our own imagery based off of our own experiences. This is another difference between the poetry we have been exploring previously to Martin's poetry where the classic poets use a lot of physical and emotional description and the reader is lead to a very specific place where the poet wants them to reach. In comparison, Martin uses every day events which allow us to reach our own conclusions based off of our own experiences. In a way, I really like this because it does not seem like you're being force-fed information. On the other hand, it is very casual and might not have necessarily have taken as much effort to write as John Keat's poems would have taken.

The structure of Martin's poetry is also very peculiar. When I first read the poem, I had a hard time reading the poem and stopping at every break. I soon learned that you have to just read the poems without pausing for them to really make sense. After reading the poem again, I was able to process the information Martin was presenting with much more ease. I found that Martin starts off by providing the reader with snapshots of his life and then focuses in on a serious topic. He did this in The True Meaning of Pictures when he started off writing about his trip to the zoo when he was stoned and then switches topic and questions who is in control in life. I found this to be a reoccurring theme in his poems. After switching into a "deeper" topic Martin then zooms out to a broader, not-so heavy scope but ends his poems with one liners which tie into the more complex topic.

If I Lived on the Beach

Warm sand hugs my feet
The sun toasts my skin to a light crisp
Humidity embraces my entirety
The cool ocean mist lands on my eyelashes

Lazily, the hammock rocks
Back and forth, the waves crash
Splash! The pool washes away the salt
Holding my breath for as long as I can
Coming up when my lungs scream for air

At night, we watch the stars
Long walks on the beach

Our time at the beach is short.
We make the most of it.
Until return to our dull lives.
For the peace and tranquility
We never cease to seek.

Sutphner

Marcus Alburez

Poetry

Mr. Wensman

9/17/2013

Response to Joyce Suthpen’s poetry

Many of Ms. Suthpen’s poems focus on the big themes of life. Suthpen’s poetry emphasis is on how to act, speak and respond to certain turning point situations in our lives. Her poem “How to Listen” is one that truly resonates with this theme of overall spirituality. When she writes:

This is your chance to listen carefully.

Your whole life might depend on what you hear.

I can’t help but think about the course that we as humans are taking. In an age where we are easily distracted by technology, Suthpen’s poetry certainly brings the reader back to what is important in life. Suthpen takes this step even further with her poem “Condition” where she seems to explore the way we think about creationism and what role it plays in our lives. The lines

Nothing so unlikely could be to my liking

Better than fates decree or that some

Hidden plan intervene.

Could be taken out of context yet would still make perfect sense. She uses these “big picture” themes in order to draw the reader’s attention. Using big ideas like the ones Sutphner allows poets to not only express how they feel about these ideas but due to the controversial nature of these ideas, they spark a moral debate between the reader and the writer. I hope to explore more of this writing because I believe that I have a unique perspective on the world and will create some interesting poetry which will allow me to challenge some ideals.  

Blood, sweat, gasoline.

Everyone around us yells.

Chains tied around him clink.

His cries for help ignored.

Dose him with more.

Stop. Move. No, stop.

It’s only fair.

But is it?

A few uniformed figures

Are no match for the masses.

Testosterone and anger

Are thick in the air.

A malicious stench.

They all love it.

He clings onto life.

Alive or dead?

It makes no difference to him.

“Fuck him – let’s finish it”

The words “Yes, please”

Manage to slither out his mouth

Right alongside his final breaths. 

What I learned: Punctuation matters and the way you present language is essential. Our language really reflects who we are and what type of writing we've been exposed to. I hope to learn more about my writing and improve it through revision.