Dis Poem

Mutabaruka’s poem “Dis Poem” employs personification, a unique structure, and metaphors, along with a hurried yet non-chalant tone, to present an infinity of events at any moment in time. It makes reference to things that have happened a long time past, and things that are yet to happen. The author relies on time to set a context, or a lack off such, for his ideas. Mutabaruka’s text is an attempt to encompass only a fraction of the humanity he describes, such insignificant portion of the whole.

Mutabaruka presents the poem along with an abnormal structure, which lacks punctuation and, in some cases, leaves words incomplete. The structure relates to the speed at which everything in the world happens, allowing no time for pausing, much less for correcting the past. Initially, the author states that this poem “shall speak of time unlimited time undefined.” Mutabaruka mentions this in an attempt to remove the limits and constraints of content, similar to the limitless and unpredictable structure of a poem that rushes line after line with little time for respite. The author finalizes the poem, in which minimal presence of punctuation is evident, with “in your mind…”. In recurring to a sustained pause he is liberating his writing for anyone else willing to elaborate upon it as more things happen, as time continues to elapse. Mutabaruka leaves out some letters as he writes his words, an example present in the fourth to last line where he writes: “this poem is to be continue”. According to the lines that immediately follow, it is evident that the word should be “continued,” including the missing “d”. The author alienates letters as he tries to give the reader a sense of rushing through thoughts that have but moments to exist.

Likewise, Mutabaruka’s hurried tone and use of literary elements further build upon the meaning of the work as a whole. The recurrent mention of time in the poem alludes to the infinity of existence, for even when we put an end to our part of “Dis Poem.” Someone else will carry on as more things happen, just as we are extending the meaning of something that has already happened in reading it under the light of a different humanity over a decade after. In the same manner, Mutabaruka personifies the poem as he shifts the vision of writing as a means to record a story to the protagonist of that same story. In other words, the poem no longer narrates history, the poem is history. It acquires a personality as “dis poem is watchin u tryin’ to make sense from dis poem dis poem is messing up your brains making u want to stop listening to dis poem”. The author turns the reader into a part of a conversation, as he no longer reads but listens. Now this poem really is “ a part of the story his-story… her-story… our-story”. Mutabaruka plays with the concept of our story as part of The History. In doing so, the author makes the poem personal, he makes us care, he writes not for us but about us.

Therefore, Mutabaruka has given his part to the whole poem. He has written a small segment of a much larger story, a greater poem regarding us, and our story. For this reason, the end of the poem remains open, for “dis poem needs to be changed”. In fact, it will forever need to be changed as more things happen and more poets come to immortalize humanity, millions of stories running parallel in time.

Timed Writing 2

Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” employs stoic imagery and structure, encompassed in a nonchalant tone, to portray the importance of boundaries. The narrator insists upon the unimportance of the walls even as he builds them back up. In contrast, his neighbor cordially defends the importance of setting the limits for fruitful relationships.

Frost introduces the first stanza by distinguishing those that “[don’t] love a wall.” The word “wall” immediately strikes the reader as a metaphor to boundaries, the most important being territorial and social boundaries. But those walls deteriorate and show gaps which the narrator comes “after them and [makes] repair.” In depicting the deterioration of the walls, Frost refers to an intangible boundary. He refers to social relationships, where limits begin to fade with time and governments must rebuild through laws, or parents through education. Frost purposely omits any separation into stanzas in an effort to mimic the absence of walls in his text. He describes different standings on the subject, but suggests his position in his writing. Accordingly, the characters meet “to walk the line and set the wall between us once again.” Frost alludes to the difficulty of maintaining boundaries and questions their productivity. Limits are constantly checked and zealously maintained by both sides regardless of what they say.

However, as the narrator mentions that “we do not need the wall,” because his apple trees will never invade the pines, his actions contradict him. In response, the neighbor suggests: “Good fences make good neighbors.” The words mean that boundaries avoid trouble. They prevent people from invading others’ privacy. The narrator then comes to the conclusion that before “I build a wall I’d ask to know what I was walling in or walling out.” Frost alludes to alienation and discrimination in the words “walling out.” A wall may work wonders for those it protects, but how about those it leaves out to face their troubles? A wall is an instrument of rejection, a method to distance oneself from others. For that reason, the narrator argues that “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” These words bring about all those who live outside the barriers society has erected, especially if we take into account the time period during which the poem was written as one of discord and civil unrest.

The poem culminates with the resurgence of “Good fences make good neighbors.” The repetition of these words demonstrates the neighbor’s unwillingness to change his mentality. In effect, some degree of metafiction kicks in, for the walls built inside the neighbor’s mind prevent him from considering the narrator’s words. A reflection upon the inefficiency of walls meets some solid mental blockades, thus rendering it obsolete.

Timed Writing 1

Kevin Young’s poem “The Mission” juxtaposes life and death through the use of imagery and structure. He describes children experiencing life right next to souls of those whose time has elapsed. Imagery of death, amidst a detailed description of the pleasures of the living, depicts both ends of a spectrum. Young invites the reader to reflect upon his own vision of the two, upon the efimerality of life.

Young introduces the poem “across the street from a home for funerals.” He sets the tone for a conversation about the banality of death. In front of the funeral house, “soul after soul she watched pour into the cold New England Ground.” The culmination of one’s time on earth is no longer a surprise but an expected part of routine. Likewise, the structure of the poem reflects the continuation of this imagery, almost as if every couplet was a “soul after soul.” In a similar manner, Young juxtaposes the sun of the living with the cold ground of the dead. It is interesting that the author depicts as souls going down into the cold ground, for it challenges the usual depiction of a blazing inferno beneath.

Likewise, young introduces children as the symbol of innocence. He remembers, “back there” when he was a child, “[paying] tag out front, while the bodies snuck in the back.” His reference to children is especially powerful when combined with free verse, for it foreshadows their liberty in choosing what to make out of their life. They begin their life as others come to an end behind their backs. However, to Young as well as every other being, the time comes when the realization of death corrodes this vision of a gay life. It becomes a custom, a reason to wear old suits, “praying they still fit.” Death becomes so banal that that “most laughed despite themselves.” People have succumbed to its reality and resign themselves in expectation for their moment.

In effect, it is as if our clocks had broke and “always read three.” We have lost notion of the importance of time. In his use of the imagery of time, Young plays with the limited time we have under the sun before we head to the shivering depth of the ground. It is as if when “the sun is too bright. Your eyes adjust.” These words convey our conformity. We have simply adjusted to the sorrows of death forcing it through a metamorphosis to the mundane. At the end, “the cars fill & start to edge out,” signaling the end of a cycle. The poem begun with their arrival and culminates with their departure, playing with the idea of cycles. The last words read: “I could not see to see.” Young finalizes with the loss of his sight, he has become one more of the numbed spectators of life. He began to realize when he poured down to the cold ground. His understanding did not come in time to illuminate his sight when he should have seen.

Interview With Toni Morrison

As I listened to Charlie Rose interview Toni Morrison, it intrigued me to learn that the author begins most of her works with a question. All questions have something in common: every word following the question mark has a specific purpose, a role in the answer. In effect, Morrison strives to instill learning in her readers. By opening with a question, she defines the whole novel as matter of importance, a process through which she leads us in the answering of the question. But what learning is she trying to put forth?

Later, Morrison describes the extensive research she conducts before the writing of a novel. She must master a historical context as well as specific relationships and patterns in a time period. She believes that “everybody changes all the time,” and after a short pause she adds, “like the country.” Morrison gives and added importance to relationships in her novel in her comparing them to the development of a country. This is true in Song of Salomon, where characters encompass ideas that represent groups of people. Guitar, for example, represents those who fought for the acquisition of equal rights for blacks. As the novel progresses, his relationship with Milkman begins to corrode as he takes on a more radical position. Conversely, Milkman takes on a passive stance towards racial discrimination. He represents northerners who chose to ignore the situation in the south in face of their own fortune. In effect, Morrison presents a dichotomy in her descriptions of Milkman and Guitar, a clash of ideals very real in America during the 1950’s.

Likewise, Morrison’s dependence on biblical allusion is supported by historical tendencies. As part of her research, she tried to locate the factors people where running from. She mentions Bacon’s rebellion, where a group of white and black gathered to bring down an oppressive government. They succeeded only to be caught and hung later. At first the relation isn’t very clear, but then Morrison explains: “religion supported people.” The bible was that driving force that led people to think and act the way they did. It led them to gather in an attempt to rebel against tyrannical rule, it gave blacks a reason to hope for a better future, and it even gave whites a reason to alienate blacks. Morrison explains how Satan was perceived in the bible as “the black man.” In one of her novels, a black girl is alienated because whites think she is a minion of Satan. The bible, she beliefs, is deeply related with the African American evolvement from slaves to Americans.