Nothing

Looking through the glass 

the rain pouring so slowly

 Drowning in sorrow 

…

Is tomorrow gone?

no stars no dreams nothing seen

now where do I go?

Dear friend, 

I wanted to take on a haiku and the poem I chose to imitate was from you in the Anthology of Wartime Haiku, into to poetry it goes, 

“From the window of despair 

May sky

there is always tomorrow 

…

At daybreak 

stars disappear

where do I discard my dreams?” 

Pg100-101. I wanted to encapture almost like a similar style of words for example tomorrow, stars, dreams. I wanted to get the connection between poems by presenting these words in similar tones. I know you were in a really bad place where you wished everything was over and that you could finally go home. I chose to encompass those feelings you might have felt. By choosing my first line to be “looking through the glass” almost like a reflection in your poem of its first line being “From the window of despair”. I wanted to bring forth the imagery of the poem and have a new modern audience see through the window that it is pouring rain outside as maybe you were inside writing your poem. I wanted people to see the true sorrows you may have been through being in an internment camp and the pain it caused you to try and live on. Even though you had said it was a May sky meaning it was in May at the end of Spring and beginning of Summer I wanted to bring a counterpart of myself into it. How whenever I am going through a tough time it is usually when it’s raining. The rain just symbolizes for me the dreadfulness and freedom to cry, with my cries being muffled by the rain. I hope this is alright for you and you don’t see it drift much apart from your poem. In my second stanza just like you had written “Where do I discard my dreams?” I wrote “Now where do I go?”, I wanted to say that you were the dreams and now were deciding what to do. 

I wanted to show the power of alliteration I know as a fellow friend you would love from your writing skill level. I chose to input this to symbolize the word no and nothing in stanza 2 line 2. With alliteration I could help display your work on one line instead of multiple. This helps in bringing rhythm and the importance that there is nothing surrounding this poem. There is an abyss of nothing, and it is the speaker’s choice to see where maybe they can go.

I know you like free-style haiku and from the last lines from the stanzas you would end that would be 7 syllables instead of 5 in retrospect, a traditional haiku ending and starting with 5 syllable lines and in the middle being 7 syllables. I tried to form a nice sounding rhythm to your poem to intrigue an audience to go on a poetic rhythm as they continue reading on. I wanted to fight your notion and capture the traditional haiku to show you that it also could work with your poem and what you are trying to say about being boxed in and not being able to live your life freely. From being on one side of the window and watching the world pass by as you sit and write poetry to show what had happened during World War 2. 

My dear friend people are drifting apart from history so I wanted to make this poem to pay homage to your poem. It deserves to be read and analyzed by poets throughout. I thank you for writing something so deep and emotionally beautiful. That is why I made this to show people today the dreams that were crushed, the pain and abuse you had gone through, and most importantly the historical aspect of when you wrote this. Today, there is something similar as to when you were in the camps. It is a war. A war on Gaza and the Palestine people. How they now have to leave their homes just like you did or they would face death. Even today they are still facing it and don’t know whether they can get it tomorrow. My dear friend this is why I wrote this homage poem, to have these people who are oppressed know they are not alone and that we the people see them. Like how we saw you guys we will not remain silent. 

          With deep love and understanding your friend,

    Kelly Flores

Look Around Sonora County

Driving through white snow,

As snowflakes flew gracefully,

Through the coast redwoods.

…

Summer heat has died,

Black, eight-legged Critters emerge,

As Autumn awakes.

…

Sunset Fully Sets,

As night creeps in, an owl hoots,

Calling predators.

…

Rich with history,

A California Ghost Town,

In grassy foothills.

…

Beyond the small towns,

There is a whole new world,

Of nature’s wonders.

Review: Instead of creating one haiku, I created an anthology based on observations and real-life experiences I had exploring Sonora County. These selected pieces were inspired by the multiple haikus Japanese Americans wrote during their stay at the Japanese internment camps. They mostly utilized poetic elements like imagery and nature to describe their personal situations and observations. I followed an identical approach to write my haikus.

Unlike, their haikus though, in which the majority were free verse in English, I decided to follow the traditional format which is 5 syllables for the first and last line and 7 syllables for the middle because I thought it was simpler. Though experiences are different between the poets and me, the use of imagery, setting, and nature is highly implemented on both sides. For example “white snow” (Poem 1, line 1), “Snowflakes flew”(Poem 1, line 2), “Summer heat” (Poem 2, line 1), “autumn”(Poem 2,3), “sunset fully sets” (Poem 3, Line 1), “Nights creeps in” (Poem 3, Line, “Small towns” (Poem 5, line 1), “grassy foothills” (Poem 4, line 3). Similar descriptions and details were given to describe seasons, weather, and surroundings in the Anthology of Wartime Haiku. Like in Kyotaro Komur’s “Lingering summer heat, Japanese proceeding under guard, on dusty white road.” (Komur, Pg 109) and Shiho Okamoto’s “Iron Fence immovable, over the mountain, winter sunrise.” (Okamoto, Pg 112). What makes my anthology connect with the Anthology of Wartime Haikus is both take place in the state of California. Also, the places I described are historical landmarks, meaning just like the Japanese internment camps, these “small towns” hold their own history. For example, “Rich with history, A California Ghost Town, In grassy foothills.” (poem 4) Up in Sonora there are various towns like Columbia, Twain Harte, Mariposa, Jamestown, etc. One of these towns is the Chinese Camp which is practically a ghost town. What’s its history? According to the California Office of Historic Preservation, the Chinese camp was the headquarters for stage lines in the early 1850s and for various CA Chinese mining companies. This was during the gold rush. This is why I added, “Rich with history” to hint at the gold rush. The other small towns were part of the gold rush too. It was a small input but, it holds great significance to California’s history, just like the Japanese internment camps.

Japanese American poets described major features that highlighted back towards Japanese internment camps like Yotenchi Agari’s haiku, “Moonlit summer sky/ same black houses/ standing in rows,” (Agari, Pg 111). I was going to familiar structure for my haikus. Like Agari, I highlighted significant features my main idea was known for like, “Driving through white snow, As snowflakes flew gracefully, Through the coast redwoods.”  (Poem 1). During the winter season, it is likely to snow up in Sonora. One of the most significant attributes of Sonora is the coast redwood trees. Readers may not pick up that I’m talking about specifically Sonora because snow and coast redwoods aren’t just located in that area, however from relying on vivid imagery I am attempting to create an image in their head of what I saw when I was there.

 This is the same with American Japanese poets, they created a visual of their experience, even if the readers had little knowledge about the internment camps, with the use of imagery, readers managed to see and imagine what these poets lived through at the time. I wanted to recreate that feeling for my readers. I could have been more direct in naming the small towns, but I also wanted my readers to build their own visual picture of what I was referring to. I believed that if I mentioned names like “Mariposa” or “Twain Harte”, most readers would easily get the idea and automatically imagine the exact town, pushing away the visual context I provided in my poem. In other words, I wanted head gears to turn. I wanted my readers to think, not just to quickly come up with the answers like “Oh it’s Twain Harte”. I was seeking to write something simple but not too straightforward. Something similar to Yotenchi Agari’s second haiku on page 111. The poem was centered on the Stockton Assembly Center, however Agari didn’t mention the name directly in the poem but indicated it with imagery. I was inspired to follow a similar poem structure because I wanted to ensure readers saw what my haikus described, but also not make it too obvious.

Aside from the first haiku what about the rest? “Summer heat has died, Black, eight-legged Critters emerge, As Autumn awakes.” (Poem 2). This haiku was quite specific in the aspect that I mentioned seasons and black, eight-legged critters. The reason why I added “eight-legged”, was because in Mariposa there is a time when spiders appear, instead of saying spiders though I wanted my readers to envision what I meant and what specific creature I was talking about. I am not talking about just any spider; I was referring to a black tarantula. Why a tarantula? Driving to Mariposa I came across tarantulas crawling on the floor and across the streets and I thought it was one of the most memorable moments I had traveling to Sonora because I had never seen it before. Down here in Merced, it’s unlikely you see a spider casually cross the road, especially a black tarantula. So not only did I rely on identical literary techniques that Japanese-American poets used to describe their situations in the Japanese internment camps, but I also included distinctive moments I had. Though they were quite the opposite compared to the experiences internees had during their stay at internment camps, the haikus were based on experiences that were considered one of the most striking or persistent in one’s mind whether it was good or bad.

What about the use of season and time? With the seasons mentioned, readers get the idea that I have visited Sonora multiple times throughout the year, whether it was winter, summer, or autumn. I purposefully made that clear because I believe if I didn’t my haikus would be incomplete because the reason I went to Sonora was due to the time of season. I also included how I observed beyond the little towns in my 3^rd and 5^th poems.

 I added, “Sunset Fully Sets, As night creeps in, an owl hoots, Calling predators.” (Poem 3). During the night, in Sonora, it’s likely predators like wolves and coyotes show up. What’s interesting is they start to appear right when the sun begins to set, it happens fast. This was something that I observed. I wasn’t specific with what type of predators; however, this allows readers to come up with their own guesses and work their imagination. The fifth poem was quite broad in the aspect that when I said “small towns” it can be taken to context that it can be any small town. However, putting my title as “Look around Sonora County” gives an indication that it’s a town in Sonora. I didn’t want my readers to overthink my poems either, so that’s why I made sure to make my title specific. This is what I noticed the internees did, even when their haikus had no titles, they relied on imagery to stay specific on their main idea.  

Overall, my main focus was to have readers make up a realistic image through their minds by only depending on the imagery and multiple adjectives I provided. I created my anthology relying on the poetic elements Japanese American haiku poets used in their collection of poems. I also included historical context and explained how my observations not only were important to me but also how these observations held a great significance and impact on California’s history itself, just like the Japanese Internment camps did to these Japanese American Haiku poets.

Claudia Dominguez

Citations: Parks, California State. “California State Parks.” CA State Parks, ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/423#:~:text=Reportedly%20founded%20about%201849%20by,several%20California%20Chinese%20mining%20companies. Accessed 2 May 2024. 

like a dark dusty rose

Review:
There are many poems that were assigned to us, but I chose “Sea Rose” by H.D., which I chose for my second essay that we have assigned because this poem is my favorite among the others. I love debating about women stereotypes, and women’s perfections and imperfections, which the poem is focused on. My essay is mainly on those themes so creating a short imitation of “Sea Rose” will be a good idea since I already analyzed a lot of this poem. For my imitation of the poem, I combined the two themes of women’s perfections and imperfections that shape stereotypical society. 

The original poem has lots of imagery which I also included in my imitation of the poem. I tried to follow the similar structure of the original poem. The original starts off with listing the characteristics of the weak and fragile rose, which I tried to start off as well. I used a lot of imagery to give you a picture of the rose. I did give the rose a pronoun because the poem is about how women are seen in society based off the stereotypes. The “dark rusty rose” is to show that the rose is decaying and dying making her weak and “weightless like a feather.” For line 2, I said that she is dancing very weakly which I tried to connect with lines 5 through 8 to show how she has no control over her body because of how weak she is. The wind in the original poem represents the society and how people in society control women in following their expectations. I made this point clear in the second stanza saying how the wind (society) hits the rose (women) and controlling her movements to paths that societies want the women to follow. In the last stanza, I tried to connect its back to the last stanza in the original. In the original poem, H.D. compares the spice-rose which are considered beautiful and perfect to the rotting rose which is seen as imperfect. For my imitation for that part, I tried to make it seem as if the weak rose saw the perfect spice-rose as perfection but couldn’t relate to that cause of society sees her as imperfect for having flaws and not meeting their exceptions. I also tried to make it seem as the flawed rose is admiring the perfect rose to point out how many women in the world want to be perfect for society, but because of their flaws that are seen as different.

For my imitation on “Sea Rose,” I used a few poetic elements H.D. also used for the poem. H.D. used a lot of imagery, which I also incorporated for my imitation. In the second stanza of my imitation, I wanted to mainly use imagery to show how the wind is controlling the roses movements and guiding it to certain directions to compare it in the real world on how society is controlling women and how they should be. I characterized the flawed rose as H.D. did and using simile to compare woman to the “dark dusty rose,” and then compared the weight of the rose to a feather to show its weakness. H.D. didn’t have much of a rhythm in “Sea Rose,” so I didn’t really focus on having a rhyming scheme. My focus was on the imagery, comparison between women and roses, and women stereotypes.

—

Gurranvir Kaur

April Rain

Of you I thought when the day rain.
April sun shun,‘til you overcast.
I met you on a similar day, a rain day,
the streets of Edinburgh cold.

When the day rain.

Near you, my prim-rose soul.
Heard ever a crimson primrose
Bloom in rainy autumn? Not me.

When the day rain.

But to you, my bleeding bud blossoms.
Your warm Soul, wild prim-rose;
To life (bring) in all he traverse

When the day rain.

Glen Coe down Scotland’s borders —
Your smile disorders seasons

When the day rain.

A pilgrimage, like a pilgrim I would go,
Singing hymns, at the altar of your soul.
Come… alter, re-alter, mind and body.
Sanctify fidelity of my devoted Being.

When the day rain.

And two hands held for prayer.
Yes, it is! It were! Of Love embody;

Two Souls naked in hallow communion.
He is no other, and none like him,

When the day rain.

Your mouth, lips, the tongue,
Enunciating. You are poetry!
And I waited to hear you say:
“My luve is like a red, red rose.”

When the day rain.

But I, overcasted your thoughts.
Of who I was, left you clouded.

When the day rain.

Let it, echo, throughout my Eden;
When Adam came, and gave me my name.
I will answer back, “Adam. Adam.”

But Adam must have Eve.
I saw, but Paradise no more.

When the day rain.

The rain fall with me —
rose-coloured lens intact.
The sun, shining, over on East.
In California, there is no sun

When the day rain.

Sharing the rain, bunched primroses.
Drops sleeping on petals; first to bloom.
Mine I left stinging, to my lips.
Embrace cold I imagined you gave.
Of what could, would, never have been.

When the day rain.

All my petals gone dull; frost bitten.
Macabre scent emit is, and not mine.
Each brown petal speaks for Adam.

When the day rain. When the day rain.

Of you I thought when the day rain.
The day rained, and I thought of you.
—-

My poem “April Rain” is a parody of Rumi’s “Like This.” I knew I wanted to use Rumi’s poem after reading both his poem and biography. Reading about Rumi and Hafez’s relationship I found to be one of the tragic things of life, to lose someone so closely without a goodbye or knowing what had happened to them — to suddenly disappear. The emotions he evokes in his love poems, primarily through “Like This” I felt entranced by the passionate sensuality he brings to his audience.

The inspiration for my poem came from my time studying abroad in Edinburgh. For the first time I experienced what it was like to fall in love. It was impossible to ever be with them, but it was through being friends with them that I had discovered much about who I am. We met in one of my class discussions; they were framed within the classroom door’s window when I first spotted them, and out of coincidence we had the same class. Furthering this, we became partners for a discussion assignment where the friendship first began. We had traveled around Scotland, and I learned much about him and myself. The last time I had seen him was after our adventure from the Scottish borders. We were in Waverley station where we parted and I watch him disappear in the crowd. There were many aspects in the poem that were an inspiration from that experience, but the speaker of the poem should certainly not be confused with me. They simply helped shape the content of the poem through the emotions.

This poem is the most vulnerable I’ve ever written and shown to the public, but I chose the emotions of this experience into a poem because of its vulnerability. Rumi, like all poets, create incredible poems of emotional experiences because they let themselves be vulnerable; an emotional experience I hope to reflect.

Aspects of my poem that are similar to Rumi’s “Like This” are the free verse form, love in connection with spirituality, the natural experience of love, repetitions, and sensuality. What I had wanted to replicate is that sense of divine love to someone. Though there are many differences to my poem to Rumi’s. The situational content itself being very different to Rumi’s. I wrote the poem as both a parody and a response to “Like This,” by being its opposite. A spiritual love that is romanticized.

I also wanted to have the freedom to use my voice, to try and create my own meaning by borrowing from Rumi’s themes, form, and meaning primarily between the speaker’s relationship with Hafez rather than trying to attempt being Rumi. That is why I paid close attention to syntax. Each word is intentional to make the poem stand for itself but still hold those thematic elements of spiritual love. Punctuation I focused on also as it was lacking in “Like This,” which might be due to translation, so I utilized punctuation to help give an extra element to the poem.

The speaker in Rumi’s “Like This” is confident about that sense of spiritual love, my speaker lacks that confidence and jumps all over. They compare their love to Adam, the “warm Soul,” God, even the nationalistic identity of Scotland. This brings about the borders of love itself – the speaker resides in California, with his love in Scotland. This border also continues with the identity of the speaker, the “prim-rose” being that ambiguity of the speaker’s gender and their identity overall, questioning it but never passing the border to fully understand themselves. The hyphenation of “prim-rose” is both that division, but also what the speaker also desires as they seek to become the traditional symbol of a rose.

This poem also is Europeanized, mainly to reflect the blindness of the speaker themselves as they “fall” to California and furthering that border of their identity: American-Scottish. With the Quran being used in Rumi’s “Like This” I implemented Christian themes both to reflect Scotland and America’s history with Christianity, and the colonial history in which the West brings with religion. Nonetheless, I chose a poem for my medium as I felt it more accurately helped display syntax evoking certain emotions, and as a way for me to experiment with language.

Phillip Gallo

The Sensual Form

The meaning of Julia Alvarez’s “Sometimes the Words Are So Close” is enhanced from the drafts by showing the “many drafts” to reflect the speaker finding themselves through many trial-and-errors. This is a petrarchan sonnet, because the rhyming scheme follows that of the petrarchan rules but also the volta that occurs on line 9, “Why do I get confused living it through?” (Alvarez 9). The audience partakes in this confusion as they read through the enjambment from lines 1-8 because of its lack of punctuations, in which shifts with the rhetorical question. The speaker also mentions they are more who they are when “down on paper” (2). The drafts Alvarez made become an artform reflecting the creation of the poem, the audience can see the authentic struggle of an individual trying to seek the right words that reflects their emotions. Alvarez writes many scribbles, crosses, and self-critical comments like “pretentious” that echoes the running sentence – a running thought of a speaker whose anxieties find relief in writing.

The speaker also speaks to the audience, “I once was in many drafts as you” (12). The audience is referred to as a rough sketch of a poem where each individual is refining and editing what gives them meaning, what they want, and who they are. The speaker acknowledges this too, but the sonnet takes a form of its own by the speaker by giving it a gender; “who touches this poem touches a woman” (14). And that is seen through the edits made in the drafts, a sensual experience of a female speaker who defines themselves through the poem’s form. The edits as well enhance that meaning as she tries to find the right words that reflect the meaning of her poem. It is with certainty, especially throughout the rough drafts, that the poem’s form is a woman’s as Alveraz ensured the poem ends in this manner. Her utilization of the sonnet form could be to reflect the female speaker defining herself against the patriarchal control of the sonnet, in which she encourages her audience whose words are “close” to the audience to define themselves as well. Nonetheless, it is through the drafts that reflects a human process of understanding one’s identity and establishing it despite the odds.

Phillip Gallo

Unable to Move On

Claude McKay’s, “December 1919” (Pg 29) is thematically linked and a continuation to “My Mother” (Pg 26 and 27) by capturing the intense grief and loss he felt for his mother’s passing.  Both these sonnets are expressed with a sorrowful tone demonstrating that there are suppressed emotions involved related to his mother’s death. How is death involved?. From the descriptive tone McKay uses in My Mother, it is noticed that he is describing his last moment with her before she died. In the poem, he claims, “But in her quiet way she made me yield” (McKay, Pg 26, Line 3). Indicating where his mother lied, it was quiet and peaceful, knowing her current condition, made him stop to check on her. “Reluctantly, for she was breathing low.” (Mckay, Pg 26, Line 4). Before dying, people tend to lose their breath slowly because they are trying to stay alive as much time as they can. In this case, this is what’s happening to Mckay’s mother. Mckay continues by describing his mother’s eyes, mentioning, “Her eyes said: I shall last another day. But scarcely had we reached the distant place,” (Mckay, Pg 26, Line 8 and 9). This describes how his mother is not trying to die just yet for her son, but she can’t hold it much longer. How do we know she died though? Line 10 makes that statement clear by mentioning a “faint bell ringing”. When a person dies, a death bell is rung to mark the death of someone. This death bell connects back to Christian beliefs. So there is a hint of biblical terms involved in this poem. Both poems are detailed in the aspect of describing loss and grief, however, My Mother is expressed with more imagery connected to nature. This is shown in Part 2. “The dawn departs, the morning is begun, The trades come whispering from off the seas, The fields of corn are golden in the sun,” (Pg 26, Lines 1 and 3). December 1919 also demonstrates a bit of imagery, precisely describing Mckay’s urge to cry, “tears gushed from my heart, mother, And passed beyond its wall, But though the fountain reached my throat, The drops refused to fall.” (Pg 29, Lines 5-8) But, My Mother was lengthier in implying imagery compared to December 1919 which was more of a straightforward poem.

What’s the theme connection between both poems though? They’re both related to grieving and death. ’My mother’ comes in two parts while December 1919 is shorter. My Mother follows more of the traditional sonnet structure unlike December 1919. This is specifically found within its rhyming scheme and length. My mother consists of an ABAB scheme and two 14-line sonnets, while December 1919 has a broken rhyme scheme and only has 12 lines. However, what does December 1919 show? It demonstrates the great impact his mother’s death had on him. December 1919 displays the broken and grieving state he was left in by his mother’s passing. It is a recall of that moment that was told in My Mother. In My Mother, readers didn’t get much on how Mckay felt, it was more on what was going on in that moment. On the other hand, December 1919, goes more in-depth with Mckay’s feelings and how that loss marked him in life. He begins with a memory, “Last night I heard your voice, mother, The words you sang to me When I, a little barefoot boy, Knelt down against your knee.” (Mckay, Pg 29, Lines 1 and 4). By starting his poem like this, he makes it clear who he’s writing this poem for, which is his mother. From the looks of it, the rhyme scheme is already off. Its broken structure demonstrates the intense emotions he felt as he wrote it. This becomes more evident as he continues, “tears gushed from my heart, mother, And passed beyond its wall, But though the fountain reached my throat The drops refused to fall.” (Mckay, Pg 29, Lines 5 and 8). This is where the suppressed emotions are shown. He wants to cry for the loss of his mother but can’t. I also noticed that he mentioned time, “tis ten years since you died, mother, Just ten dark years of pain,” (Mckay, Pg 29, Lines 9 and 10). Unlike My Mother, Mckay makes it clear that December 1919 was written 10 years after his mother’s death. From stating “ten dark years of pan” readers are also aware of the great impact his mother’s death has caused him. He clarifies that after 10 years, Mckay still feels unable to move on from his mother’s passing. He is still hurt and filled with overwhelming emotions. December 1919 exposes the fact that he still has not moved on from the loss of his mother.  Though both poems were structurally different in rhyme scheme and length, they both relate to the loss of his mother and express the intense emotional pain and sadness McKay felt because of it.

Claudia Dominguez

America’s Moses Defies God

Claude McKay’s poem “Enslaved” and “I Shall Return” both express the oppression of Blacks by White supremacy in which the speaker seeks freedom for his people through a spiritual pilgrimage to find a communist home; to be freed from classism and exploitation of labor in which Blacks were subjugated under through racism. “Enslaved” reads as a retelling of Moses freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and the pilgrimage with his people to the “promised land” in Canaan.

Moses in the Old Testament defies King Ramses II, who enforces slavery using religious beliefs would be considered “pagan” to justify the exploitations of labor and classism on the Israelites. The speaker in “Enslaved” is a Moses-figure, who uses Christianity to display the hypocrisy of this White society. The speaker remarks how Blacks are “denied a human place in the great life line of the Christian West” (McKay 3-4). The speaker’s usage of the word “human” creates the image of African Americans being seen as an Other; being less than humans and instead objects within the Christian West. They are commodified for America’s production, “enslaved” for America’s production where the speaker confronts the irony of America’s “life, liberty, and justice for all.” 

He also remarks that “the Black land disinherited, robbed… my race… has no home on earth” (5, 8). America is a colonial power that seeks to exploit other lands for the means of production. This is furthered to reflect Egypts colonial power as they enslave the Israelites. With there being a lack of home in America, the speaker calls down upon the “avenging angel” like Moses to “consume” the White colonialism imposed by those who hold political authority (10). Consumption is ironically used as Marxism views consumption as a force that alienates people, furthering them from being humans, in which Others the Christian West. This consumption returns with the speaker wishing the Christian West be “swallowed up in earth’s womb,” implying that capitalism’s insistence on the exploitation of labor is consistently consumed to the point where the speaker uses poetic justice for capitalism to consume itself as an abortion back into the agricultural womb where labor is birthed, in which capitalists erected its ideology.

“I Shall Return” also brings in the theme of home and questioning the racial disparity existing in America, but the speaker in this poem has a home, creating a foil between both poems. The speaker reminisces of home that is filled with “laugh and love… my thousand dreams of waters rushing down the mountain pass… the fiddle and fife of village dances… hidden depths of native life” (2, 7-10). The speaker speaks full of positive descriptions of his native home, where one can embrace and express their cultural identity. In opposition to a revolution in America, there is revolution at home by standing united outside of America and Blacks representing themselves. The poem is paganistic also by defying to incorporate any Christian allusions, where the last poem uses it to demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Christian West. As the sonnet form, music is brought up which represents the cultural music of Blacks, reinventing the sonnet to become a symbol of Black revolution to White oppression. Revolting through the sonnet’s form is also seen by the mention, “the brown blades of the bending grass” (6). Enjambment exists within this poem, mimicking the bending of the grass, but destroys the conventional rules of the sonnet. It is home for the speaker to “easy my mind of long, long years of pain” (14). It is a Shakespearean sonnet because the volta occurring in line 13 contributes to how home is a sedative to the years of oppression that Blacks endure. Nonetheless, the enjambment in combination with the longing for home reflects the sonnet’s form attempting to reach out to return too. The repeat of “long, long” reflects the long years of suffering it took to create the poem to reflect Black repression. However, the home that the speaker creates is one driven by communism, with no classism and where everyone may live in harmony. 

Although both contend with there being a home, both poems thematically present a communist home freed from the oppression of White supremacy.

-Phillip Gallo

Beyond the Poetic

Catherine Tate’s recitation of Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” transforms its meaning by breaking the sonnet’s conventional form through a chaotic gender performance that opposes masculine order. The traditional situation of a sonnet involves a male speaker expressing his idealized love through poetic elements, but Shakespeare’s sonnet opposes this as the speaker refers to his “mistress” as lacking the emphasized beauty found in nature – “coral is far more red… no such roses see I in her cheeks” (Shakespeare 2, 6). The speaker brings realism by portraying how his love is incomparable to the romanticism that poetry tends to display, referring to them as a “false compare” in which the speaker provides his “mistress” with her own individuality (14). This is furthered from the volta in line 13 where the speaker shifts from presenting his love as potentially ugly, but then unveiling that true love to him is the beauty beyond the poetic metaphors or similes; it is her genuine self.

Cacophony also follows throughout the sonnet up to the 12th line, until the volta holds a change in sound and becomes euphonic, “and yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare…” (13). Cacophony mimics the chaos prevalent throughout the ugliness of the twelve lines, preceding how the unpleasant sounds reflects the unpleasantness of how the speaker’s love is incomparable to anything beautiful. However, euphony ends the sonnet because it is through the identity beyond the poetic that is pleasant and beautiful.

Straightforwardly, this is a sonnet chaotically presenting itself through its ugliness by not providing the desired aestheticism expected by popular conventions. The sonnet’s chaotic imperfection orders its existence through its 14 lined, iambic pentameter that defines the identity of the sonnet/mistress. 

Catherine Tate’s gender performance is an expression of her character’s identity by embodying the chaotic mannerisms to rebel against her teacher played by David Tennant. Tate’s character opposes the order in which her teacher tries to enforce, but during her recitation does it show that the character is intelligent, despite the supposed belief that she was “dull.” Instead of a male speaker speaking in the voice of a woman, it is a female speaker. It is her femininity that creates the order of her identity, in which her chaotic manners structures who she is. She recites the sonnet in continuation without any pauses, embodying the chaos that she poses against her teacher. Thus, her “ugliness” – in terms of her personality as being perceived reprehensible by her teacher – is a definitive expression of Tate’s character reflected from the sonnet that defies conventions. 

-Phillip Gallo

A great distance

When reading through the various works within Javier Zamora’s Unaccompanied poetry collection the work that held the most impact on me was his poem titled: Then, it Was So. My attention was captivated by the first stanza. “To tell you I was leaving” (Line 1) At first we wonder where it is this character is leaving to, but quickly realize with the context of his other works that this is likely someone preparing for their trip across the border. The character deals with the many anxieties that come with such a dangerous and risky trip. Within the second stanza, we see the longing that leaving your home country causes. While many do seek and receive a better life within the States, it’s hard to say if those benefits outweigh the distance one is from their family. “That dawn, I needed to say / you remind me of my father” (Lines 23-24) This stanza really shows the trend within Hispanic families and the common immigration towards the United States. Highlighting the effect it has on the family that’s left behind, but ultimately becoming a realization point when one recognizes that they too must make the same decision. Javier Zamora’s Then, it Was So showcases the story and struggle shared by many Hispanic families. Giving recognition to the often ignored heavy sacrifices made by these families. The process of immigration is often belittled, but Zamora makes sure that readers are made aware of the various aspects within. The grief and longing caused by the great separation, the danger and risk of the treacherous journey through the grueling and unforgiving desert. As well as the constant fear of having all that sacrifice and work be negated through an unfortunate encounter with I.C.E 

My question is: within the final stanza of this poem, you use an unemptied “Bucket of mosquitoes” as imagery for leaving, why this specific item?

– Eduardo Ojeda Jr

The Criminal as the Hero

  Javier Zamora’s “Second Attempt Crossing” from his book “Unaccompanied” reflects on the experience of a young immigrant (Zamora himself) crossing the border to the United States and being saved by a stranger who goes by the name of Chino. Zamora relies on imagery, symbolism, and an appreciative tone to vividly interpret his message to his audience and make it evident who this poem is directly for.

    The speaker from the beginning of the poem makes it obvious to his readers that this poem is ‘for Chino’ (Zamora, Title) He makes it clear that Chino holds significance within the poem as well by mentioning his name multiple times throughout the poem in the title, line 15, and line 19.  Also, Zamora utilizes imagery to share the setting where the experience took place which is “in the middle of the desert that didn’t look like sand and sand only.” (Zamora, Line 1) What does the setting interpret? Well, describes where the speaker is during that moment which seems that he’s by the US Border. How is it known? After the short description of the setting, “someone yelled, ‘¡La Migra!’” (Zamora, Line 5). “La Migra” is a Spanish term often used to name the US Border Patrol Agents. By mentioning “La Migra” it makes it more evident that the speaker is close to the border and is doing it illegally implying he is an immigrant. Zamora continues to use imagery to vividly describe the experience of the speaker. “In that dried creek where forty of us slept, we turned to each other, and you flew from my side in the dirt.” (Zamora, Line 6-8) This indicates the reader wasn’t alone, but with a group of other people prepared to cross before they were caught, in this group of people, there was a ‘you”. Who was this “you” the speaker brings up? It’s Chino. Zamora continues with, “Black-throated sparrows and dawn hitting the tops of mesquites, against herd of legs” (Zamora, Line 9-11). This conveys that this event takes place at dawn.  By vividly describing this whole experience with imagery, Zamora gives readers the indication that this isn’t just any story, it is a memory that hasn’t been forgotten, likely due to trauma.

   Crossing the board is a challenge. I haven’t experienced it myself, but I do have relatives that have, and from their stories, they’ve had similar experiences to what this poem illustrates. Most of these experiences take place in the desert and by the border. Like the speaker, most immigrants come in groups of people and ages vary from very young children to elderly people. When it comes to finding and catching these groups, US Border Patrol can be quite brutal, sometimes killing them or leaving them in overcrowded detention centers. The brutality these agents give is stated in the next lines of Zamora’s poem, “You spirited towards me, I jumped on your shoulders, and we ran from the white trucks, then their guns.” (Zamora, Line 12-14). These lines demonstrate that these men are literally running for their lives, this includes the speaker, and from the looks of it, seems like a child or someone who has a bigger disadvantage compared to the rest of the group. Chino chooses to not leave him behind and protect him from these Border Patrol Agents and their guns. The speaker continues by stating, “So I wouldn’t touch their legs that kicked you, you pushed me under your chest, and I’ve never thanked you.” (Zamora, Line 16-18). This is clearly abuse coming from the US Border Patrol Agents.

  This type of behavior would not be allowed if a police officer or another type of government official did this to someone from the United States it would be considered “inhumane” and “abusive”. There is a sense of dehumanization happening in the scene between Chino and the Border Patrol because they are physically beating him for being a foreigner.  This situation becomes very ironic after the speaker provides little background information about Chino. “Beautiful Chino–the only name I know to call you by— farewell your tattooed chest: the M, the S, the 13. Farwell the phone number you gave me when you went east Virginia, and I went west to San Francisco.” (Zamora, Lines 19-25). What does the tattooed chest symbolize? MS13 stands for Mara Salvatrucha 13 an international criminal gang. This indicates that Chino was acquainted with the Mafia. What’s its significance? It’s ironic how a gang member is willing to save a young boy’s life, while US government officials who are hired to “protect” pulled out their guns, and their intent was to try to hurt the speaker, a young boy. This poem was Zamora’s gesture for thanking Chino. The tone provided demonstrates that the speaker highly appreciates Chino’s help and since then hasn’t forgotten about it. even after he was found by the gang he ran from in San Salvadora according to lines 27 and 28. There is some sorrow within the tone, but at the same time great respect towards Chino as an individual, who though is a criminal through his gang affiliation, is also a hero for saving a young boy. The speaker didn’t differentiate him because of his background which I thought was very affectionate and quite sad because he didn’t get to see Chino in person since that experience. This is my overall interpretation of the poem, “Second Attempt Crossing” by Javier Zamora.

-Claudia Dominguez

Question for Javier Zamora: While reading “Second Attempt Crossing” I noticed a couple literary devices that were present throughout the poem, mostly imagery, but also some symbolism that connected to Chino’s background. This made me come up with the question when integrating figurative language into your poems, do you plan out what literary devices you’re going to use or do they just spontaneously appear as you write and you go with the flow?