I'd like to inaugurate my blog by discussing a poem. I'm not going into a very detailed discussion, but I do have a few things to say. The following poem is from one of my favorite poets, Yusef Komunyakaa. To say that I have a fascination with him is, an understatement. Since hearing him speak and lead a class discussion at my undergraduate university, my view on poetry has shifted. He effortlessly melds the written style of poetry with the musical qualities of jazz and when spoken it brings you into a different world. So, below is one of his poems, Believing in Iron. You can go to this link and listen to it as well. Leave some thoughts if you have any!
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The hills my brothers & I created
never balanced, & it took years
To discover how the world worked.
We could look at a tree of blackbirds
& tell you how many were there,
But with the scrap dealer
Our math was always off.
Weeks of lifting & grunting
Never added up to much,
But we couldn't stop
Believing in iron.
Abandoned trucks & cars
Were held to the ground
By thick, nostalgic fingers of vines
Strong as a dozen sharecroppers.
We'd return with our wheelbarrow
Groaning under a new load,
Yet tiger lilies lived better
In their languid, August domain.
Among paper & Coke bottles
Foundry smoke erased sunsets,
& we couldn't believe iron
Left men bent so close to the earth
As if the ore under their breath
Weighed down the gray sky.
Sometimes I dreamt how our hills
Washed into a sea of metal,
How it all became an anchor
For a warship or bomber
Out over trees with blooms
Too red to look at.
-Dan
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