http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/11/wislawa-szymborska-poetry-and-politics/ Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:40:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/11/wislawa-szymborska-poetry-and-politics/#comment-1616 Sheryl Luna Tue, 13 Nov 2007 18:28:29 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=507#comment-1616 Rigoberto, I agree. I do not have time to read Szymborska's speech at the moment, but I do agree that the idea of poetry as privilege like so much in our society exists. I grew up on the U.S./Mexican border where the poverty in the 1970's left a mark on me forever. It is a great privilege to live in this country. I had a friend once say that she had seen poverty on the streets of Baltimore and she was certain that nothing could shock her, until we crossed the Santa Fe Bridge from downtown El Paso into Ciudad Juarez two decades ago. That's the way our privilege works. We don't realize the magnitude of it. The idea of being a citizen poet is interesting. What does it mean to be a citizen or a poet? "[F]acing the still white sheet of the paper" does count, and there is an inordinate amount of hypocricy when groups or dominant groups with a great amount of privilege are blind to it. Safe-mode kicks in when things can only be said in a particular way [aesthetic]. Rigoberto,
I agree. I do not have time to read Szymborska’s speech at the moment, but I do agree that the idea of poetry as privilege like so much in our society exists. I grew up on the U.S./Mexican border where the poverty in the 1970′s left a mark on me forever. It is a great privilege to live in this country. I had a friend once say that she had seen poverty on the streets of Baltimore and she was certain that nothing could shock her, until we crossed the Santa Fe Bridge from downtown El Paso into Ciudad Juarez two decades ago. That’s the way our privilege works. We don’t realize the magnitude of it. The idea of being a citizen poet is interesting. What does it mean to be a citizen or a poet?
“[F]acing the still white sheet of the paper” does count, and there is an inordinate amount of hypocricy when groups or dominant groups with a great amount of privilege are blind to it. Safe-mode kicks in when things can only be said in a particular way [aesthetic].
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]]> http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2007/11/wislawa-szymborska-poetry-and-politics/#comment-1615 Alicia (A.E.) Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:58:27 +0000 http://pf/harriet/?p=507#comment-1615 It is nice to be reminded of how truly subversive lyric poetry is in the face of oppression, what a defiantly human act. It is nice to be reminded of how truly subversive lyric poetry is in the face of oppression, what a defiantly human act.
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