Comments on: Wednesday Shout Out

By: Tommy TuTone

Tommy TuTone — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 13:30:23 +0000

A Reply to the Political Poetry Skeptics
How must a human being
behave in a world at war?
Should we rally round the flag
or hole up in a bar?
Read poems from Abu Ghraib
and wince at Botero’s gore?
Or write 20,000 poems
and march til our feet are sore?
There is no magic bullet,
but certain rules apply:
1) Do as you see fit
2) Don’t shit on those who try
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By: Rich Villar

Rich Villar — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 06:56:05 +0000

Perhaps your approach is better, Matt: we should send a phalanx of snarky jackasses to Washington and kill ‘em all with sarcasm.
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By: Sheryl Luna

Sheryl Luna — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:20:35 +0000

Gee, I thought I got to be the bitter poet!
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By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:52:20 +0000

I think I’d be more convinced of the importance of “poems of witness” if I heard about one actually being used in legal testimony. Here’s an idea–instead of expensive state-of-the-art security systems, let’s give every bank security guard a notebook and pencil and have them write a poem when someone tries to rob the place. Rich descriptive language will really impress the police, much more than video evidence.
Actually, photography and documentary film are probably the only forms of art with any real “witness” value. Definitely more than poetry anyway.
Let me know when the poets end the war. I’ve been sending my heartbreakingly earnest anti-war poems to W since ’03, but for some reason he hasn’t ended the war yet. Do you think he reads them? Golly gee I sure hope so. I’m sure he’ll bring the troops home any day now. Maybe just one more poem will do the trick.
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By: Mary Morris

Mary Morris — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:26:35 +0000

If you are a poet and find yourself moving to Washington, DC, you are bound to meet Sarah Browning, founder of DC Poets Against the War. You will march with her against an unjustifiable war, be moved to action by her awesome embrace of the personal in subjects of social justice and humanity.. You will again read her book, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden, and savor the taste of the bitter and sweet fruit there. The truth is in her poems. They are contagious. You will wake up in the nightmare/dream of America.
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By: Sheryl Luna

Sheryl Luna — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:50:46 +0000

Rigoberto,
A genuine concern for others is there, rather than a facade. So much of this war is being put on the soldier’s families, with so many of us living on the peripheral of that real loss. I’m glad to see her here. Poems of provocation and witness matter.
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By: Francisco Aragón

Francisco Aragón — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 00:28:45 +0000

I had the pleasure of hearing Sarah read from her new book this past Sunday in Arlington at the Iota Poetry Series, which has been a fixture for 13 years now, I learned. And she curates a wonderful series, Sunday Kind of Love at Busboys and Poets on 14th and U in the District.
She is a model on many fronts.
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By: Dara Gordon

Dara Gordon — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:57:15 +0000

I like how the more impersonal third-person plural makes the march and marchers seem inevitable and necessary, a force of nature, as iconic and familiar in Washington as monuments, and like them, they are markers and masks to the violence of the state.
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By: Grace Cavalieri

Grace Cavalieri — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:29:48 +0000

Sarah’s poetry is like her life: vibrant, meaningful, passionate, and a stunning encounter. She deserves these kudos and more!
Grace Cavalieri
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