|
"Who know what kind of Skeeza is a Condoleeza"
The above was my favorite line in the poem.
As an MFA student, the poem was hot. The form was tight, and it was vivid and thought provoking.
I said the same thing on a listserv that I'm on: Amiri Baraka is a crotchety old man who can say what he wants to because he has earned it. If New Jersey didn't want someone controversial to be poet laureate, then they shouldn'ta picked Baraka.
What's problematic about him and a lot of other artists is that people want artists to be activists. . .I think that Baraka thinks that his role is that of "poet" and as such a messenger of some sort. I do think that Baraka's most important duty is to be a poet. It's up to the rest of us to learn, discuss, and change society as a result.
I don't really have anything to say about the war yet. . .
|