Isabela's Insights on Poetry

Recently, there was a video that surfaced of two white men killing an innocent black man in Atlanta, Georgia. This video, and the fact that the two men had not been prosecuted for months, as well as the fact that Arbery had done nothing wrong- has led to a resurgence of both the BLM movement, ACAB, and the Black Panthers. Therefore, I believe that this poem is especially timely for right now. The poem, entitled, Facing US , is a poem written by Amanda Johnston, an African American poet known for making Social Justice poems. Her poem details her feelings and thoughts as a black woman in America after the shooting of Freddie Gray. Freddie Gray was 25 years old, and lived in Baltimore. He was a young man, who had a twin sister named Fredericka. He struggled in poverty throughout his life, but according to the Washington Post, "Close friends of Gray, who was 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, described him as loyal and warm, humorous and happy. “Every time you saw him, you just smiled,...

My goal for this poetry assignment about the unfamiliar was to find something religious for me to look at, and I began looking up said poetry. However, I came across this incredible poem I have to share that does qualify as something unfamiliar to me. Not only have I not read this poem before, but it has both Chinese Mythical elements and a situation that I am unfamiliar with. The Legend by Garrett Hongo is a poem that takes you by surprise, and I really recommend you read it before continuing onward reading this blog post. Okay, now that I assume you have read it- it is not very long- let's dive into the interesting aspects of this poem. Right off the bat, there is a sense of connection to the man with the laundry, lines like: "and, for a moment, enjoys ; the feel of warm laundry and crinkled paper," You feel for the man in the poem, and the usage of words like, "twilight of early evening" and "Rembrandt glow on his face" paint a beautiful scene....

For this week's assignment, we were to look up poetry from other countries and talk about how that poem opens us up to that part of the world. So, I began looking up Colombian poets and their poetry, to try to get a better understanding of the place my father came from. I eventually came across this poet, Piedad Bonnett, a Colombian poet born in 1951, who is a literature professor at el Universidad de los Andes. She wrote a poem called, From Time to Time , that made me feel nostalgic in just the first few lines in a way no other poem has before. (Also, wanna say there is some uniquely Colombian things to me in this poem, such as the strong coffee/tea drinking that is so common there and the references to the beautiful scenery/nature there.) My Abuelita and I on my first trip to Colombia Abuelita and I My whole life I have been close with my abuelita, skyping her was a normal occurrence at my dad's house. I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to go on a trip to Spa...