only Rundel 10/17

I cannot say I did not — Sharon Olds

The Interconnectedness of all Things by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Declaration by Tracy K. Smith

Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100  by Martin Espada

Special Problems in Vocabulary by Tony Hoagland  

What words feel humanizing to us?  The first poem captures the struggle of finding what words might answer why we are born... why we exist... and all the unsaid things that wonder if our parents wanted us,

if we are wanted by others as we go through life.  

I cannot say... is the perfect response, as it builds to the double negative:  I cannot say I did not...

and then the first line adds the verb to the  title -- but the complement of the sentence falls on the

second line.   14 of the 27 lines have the verb "ask" repeated in them.  Two of the "asks" are

interrogative.  Only two of the "asks" are not followed by "with"-- 

the opening:  I cannot say I did not ask/to be born

and then on the 21st line:  I asked, with everything I did not/have, to be born.

It is humanizing to hear another person's want:  I want to say that love/is the meaning...
and then the reflection, turning meaning into the means.  No hallmark note or easy task to 
delve into the depth of this poem!

The Emerson was to follow-up with the transcendental thought that came the century before Olds.
There is comfort in the rhyming.

The haiku is yet another version of the interconnectedness of things with all the delight of syllables
providing sounds and surprise as what is perceived as flower becomes a butterfly!


I used the erasure poem by Tracy K. Smith in the workshop on poetry for peace.
The discussion brought up many words of wisdom about our Declaration of Independence.
"nothing's changed except the numbers" --  referring to who is in power and who oppressed....
The poem leaves space to complete the unspoken... plundered our, ravaged our, destroyed the lives of our,
taking away out, abolishing our most valuable, altering the Forms of our...
We discussed industrialized slavery, the necessity of admitting flaws... the difference in attitude between
MLK and Malcolm X, / WE duBois and Brooker T Washington... 

Why is "integration a dirty word?  When we ask people to assimilate, to what are we asking them to identify?

The next poem, Alabanza, meaning Praise, is filled with the contradictions of praising all details in daily life, and all those details which destroy our well-being.  The desperation of saying alabanza, Praise-
to a  God with no face... 
and then... at the end, the exchange.  Afghan request: teach me to dance; we have no music here.
Spanish reply.  I will teach you.  Music is all we have.

We ran out of time to discuss the Hoagland... but appreciated the brilliance--
as he gives situational rope to words like "friendship", "marriage', "loss" first for small things, like a book,
then attrition of one's body, the ability to speak, 
and ending on the fact there is no word for what keeps us going...