English Commonplace

[alyssagwin]

group project

Survivor Psalm

I have been victimized.

I was in a fight that was 

not a fair fight

I did not ask for the fight.

I lost. 

There is no shame in losing

such fights.

I have reached the stage of

survivor and am no longer a 

slave of victim status.

I look back with sadness

rather than hate.

I look forward with hope

rather than despair.

I may never forget, but I need

not constantly remember

I was a victim.

I am a survivor. 

[alyssagwin]

Tumblr poem

Have you ever thought of the meaning of #class?

All the definitions can #change, they come and pass

High class or low class, the difference is seen

There are so many things the word #class can mean

Or it could talk about sitting for hours 

In a small room where one person has the power

Maybe it means how refined people see your personality

Either way the word seems like an irregularity 

[rsparksblog]

"Ain’t I American? I never say, Niggaz in my poems."

What I am. Terrance Hayes.  (via rsparksblog)

He ends up contradicting himself later which I think is significant.

[katiechillinsky]

'If your enemies are hungry, feed them.' But to be perfectly clear, my enemies are not hungry.

-“Arroz Poetica”, Aracelis Girmay

#privileged #notequal #war #enemies

(via katiechillinsky)

I really liked this quote.

[brandon-rapp]

The girls are eager to transform him with a kiss; the boys eager to see him on the basketball court. But their principal greets him with a “Get the Hell out of here!”

Terrance Hayes, Segregate.

#hate # racism

(via brandon-rapp)

Really liked this one!

(via kaleymeyers)

It's interesting to see how the kids opinions differ from the adults opinions of the boy. 

[zachrobertson-blog]

"My enemies eat meats & vegetables at tables in white houses where candles blaze, cast shadows of crosses, & flowers”

-Arroz Poetica By Arecelis Girmay

[alyssagwin]

This is a good example of the upper class. 

[kaleymeyers]

I didn’t dream this

"No Ararat" -Ricky Laurentiis (via kaleymeyers)

I think this is said because the storm was so devastating it seems like it must've been a dream, made up.

[rsparksblog]

"They wear ball gowns & suits & rings to talk of war in neat & folded languages that will not stain their formal dinner clothes."

Arroz Poetica. Aracelis Girmay.  (via rsparksblog)

I think this a good representation on how the upper class is influential in political issues but not directly affected by the outcomes of those decisions, such as going to war.

[alyssagwin]

"The radio said there is no god."

No Ararat - Ricky Laurentiis

[alyssagwin]

"This is a love letter to the Gulf Coast, a praise song, a dirge,

invocation and benediction, a requiem for the Gulf Coast."

Liturgy to the Mississippi Gulf Coast - Natasha Trethewey 

[alyssagwin]

"the door closed to breathe the door opened a crack the third day would want the third day she want" Seven testimonies - Nick Flynn

[alyssagwin]

"My enemies ride jets to parties. They are not tied up in pens in Guantanamo Bay. They are not young children throwing rocks. My enemies eat meats & vegetables at tables in white houses where candles blaze, cast shadows of crosses, & flowers."

Arroz Poetica - Aracelis Girmay 

[alyssagwin]

"See, I only date hood. My last man? He never even meet his father. Four women, six kids. Three of whom are named after luxury cars."

Some Instructions on Black Masculinity Offered to my Black Friend by the White Woman He Briefly Date, A Monologue - Ross Gay

[alyssagwin]

"The bullet's imperceptible sizzle toward an unarmed man."

Within Two Weeks the African American Poet Ross Gay is Mistaken for Both the African American Poet Terrance Hayes and the African American Poet Kyle Dargan, Not One of Whom Looks Anything Alike - Ross Gay

[alyssagwin]

"Though it is probably silver-colored the

chain

appears conveniently as the whitest element of the black-and-

white."

[alyssagwin]

"never slowing enough to see what we might have seen

         if the moon rose up its pharmaceutical light-"

Techno - Dana Levin

[alyssagwin]

"The one who pries his mother's fingers from beer cans,"

The Court of Forgetting - James Hoch