This blog post was supposed to reflect our feelings about two poems from the poetry of witness section on the blackboard site. It was hard to pick two, because they were all so emotionally charged and engaging. The first poem that really struck me from this list was "Charlie Howard's Decent" by Mark Doty. It brought out a lot of emotions for me, and made me upset at the fact that people have to go so far as to kill someone before something is done to protect people who are different. Upon my first reading of this poem, I got the feeling that it was about a disfigured man, who might have been mentally slow. It was not until I did a bit of research on this poem that I found out it was a poem based off true events. It happened in Bangor, Maine. The man, Charlie Howard, was actually a homosexual who was very open and flamboyant. He was made fun of every day. After realizing what this poem was really about, it took on new life for me. I don't support homosexually, but I don't support people who make fun of others that live that lifestyle and I definitely don't support people who murder others because they are different (whether they meant to or not). That being said, this poem has a lot of emotion tied into it. One strong example that brings out an emotion reaction from me was when Doty used this line, "Over and over he slipped into the gulf/between what he knew and how he was known/What others wanted opened like an abyss: the laughing stock-clerks at the grocery/Women at the luncheonette amused by his gestures," (lines 4-7). I got the sense that he was made fun of pretty much everywhere he went, no matter where it was. Sad to think that someone would be tortured that bad.
In one of the other, "Poetry of Witness," poems, the poet Nicole Cooley talks about New Orleans. The emotion that is emitted from this piece of work actually comes from the images painted in our heads after we read the poem. It paints a vivid image of what New Orleans looked like both while the water was high and after the water receded. There are quotes like, "and lace valances from a Lakeview kitchen, where water rose six feet high inside," (Cooley line 8) and, "and a refrigerator wrapped in duct tape lying in the dirt of a once-yard" (Cooley line 9). This is where I get the picture painted. I can see every house underwater, and after the water goes away, I can just see piles of junk lying around, the whole town destroyed. It's from these vivid images that the emotion of grief is provoked from me. This definitely was a sad day for a lot of people.
For my link this week I found a Wiki that actually gives a little bit more background information on the story behind Charlie Howard's Decent. It was an interesting read for the most part.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Howard_%28murder_victim%29
For my visual, I decided to stick with the theme and give you a YouTube video of the poet Mark Doty reading his poem, "Charlie Howard's Decent" to a live audience. It goes along with the theme from the power point presentation we were required to watch for this week's assignments. It does give you a good feel for the voice of the poem and answers a lot of identifying questions, like who is the speaker and who is the addressee. I hope you enjoy it!
Works Cited:
Cooley, Nicole. "Compendium of Lost Objects." Poets.org. 2010. 10 September 2010. Web.
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21526
Doty, Mark. "Charlie Howard's Decent." Angelfire. 2010. 10 September 2010. Web.
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/strawberry/descent.html
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