Well, let's not waste this topic. I'll put in a poem that needs critique. I'm worried that the two voices in this poem won't be clearly distinguished. Let me know if it works for you, or is a confused jumble. One other specific question I had was about the title. I am rotten at titles. This one is trying to clue the reader into the voices and the fact that the parentheses hold the professor's thoughts/voice. But I'm not sure it works. The other title I had thought of for the poem was more simple: teaching anzaldua. Which do you prefer and why?
Then, of course, let me know anything else you can think of that would make this a better, more powerful, poem. And thank you!
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challenging the (prof)
this book
makes me really mad
let me tell you
as a white male
i get sick and tired of
being blamed
blamed for this and
blamed for that
and let me tell you
(you’re telling me, you’re telling me, alright already!)
i never hurt anyone and i’m
not prejudiced
(i know…..you’re going to
tell me about your best friend now
the one who’s hispanic or
black or gay or something else you can brag about)
so i wanna know
why are you making us read
this damn book?
i wanna know
i get so sick of it
you know they make us take
a class in racism at this university?
did you know that?
racism!
i’m not racist.
why do i have to sit there
listening to that
(and why do I have to sit
HERE listening to YOU…)
but no……i say:
“let’s listen to each other…
we won’t always agree, we
may even violently disagree
but we need to hear each
other out.”
silence. he stares at me.
stares at the offending book
the book written by a
chicana, woman, lesbian
everything that he isn’t
everything that offends him
and i wonder, can he hear
her voice? will he read?
