Essay on "Hammad Poetry"

Quoted Instructions for "Hammad Poetry" Assignment:

1.  responses should be at least two developed paragraphs, roughly 300 words in total.  These paragraphs should follow the same guidelines as given above regarding DB posts.

2.  You should conduct yourself as you would in courteous conversation by responding directly and specifically to what the post communicates.

3. Say what drew you to the post to which you are responding--a particular insight, way of writing, or question being asked.

4. Be generous and name what you find engaging about the post.

5.  Ask questions that invite clarification or further discussion.

6.  Contribute your own thoughts and experiences where appropriate.

7.  Make friends as best you can.

ontemporary poetry or modern poetry was a stepping stone for literature. It just never ceases to amaze me how a single poem can hold so much meaning. It could be written in long lines or very short lines and the conclusion although not very clear always leaves you thinking about who you are, what you are, and what is going on around you. Modern poetry was and is the new way to approach life’s biggest questions. What makes poetry so important is the way it allowed the poets to express themselves. It gave poets complete liberty to say what they think and feel. America had just begun its journey into independence and these contemporary poets were using their poems in form of protests to let those know who were willing to hear what they had to say about their government. Poets till this day are using their poetic power to express this, Suheir Hammad’s poem First Writing Since tells us the experiences most Arab persons felt after the 9/11 incident. Had it not been for her poem, I do not think Suheir would have found anywhere safe to vent publicly. After the saddening disaster of the Twin Towers, most Arabs were pinned as terrorists and attacked. “One more person ask me if I knew the hijackers. One more motherfucker ask me what Navy my brother is in. One more person assume no Arabs or Muslims were killed”

These lines in her poem show the bullying and confrontation these innocent people had to face just because she was one of them. What really highlights her emotions for being put on the spotlight for this tremendous tragedy was when she said “And when we talk about holy books, hooded men, and death WHY never mention the KKK? She is bringing out the worst in American history to tell them that they are no better than anyone else. In the end all we should be doing is helping one another to “affirm life”

There are many poems that are just like hers. Poems influenced greatly by poets who through their poems became great activists such as Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes. Walt Whitman will speak about how the people must all find themselves and stand together to truly be able to stand free against an oppressing and unfair government that hurts some and favors the other. Poems from Langston Hughes that as an African American will express the great trouble and sorrow he had to live through because his government was unfair to his people to such a point that they were once not even considered human but a material possession. It was great contemporary poets like Whitman and Hughes that paved the way for a new kind of democratic expression.