Angelo Toro                                                                                                    Professor Perry

December 20, 2022                                                                                        ENG 201

Poetry Analysis Essay

The poem I selected was “Saguaros” by Javier Zamora. Part of a collection of poems from his book “Unaccompanied”, this particular poem talks about Javier’s early experiences when making his traumatizing journey to the US from El Salvador. From this poem, we can see and some of the early struggles and traumas he had when traveling with the “Coyotes”, a group of people who helped those escape the aftermath of the Salvadoran Civil war. In this poem, we can see how a young Javier viewed the world as shrouded in darkness, always having to look behind his back and always be wary of “la migra”.

The reason that I had chosen Saguaros as my poem for the blackout poetry assignment is because of the overall tone of the poem spoke to me. The feeling of intensity and the aura given off by the words and the description of Javier’s surroundings really made me feel as if I had experienced some of the hardships he did. The themes I am getting from reading this poem are themes of “New Life” and of “Desire”. There is the immediate desire in the poem of Javier wanting the red fruits to satiate his thirst but looking further into the meaning of the text we can also see that he has a desire for freedom of the situation he is in, and to begin a new life, one where he no longer has to be on the run and keep an eye on his back (Zamora, lines 6-8, lines 15-16). What this poem meant to me was that he would endure his hardships in order to make a better life for himself, by any means necessary.

This poem is free verse, meaning that there is no specific structure and that the author can go wild. I believe that this amplifies Javier’s work because he does not have to try and mold his traumatizing experiences to fit a rigid format. The line length for the poem was around the same per line, and each stanza ranged between two and three lines. I believe that the shortness of the stanzas helped his poem come off as more of memories that he was trying to repress, as he stated in an interview by Today with Hoda and Jenna, many of his works are drawn from his memories unearthed through therapy. As for the rhymes in the poem, there are not many, and the one I did find seemed to be an unintentional internal rhyme: “…bats in the lavender sky/like spiders when a fly is caught…” (Zamora, Lines 1-2). The lack of rhymes allows the poem to retain much of its weight and in my opinion, allows for the emotion to carry out better. There is also some repetition in the poem, with lines 1,5, and 9 mentioning bats, in this case the bats being the people he encountered and was with on his journey.

The way that these formal elements affected my interpretation was that they allowed me to better immerse myself and feel something akin to what he was feeling during that perilous time. As I continued to read over the poem, I was able to look beyond the surface level, finding the hidden meanings in the way the lines are constructed. For example, with the mention of bats, my interpretation is that while initially there may have been literal bats in the sky, he came to associate border patrol and immigration with bats, as they would have been prowling the night as well. This is further backed up by this line: “These bats speak English only” (Zamora, Line 9), meaning that these were likely not the people helping him, but people who were trying to stop him.

Another poem that I found that spoke to me was a poem from Javier titled “To Abuela Neli”. In this work, he is telling this “Abuela Neli” about the struggles he has had to endure and what has been going on in his life since arriving in America. This likely takes place around 2008-2009, as Obama’s election is mentioned (Zamora, Lines 3-4).  This poem spoke to me because I found it to be a very personal work, one telling not of his struggles to getting to where he was, but one of venting to a person who is extremely close to him. It is not only the journey to America that has caused him strife, but the people back at home who are proclaiming falsehoods about him. His old friends say that he has changed from who he previously was, calling him a “coconut: brown on the outside and white on the inside” (Zamora, Lines 16-18). This poem is also free verse. There aren’t any rhymes, but some lines have some alliteration, such as line 7: “There’s no path to papers”. Along with this, the free structure allows this poem to feel much more like how it is intended to be interpreted as, as a letter. The whole poem flows nicely, and the informal words used really made this poem stand out to me.

The similarities I see between these two poems are that they are both free verse and come from deeply personal points in his life. He uses images of his childhood and of his journey to help bring forth that personal feeling and honestly made me feel like I was intruding on an intimate moment between him and his thoughts.

What these two poems tell me about Javier is that he is someone who doesn’t conform to the typical standards of poetry that we see. While he may use his experiences like other poets to create his pieces, the way that he uses his words makes it so that you do not feel like an outsider to his world. His use of free verse allows for this, as it feels more like a story being told than that of a poem being recited. In his interview with Hoda and Jenna from TODAY, Javier speaks about how difficult it was to look back onto his trauma and that vulnerable 9-year-old kid; some days he had to let it out through tears or through sleeping it off. While the interview is regarding his book, Solito, he mentions Chino, a member of a family who took him in when he was not with a Coyote or his grandfather, who had accompanied him for two weeks. This “Chino” is also mentioned in another poem, “Second Attempt Crossing”, which seems to be a farewell poem and a thank you for this young man who protected him when Javier was younger.

Levon Turner Jr.

Professor Perry

ENG201

November 7th 2022

Poetry Analysis Essay

The poem ‘Who Said It Was Simple’ by Audre Lorde is an inspiration to me because the poem was able to gain an in-depth understanding, particularly about the tone of the poet. The intended message that she wanted the readers to get was to make them aware of the tribulations black females go through, particularly their affliction and discrimination due to their race and sexuality. What grabbed me in the poem was the tone of the poet and the image that came to my mind was the “whites’ only” feminism whereby blacks were not considered, and I was able to picture how the discrimination occurred. The poem’s memories included the forms of discrimination that marginalized groups and people of color have been experiencing since time immemorial and how equality seems far-fetched.

The poem ‘Who Said It Was Simple’ is able to focus on discriminative feminism that only focuses on people of the white race. The poet has been able to describe the occurrence of racial discrimination by implying “discussing the problematic girls / they hire to make them free,” and “the ladies neither notice nor reject / the slighter pleasures of their slavery” (Lorde).The poet calls out all the people who consider themselves feminists and that the movements they have formed tend to be structurally oppressive and calls on everyone to practice what they preach and stop being hypocrites who say one thing and go ahead to do another.  

The poem ‘Who Said It Was Simple’ by Audre Lorde consists of three stanzas that have been separated by sets of lines that are uneven. The first stanza comprises three lines, the second has twelve lines, and the third has three. Therefore the poem can be considered to be a tercet. The poet wrote the poem in free verse, which implies that there is no existing rhyme scheme for the poem. However, readers are able to take notice of rhyming words such as ‘anger’ and ‘shatter’ that are contained in the first stanza of the poem (Poetryfoundation.org).

The poem ‘Who Said It Was Simple’ by Audre Lord comprised elements that impacted the interpretation of the message. Some elements, such as the solemn tone used by the poet, imply to the reader that the speaker in the poem is used to being discriminated and she is dealing with it despite the odds being against her in fighting for equality in aspects that the society has turned a blind eye on including racial, sexual and gender discrimination. The poet has also used imagery to paint a vivid picture to the readers, “the slighter pleasures of their slavery” this makes the audience create the picture of the pleasure people can have yet have been enslaved. Hence

‘A Woman Speaks’ by Audre Lorde inspires me because the poem was intended to be a song for feminist warriors across all communities. The poet has been able to proclaim the experiences women of color go through in the United States and abroad (Lorde).Whatever grabbed me about the poem was the fact that the poet had opened the opportunity to start a conversation, particularly on the ways to the improvement of the feminist movement to have an impact on the lives of marginalized groups and women of color. The memories the poem brought to me were how women of color have been discriminated against in the United States and that nobody tried to speak out against the act (Lorde).

‘A Woman Speaks’ by Audre Lorde is a poem of three stanzas. The poet has used a tone and form that have helped in the creation of a tranquil surface, and when the poem progresses, the readers are directed toward the real conflict. The poem’s theme is similar to ‘Who said it was simple’ since both address the discriminative racism that black women have continued to face. The author has consistently used imagery to paint a vivid image to the readers such that they can see “Moon marked and touched by the sun, my magic is unwritten, but when the sea turns back it will leave my shape behind” (Lorde).

‘Who Said It Was Simple’ by Audre Lorde implies that people should practice whatever they preach and avoid being hypocrites. The poet uses this opportunity to address the various forms of discrimination that women of color go through. The author stated that “and sit here wondering / which me will survive / all these liberations” (Lorde). The author used irony to imply that the liberation movement that has been formed to support feminism is the same movement that oppresses women and is discriminative based on color. The poem’s tone is solemn, which indicates that the poet has been used to being discriminated against, and this results in her scrutinizing those who identify themselves as members of the feminist group but continue to oppress others since they benefit as a result of oppression.

I connected with ‘Who Said It Was Simple’ by Audre Lord because I believe that every member of society ought to be treated fairly and equally without being discriminated against based on their race or gender. Moreover, people should practice whatever they preach and avoid being hypocrites. I also agree with the poet that a conversation on improving the welfare of women of all races needs to take place. Therefore, I believe that people should take bold steps to ensure that they do not oppress others even though there is an opportunity for them to benefit.

Works Cited

“Free Verse.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/free-verse.

Lorde, Audre. “A Woman Speaks by Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42583/a-woman-speaksLorde, Audre. “Who Said It Was Simple by Audre Lorde.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42587/who-said-it-was-simple.

“So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs From Americans” by Jimmy Santiago Baca is a free verse poem. This uses non-rhyming lines that follow the natural rhythms of speech. (Poetry Foundation) Likewise, another poem by Baca, “Main Character,” is also written in free verse, and its themes are similar.

Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in 1952 near Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is of Chicano and Apache descent. He was abandoned by his parents and put in an orphanage. He ran away from the orphanage when he was 13 and began selling drugs. He served five years in prison. He wrote “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs From Americans” while in prison.

His writing is concerned with social justice and marginalized people. The free verse style reflects his own experience as an outsider to the American Dream.

“Main Character” is also a free verse poem, about the dispossession of Native Americans. During the showing of a Western film, a drunken Indian rose cursing and sobbing and the narrator is left looking for the main character.

In “So Mexicans are Taking jobs From Americans,” the tone goes from playful (“Oh yes? Do they come on horses? with rifles, and say, Ese gringo, gimme your job?”) to brutal (“The rifles I hear sound in the night are white farmers shooting blacks and browns”) to resigned (“What they really say is, let them die, and the children, too”) (owlcation.com)

I responded strongly to this poem. To begin with, as the child of an immigrant and a friend to so many more, I believe that immigrants are a positive force for our country. Also, I have great admiration for Jimmy Santiago Baca and the way he was able to overcome his difficult upbringing and his time in prison, to become completely self-educated, and to reach out to those who are struggling.