I just remembered that June Jordan has a poem, "Poem from Taped Testimony in
the Tradition of Bernard Goetz,"--who was a white guy who shot up a group of
Black kids on a New York subway train in the late 80s--which is pretty
chilling; it's not quite what we're talking about here, but it's in the same
vein, playing with getting inside the head of someone who would do such a
thing, though it is not in his voice per se. I found it in Jordan's "Naming
Our Destiny."
Richard
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joanna Boulter
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 7:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Lynndie England to her Baby Son
Given that we seem to be pretty well agreed on the importance of at least
attempting this sort of thing, I'd been thinking that I'd maybe ask what
published poems people know in this vein.
So thanks for that pointer, Rich. Any more ideas, anyone?
joanna
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 3:34 AM
Subject: Lynndie England to her Baby Son
> Ken,
>
> I have been reading this thread intermittently and so have not been
> following the particulars of it, though I should say that I do think your
> poem is quite powerful. This recent post in which you talk about wanting
> to
> write from inside other people, particularly people who are criminal or
> cruel or what people might describe as inhuman makes me wonder if you've
> ever read Ai's work. She does that a lot, not always successfully, and I
> haven't read her in years--I think I read her second and third books and
> found those most moving and convincing--but she might be someone to look
> at
> in terms of what works, what doesn't, strategies and so on.
>
> These kinds of poems are very important to write. Keep at it--
>
> Richard
>
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