week 4 assignment poetry of witness

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Afghanistan Conflict

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Soldier Writing Home by DGTate (43)

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     I found "Immigrants in Our Own Land" by Jimmy Santiago Baca, and "Letters Composed During the Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin Powers, both to be refreshing in their descriptive prowess. Both writers present the world of which they're writing, in a way that is dry and to the point, yet is visually stimulating to the imagination and full of emotion. Both of the poems jump off the page and pull at your heartstrings with their opening lines.
     In "Immigrants in our own Land", Baca opens up with this line: "We are born with dreams in our hearts, looking for better days ahead"(Baca 1-2). Most people, when asked their opinion of inmates, have something negative to say. It's easy to forget that these are people too. They are people who once had hopes and dreams, just like us. For many, that chance for self-betterment never comes to fruition. They tried to take an easy out and were caught. Now they have to pay for that for the rest of their lives. This really hits close to my heart, because I grew up in a place where you're expected to go to jail, or not amount to anything. I've seen many people try to better their lives, in the only ways they know how, and wind up in prison. There are many good people in prison who will never get another chance, even if they are released.
     The opening sentence of "Letters Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" grabs your attention in much the same way. Powers offers this opening: "I tell her I love her like not killing, or ten minutes of sleep beneath the low rooftop wall on which my rifle rests"(Powers 1-4). I find that in most poetry, English majors recycle the same mundane simile and metaphors that every other English major has used throughout time. Comparing love for her to love for not killing is amazing and fresh. Just that one line alone makes you wonder about the horrors of war that could cause a writer to even think this. It is a perspective that ninety-nine percent of people would not be able to articulate: but, we all understand. It's easy to think of war as a whole, but this poem helps you to see each individual, on each side, as a person, trying to keep in touch with whatever they love; with whatever keeps them going.

Works Cited

Baca, Santiago Jimmy. "Immigrants in Our Own Land". www.poetryfoundation.org 

     Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11

Powers, Kevin. "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting". www.poetryfoundation.org

      Poetry Foundation, 2010. Web. 02-13-11