Wade, the AIDS epidemic, 9/11, Obama, and Trump (“Granted, it felt good at first to snicker, / But now the rooster won’t shut up”). and Robert Kennedy assassinations, the moon landing, Watergate, Roe v. The poems are stirring testimonies, titles borrowed from Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus.” She takes stock of pivotal American moments: the Martin Luther King, Jr. In this section of poems, “Standing Witness,” which was also the name of the collaboration, Dove speaks cleverly from the Statue of Liberty’s perspective, who observes not-so-silently as the country destroys itself. Dove links Jewish Venice to our current moment:ĭove collects similar themes as she writes poems from the perspective of an insect, as in “The Spring Cricket Considers the Question of Negritude”:ĭove also participated in a song cycle project with the composer Richard Danielpour, where she was given the daunting task of writing verse about the last fifty years of American history. This was the first time “ghetto” was used to describe segregated, subpar living quarters, but it literally means “foundry,” referring to the island where the Jews had to move where foundry slag was dumped. The opening segment, “After Egypt,” came about through a project with the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia and Beit Venezia in recognition of the origins of the word “ghetto” and the 500th anniversary of the Venetian Jews being forced to relocate in 1516. As always, her words are raw, poignant, and accessible. ![]() Her poems magnify the marginalized individual, simultaneously illuminating national and global failed attempts at democracy. ![]() Poet Laureate Rita Dove returns after twelve years with an exquisite new poetry collection, Playlist for the Apocalypse.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |