Marina Malak, four poems I enjoyed

1. Anodyne by Yusef Komunyakaa ( https://poetrysociety.org/features/ars-poetica/yusef-komunyakaa)

In this poem, Yusef talks about how he loves the details of his body and how every single detail represent a feeling or a symbol to who he is. I liked the poem because the poet is using simple details such as organs and birth marks to make us visualize his feelings and how his body has carried him well throughout his life. He used his physical aspects to describe how he feels and how he was born to outlast and live. I think it represent a positive message about accepting who we are inside that body and makes the reader think about every aspect of their existence and why they are unique and living creatures.

• Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation BY Natalie Diaz (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56353/abecedarian-requiring-further-examination-of-anglikan-seraphym-subjugation-of-a-wild-indian-rezervation)

In this poem, the author talks about angels and question their existence, presenting how they are portrayed in religion as white rich men. Natalie mentions in her poem that given what she knows about them, they are not good for Indians. The poem uses simple facts to portray racism and I think it refers to the Spanish invasion of Latin America and the shift of beliefs to catholic Christian. The poem is written in an alphabetical order beautifully put together, I enjoyed reading it.  

• A History of Domestication by Sun Yung Shin (https://poets.org/poem/history-domestication)

In this poem, the poet talks about our perception of time as the climate-change happens and our world grief. I like the style and metaphors the poet used such as “grief is heated iron comb” and “Holes punched through a rag”; I think the second metaphor refer to the Ozone hole.

• By Alli Warren (https://lithub.com/alli-warren-translates-five-books-into-poems/)

The poet talks about different books that he read and translated them into poems. In the introduction, he says “ I’m a writer because I’m a reader”; I like how he shares his readings in a simple easy to understand poetry that has a message and style. The first book that he translates into a poem is The Many-Headed Hydra. The poet talks about modern labor history that was dominated by white waged men and how the actual workers were immigrants “nameless”, “unwaged”, “poor”, and “hungry”. I like how he presented the information in a strong style of the truth with a straight forwards delivery.