What is witnessing poetry?
Witnessing poetry has no made up information and wants to reveal something that isn't talked about, is unnoticed, or unrecognized. It also reclaims the social from the political.
Sample poem and Explication
Other People's Troubles by Jason Sommer
The Jewish parable goes that in the waiting room where all souls come, they leave a bundle of their troubles on hooks. At their return, emerging from interviews, they eye the parcels hung in hundreds on the walls with care, and take their own. Trash night, curbside sits a little sofa meant for the taking, no one around even to see our need. A few speculatable stains, though in the abstract forest on its cover, shadows turn out to be not impeded streetlight but the body's unguent, armrests oiled by arms. We leave the sofa there, sturdy and recoverable, life in it yet. Lilly said that on the rim of Birkenau, before the women heard the name or saw the chimneys' fires and long shadows of ash, but after stripping, herding, shearing, searching, the unhinged laughter at this, the only nakedness of its kind in their lives, a minute of dribbled shower, the slap of disinfectant -- scalp crotch and underarms -- the mad clothes thrown at them without regard for fit, rag remnants of gowns, tattered cocktail dresses' satin, tulle, and crepe put on -- more laughter then: Who are these scarecrows who are us? But not one of them -- the heavy woman choked inside the sheath skirt with the slender girl tenting in a gown with a train; not the tall woman bound in the arms of the short dress, pullin it down to cover her thighs, with the small woman hiking up folds -- no one would trade with anyone |
Explication of the poem:
The poem “Other People's Troubles,” by Jason Sommer bears witness because it talks about the Holocaust and relates the feelings of loneliness and abandonment to a sofa being left out on the curb. In this poem Jason starts with the Holocaust which is something the whole world knows and then move to something he experienced himself. I feel in the last part of the poem he is showing something that has gone unrecognized. He talks about what the Jewish women were doing and how they were treated before they even knew what was going on. Sommer’s relates the experience that the couch had before it was abandoned to the experience the Jewish people had before they were killed during the Holocaust. It’s also a witness poem because when writing these types of poems you need to include names. Sommer’s included the name of the girl or lady who described what it was like for them in the camps, before they even knew what was happening. He made sure to fully understand the information of the Holocaust so he could tell us about the experience rather than preach to us what happened, factually during this time. Sommer’s describe the experience “Lily” had during the Holocaust as if he was there with her. Witnessing poetry involves the past as well as the present and Jason Sommer did a great job incorporating the past, the Holocaust, with the present, leaving a sofa on the curb. He made sure that both the past and the present had the same meaning in his poem so that the readers can follow along without being confused. |
My poems and Explications
#2. Family and history
Too Young to Fight And suddenly, there’s an explosion We run for our lives in fear Sweat dripping from our faces As the cloud of grey smoke pulls us in As if it stuck out a hand and grabbed us. The buildings collapse, one by one they fall Shaking the ground like there was an earthquake Lives were lost, people injured by the millions Only to be followed by the millions of tears felt around the world. We must fight back, like the bull, we run back to that red flag. We go to war, invading the Iraq people A foreign place we’ve never seen before We turn to others for help, United Kingdom, Australia, Even Italy came to lend a helping hand. We walked the sandy streets, with our gear soaking up the moisture Innocent young children run by us, not knowing what is happening. Joseph was a sixteen year old boy, living in Italy Innocent and pure like a white dove He was at that age to be recruited, and that he was. Like an infant learning to walk for the first time He was thrown into war, not ready to fight Without a choice, his teenage years Would be filled with violence And memories that only he can bear, Though they would be memories that in the later years He would tell his grandkids as he sat in his favorite brown chair. |
Explication of my poem:
I wrote a witness poem comparing someone in my family’s story and a moment in history. I related the story of my grandfather joining the army and going to war, with the United States going to war in Iraq. I felt it went well because Italy did join the war in Iraq so it was a great way to help connect the two ideas. I started with something the whole world knows, the war in Iraq, and then I connected to something in my family, which was my grandfather going to war at a young age. I tried to reveal something that isn’t spoken about often which was how in Italy back in the day, men were recruited at a young age to join the war. They didn’t really have a say in it they had to go. I also made sure to include my grandfather’s name because it is important in witness poems to include names. This poem is bearing witness to my grandfather joining the war at a young age. I achieved this by relating it to the war in Iraq, however, I included how once we were in Iraq we needed to watch out for the young children. I then jumped into how my grandfather was recruited at a young age. I ended the poem by saying how all the memories from the war are now stories he tells my family, which helps show how this historic event relates to my family. ![]()
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#3 Newspaper account
School of terror I turned on the lights to classroom 206 Preparing the room for all my students I could hear the student’s voices filling the hallway As laughter followed I opened the door and welcomed my students Their faces shining and glistering like a star in the night’s sky The ringing of the school bell echoed throughout the hallways As the students scurried around and took their seats. A day once filled with laughter soon turned to tears. Nine-thirty am sounded like a large explosion Terrified screams overpowered the once laughter filled hallway My heart began to speed up like a revving racecar, there was a gunman I grabbed my students and hid them In places I didn’t think the gunman would look There once star shining faces now looked as if there was a ghost in front them Tears rolled down their cheeks as I told them everything was going to be okay. I dashed to the classroom door Leaping over papers, chairs, and backpacks That fell to the ground from the booming sounds in the hallway I locked the door and pushed desks in front of it As if I was the hulk and could move or lift anything. I then turned the lights off A room that was once lit up by the children’s smiles Now looked like the dead of night With a thunderstorm rolling through |
Explication of my poem:
I wrote this witness poem based on a newspaper account. I took the article on the Sandy Hook school shooting and imaged that I was one of the participants. I made sure to keep the poem in the first- person point of view. I did this by using I, which helped make the poem sound as if I was there, rather than me telling what happened. This poem is bearing witness to a school shooting. I achieved this by picking a newspaper account about a school shooting. The poem includes facts from the article along with my point of view. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/nyregion/shooting-reported-at-connecticut-elementary-school.html?_r=0
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