The collection of poems I chose is titled Bury My Clothes by Roger Bonair- Agard. Roger Bonair- Agard was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the United States in 1987. Bury My Clothes is his third collection of poetry and was published in 2013. Bonair-Agard performs his works internationally along with leading workshops. He is writer-in-residence with Vision Into Art and poet-in-residence with Young Chicago Authors. He is also the cofounder and artistic director of the louderARTS Project and teaches poetry at a Juvenile Detention Facility in Chicago. Bonair- Agard's poems usually focus on family and religion. Many of his poems mention protection of his mother, or conversing with his father; as well as faith and God. This collection of poems has been described as, "a meditation on violence, race, and the place in art at which they intersect," (www.cbsd.com).
In his poem "A Time of Polio" he writes about his Uncle's case of polio and how it affected him and his everyday life. He makes religious references throughout not only this poem but most of his poems and several of his poems have the running family theme in some way while also speaking of oppression. http://www.radiuslit.org/2011/04/09/radius-roger-bonair-agard-jeanann-verlee-adam-falkner/
I find most of Agard's poems deep and full of emotion and meaning. It is easy to tell that Agard cares deeply for his family, his faith, and his race and the struggles they face everyday. If I were to express my concerns through verse I would probably focus on similar things to Agard in terms of faith and religion, family, art, and just social issues that are relevant.
Caroline-- What a moving poem. His use of repetition is interesting, like he's trying multiple takes of this story he will tell his children (if he ever has any.) The concluding lines are gorgeous in their simplicity: "We are
ReplyDeleteall worried about not being good
enough for love. Imagine all we have.
Imagine all we love and live through."