The concept of family and childhood does not need to be named in order for it to exist. In the poems for this week, that is an enduring thought in my mind. I think about Charara’s poem the most because it really stood out to me as authentic and relatable. I say authentic in the way that it shows an experience that can be anywhere and that anyone can claim and say “Yes, I completely understand” – that makes it easy for me to see where the poet is coming from (perspective).
I really like the line “where boys/ are manufactured into men” (1-2) because it reminds me of some research that I did about black men and boys and the way society views/treats them. The idea that the concept of boyhood is something manufactured reminds me (very much) of the plight of growing up as a black male. The view of childhood from the perspective of a man who has been manufactured means that he may feel inauthentic and may spend a great deal of his life/energy attempting to prove his validity. This transforms the person’s view of childhood and family into something different than our traditional definition of such concepts.
When we think about family and childhood, we must think about place. For Charara, the physical place is Detroit, but as the poem points out, “Detroit” can be anywhere…the physical place is not as important as the aspect of being made, of ‘thinking American’. For some, childhood consists of attempting to be someplace better, escaping the physical hell that we associate with our family/childhood. However, it is impossible to escape because the hell that we live through becomes a state of mind that exists everywhere. It is easy to say that one’s childhood is made of the home they lived in, the people they lived with and the things that did during a set time. However, what about the emotions, senses, psychological ebbs and flows that occurred and permeated throughout that time? Can a person’s childhood exist in a primarily psychological state? I wish I could ask this question with the depth that I am thinking of – the way it is posed seems simple unfortunately.
Angela,
ReplyDelete" it is impossible to escape, the hell that we live through becomes a state of mind that exist everywhere". I held on to this line as I think it speaks to the commonalty in all of the poems assigned in the section. For the poets home is not a particular place due to forces such as colonialism/ imperialism, their physical homes are far from what they knew as children, or in the case of the Detroit male home was hell from the jump. Due to the ideology of slavery and colonization non European people deal with social problems that are unique and forever shape what home, and childhood looks like, be it good or bad. It is hard to not grow up with and around the realities of how history continues to mark culture.
Great Angela,
ReplyDeleteIt's relatable in so many ways. Especially in Detroit, the actual or figurative ones. This is a poem about the boy-male journey and the exploitation of the bodies. Charara points out the "shithole" so we know it's not worth the sacrifice. Well done. Try to include comments on craft as well going forward
thanks
e