Word: poeme
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...anti-patriotic writings, including a formal denouncement of modern America's "inorganic industrial capitalism" and the glossy covers of Time magazine in his poem "America" have earned Ginsberg the name of political radical. A relic of the decade in which protest was on the rampage, he might easily be catalogued into a leftist file. But his work does not pretend to define a particular ideology. Rather than embracing a school of thought, he removes himself almost completely from the political realm. In the last poem of the book, "Capitol Air," he jabs both sides of the international ideologue struggle...
Ginsberg catalogues as much of the world as he can within the confines of his literature. In "A Supermarket in California," he describes his method of "shopping for images" which shows up in much of his poetry. "Hiway Poesy," a journal-like poem documenting his trek across the United States, represents the shopping cart he fills with singular images and experiences...
Alice Walker's fourth book of poetry may surprise readers of The Color Purple, but it is hardly an anticlimactic follow-up to the Pulitzer Prizewinning novel. The collection of poem's begins with an almost apologetic quote from Lame Deer, a Sioux medicine man: "For bringing us the horse we could almost forgive you for bringing us whiskey. Horses make a landscape look more beautiful." The reader who expects poems about horses and flowers, however, will be disappointed. Walker's poems are sharp, often political criticisms aimed at contemporary society...
Walker not only attacks the United States' ties to South Africa but also criticizes the attitudes that have made "people of color" doubt their own value. "Without Commericals" is a taut poem that appeals directly to the reader. Like a revolutionary manifesto, it repeats its message, both exhorting and assuring in one phrase. But for Walker, the enemy is not The White Man: She is perceptive enough to identify cosmetic beauty as oppressive because of the impossible ideals we are told to reach for and admire. Physical beauty has become a commodity we can acquire but at the cost...
...Each One, Pull One", which is subtitled "Thinking of Lorraine Hansberry", is a poem of anger and anguish. At first, Walker seems to identify "them", the oppressors, very clearly: "We do not admire their president/ We know why the White House is white". But her message pulls in every artist whose voice has been silenced, ignored, or deliberately forgotten...