I took a poetry creative writing class with her (she taught at my undergrad) which was a small, workshop based structure. She provided the most incredible feedback on our poetry, and was infinitely kind and warm. She created a space that felt safe, affirming, and filled w insight. We read writing by WOC which healed me even before I realized what it meant. I ran into her years later on the street and she remembered me. She is an incredible poet and person ❤️
This presentation is the hardest I've ever listened to on race! You see, Claudia is soft spoken and her tone of voice remains soft through the most heart-wrenching atrocities a black person lives through - it's what got me!
Very much enjoyed your poems. I, too, am a poet specializing in Japanese forms: i. e. haiku, tanka, haibun, kyoka, senryu. I hope you don’t mind me sharing a tanka , a haibun, and my haiku tribute poem to Bashō’s frog with commentary by the late AHA founder and poet Jane Reichhold who considered my poem among her top 10 haiku of all time. What an honor. Here’s the Bashō poem and commentary: Bashō’’s frog four hundred years of ripples At first the idea of picking only 10 of my favorite haiku seemed a rather daunting task. How could I review all the haiku I have read in my life and decide that there were only 10 that were outstanding? Then realized I was already getting a steady stream of excellent haiku day by day through the AHA forum. The puns and write-offs based on Basho's most famous haiku are so numerous I would have said that nothing new could be said with this method, but here Al Fogel proved me wrong. Perhaps part of my delight in this haiku lies in the fact that I agree with him. Here he is saying one thing about realism-ripples are on a pond after a frog jumps in, but because it refers back to Basho and his famous haiku, he is also saying something about the haiku and authors who have followed him. We, and our work, are just ripples while Basho holds the honor of inventing the idea of "the sound of a frog leaping is the sound of water". As haiku spreads around the world, making ripples in more and larger ponds, its ripples are wider-including us all. But his last word reminds us all that we are only ripples and our lives are that ephemeral. It will be the frogs that will remain. And my tanka: returning home from a Jackson Pollock exhibition I smear my face with paint and turn into art ps: my haibun is based on a true incident that took place in the 1950s when racial injustice was rampant-especially among individual and groups. My haibun is more akin to Dr Martin Luther King’s philosophy and has an inspirational ending. Titled “ Eloise, Edna, And The Chicken Coop” ELOISE, EDNA & THE CHICKEN COOP There was once a young Black lady named Eloise who in the 1950s inherited from her grandmother a parcel of land in the suburbs of Compton, California at a time when there was strong racial prejudice against women of color-especially those Black women who owned property in predominately white neighborhoods. It happened there lived adjacent to Eloise’s land a white woman named Edna who did not like the fact that a Black lady owned land next to hers. Eloise would try to be friendly because she believed Jesus when He said “Love Thy Neighbor” and to Eloise that meant even if your neighbor was unfriendly. But whenever Eloise saw Edna, Edna would turn her back and ignore her and go about her business. In fact, ever since Edna’s husband died a decade ago, she became mean and unfriendly to everyone in the neighborhood. But to Eloise, she was especially hateful and full of animosity so much so that at night when all the lights in Eloise home were off, Edna went to her own backyard where she kept her chicken coop and gathered up all the manure and dumped it on Eloise land and upon her tomatoes and her greens and everything she was growing, in an attempt to destroy it. And when Eloise realized the next morning that there was all this manure, instead of becoming angry, she decided to rake and mix it in with the soil and use it as fertilizer. Every night Edna would dump the manure from her chicken coop litter box on Eloise’s land and every morning Eloise would turn the manure over and mix it in with the soil. This went on for several weeks until one morning Eloise noticed there was no manure in her yard. One of the neighbors informed Eloise that Edna had fallen ill. But because Edna was so disliked because of her and unfriendly personality , no one came to see her. But when Eloise heard about Edna’s condition she picked the best flowers from her garden, walked to Edna’s house, knocked on her front door and when Edna saw Eloise she was in complete shock that this Black lady who she had been so cruel to, would be the only neighbor to visit and bring flowers. Edna was deeply moved by Eloise kindness. Then Eloise handed the flowers to Edna who uttered, “These are the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen! Where’d you get them?” Eloise replied “Edna, I owe you a debt of gratitude; if it wasn’t for you, these flowers would not exist. It was you who helped me make them because when you were dumping in my yard, I decided to plant roses and use your manure as fertilizer.” This unexpected act of kindness opened the floodgate of Edna’s heart that had been closed for so long. “When I’m feeling better, I would love to have you over for tea,” Edna informed Eloise. “Thank you, “ Edna replied , assuring her she would come. And then added “ I will pray for your speedy recovery every night” And with those words Eloise departed. It’s amazing what can blossom from manure. There are some who allow manure to fall on them and do nothing. But then there are others-like Eloise -who “turn the other cheek” when abused or in this case “turn over the soil” to make something new like those beautiful red roses that opened a white woman’s heart All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, -Al -All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, Al
I guess a lot of people are assigning this for class LOL. Add me to the list. Also, here's a transcript of the video: docs.google.com/document/d/1a5BSnymb-KbCD_a2KR4nwjdMY1hQ1DE4STUFG4bZo_M/edit?usp=sharing
not to be dramatic but im writing on Rankine for my dissertation and i have literally three days until the deadline and you've just SAVED me u r my hero
