Cowardice

“They carried the common secret of cowardice barely restrained, the instinct to run or freeze or hide, and in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down, it required perfect balance and perfect posture.” (O’Brien Pg. 20)

This bit of the book stood out to me because of how O’Brien describes cowardice. I have gone through a lot to get familiar and even invite cowardice over for a cup of coffee. So, know what he means by keeping “perfect balance and perfect posture.” Trying to control your emotions throughout the day and hope that no one can tell that your actually falling apart. Keeping your head up and pretend that “it” doesn’t bother you.

These soldiers had to fight everyday to stay alive and keep their heads up regardless of the pain and fear that they hid. Now this sentence also makes me think, if in order to stay alive you hide to hide what you actually felt to stay alive, could that lead to violence acts in order to look brave?

http://members.tripod.com/atif_nazir/unforget_photos.htm

I have a friend that I have grown up with since elementary school, and she's living through hell because she won't speak up. She hides her fear in order to not put her family in danger. But what good is that if she can never live in peace and her children abused? Thousands of woman are beaten, killed, raped because not of their cowardice but because of the cowardice of others. War is the same horrible crimes are made because you can’t show that you are afraid, be strong for the troops. You do need to be strong and put things into perspective but that does not justify the things done in war. War is a messy you never know where you might find yourself, the murderer or the victim.

http://www.nocaptionneeded.com/index.php?s=memorialized

Here is a link about photographs that had caputure war.

What makes a poem?

This is a last minute blog once again so; I will try to be blunt. Form my short essay number two, I decided to write about “Charlie Howard’s Descent” by Mark Doty. In the short  explanation of the poem it is about a gay hate-crime in Bangor, Maine 1984. It is written in the perspective of the victim. Now after reading both articles I found myself (literally contemplating for maybe three minutes) that they both have truths about the poem I chose. This poem is “neither emotional nor political” like, Carolyn Forche may describe but like Sam Hamill “it as deep truth.”  Sam Hamill describe about the truth that is hidden between every silence. The distinction between speaking the elements for what they are and the ignorance of the blind. Sam Hamill talks about violence in its distinct forms. He himself talks about a very traumatic event in his life, being gang raped and stabbed left to die. Charlie Howard dealt with what Sam Hamill describes, “Every fourth homosexual male in a U.S. high school is the victim of a major assault during his venture.”(Hamill Pg.553). During his articles he explains that the reason of such crimes are because we tend to hide or ignore the truth for our own sake or the “children’s” sake. We think that because we don’t talk about them violence doesn’t occur. Carolyn Forche talks about war, exiled, or prisoner poets and how they don’t see black and white like we mostly do. She says that poems are not all black and white “we distinguish between “personal” and “political” poems- the former calling to mind lyrics of love and emotional loss….” For Charlie Howard he is both. IT was emotional by the way he had died and his last moments of panic but also brought attention to hate-crimes state wide.

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/06/09/beautiful-black-and-white-photography/

Here is a timeline of controverersial poets over history.