american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
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EMBODIED AGENCY 51<br />
stems from memories that “arise from <strong>the</strong> exigencies of conscience”<br />
(Montenegro 36) and demand resolute action. While Forché is uncerta<strong>in</strong><br />
of <strong>the</strong> redemptive value of remember<strong>in</strong>g, Rodríguez’s speaker<br />
implies that redemption, though difficult to achieve, is possible, not<br />
simply an irony of be<strong>in</strong>g buried <strong>in</strong> “Resurrection Cemetery”<br />
(my emphasis).<br />
Ultimately <strong>the</strong> speaker of “Then Comes A Day” searches for justice<br />
and redemption even as <strong>the</strong> poem questions whe<strong>the</strong>r redemption is<br />
possible amid such decay. Natural processes suggest that redemption<br />
is <strong>in</strong>deed possible: <strong>the</strong> earth has <strong>the</strong> speaker’s dead friends’ f<strong>in</strong>gers,<br />
“but not what <strong>the</strong>y touched”; each death is “new life”; from wombs<br />
“revolution is bir<strong>the</strong>d / through an open-mouth scream”; and <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
f<strong>in</strong>al stanza, dawn breaks, br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g “first light” to <strong>the</strong> cemetery. Yet<br />
<strong>the</strong>se flickers of redemption occur only on <strong>the</strong> path of a constant<br />
search for justice, a “long, crevice-filled road / I’ve been stranded on<br />
all this time, / try<strong>in</strong>g to reach a dest<strong>in</strong>ation that climbs / uneasy over<br />
<strong>the</strong> horizon.” The speaker’s search for justice is uncerta<strong>in</strong>, dangerous,<br />
and partly successful <strong>in</strong> isolat<strong>in</strong>g him <strong>in</strong> a fight aga<strong>in</strong>st poverty and<br />
community dissolution.<br />
For <strong>the</strong> speaker, however, this lengthy fight for justice can be<br />
redemptive if and when <strong>the</strong> “revolution” is fulfilled. This realization<br />
emanates from his personal memories of loss. Near <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong><br />
poem, <strong>the</strong> speaker discovers that “Twenty years come / that don’t<br />
make a day, / <strong>the</strong>n comes a day / that makes up / for twenty years.”<br />
Two decades of defeat can <strong>the</strong>refore be redeemed <strong>in</strong> a s<strong>in</strong>gle day <strong>in</strong><br />
which revolution and justice become realities <strong>in</strong>stead of distant<br />
possibilities. This revolution is both personal and collective; it facilitates<br />
a leap from <strong>in</strong>dividual experience to communal experience and<br />
from memory to present reality. In this process, <strong>the</strong> speaker “leaps<br />
from <strong>the</strong> narrative to <strong>the</strong> visionary levels,” a “dom<strong>in</strong>ant” strategy of<br />
much 1980s <strong>poetry</strong> po<strong>in</strong>ted out by Charles Altieri. 9 For Altieri, this<br />
“scenic style” is firmly entrenched <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romantic tradition where<br />
poems often “achieve closure” by a visionary leap. He criticizes this<br />
mode because it implies that <strong>the</strong> speaker’s discoveries are cont<strong>in</strong>gent<br />
upon events; thus, <strong>the</strong> self is “created ra<strong>the</strong>r than creative” (Self 15).<br />
For “Then Comes A Day,” where <strong>the</strong> speaker’s active experiential<br />
agency literally moves <strong>the</strong> poem and <strong>the</strong> voice of experience actively<br />
creates <strong>the</strong> poem’s perceptions, avoid<strong>in</strong>g Altieri’s objections is important.<br />
Whereas <strong>the</strong> poem “achieves” a semblance of closure <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
speaker’s leap, “Then Comes A Day” is based on events <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> speaker’s<br />
life; decl<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to use <strong>the</strong>se experiences <strong>in</strong> order to achieve some type of<br />
closure would necessarily discount <strong>the</strong> primacy of <strong>the</strong> speaker’s