"I literally communicated through poetry. And when I couldn’t find the poems to express the things I was feeling, that’s what started me writing poetry, and that was when I was twelve or thirteen” (Audre Lorde).
Who Said It Was Simple BY AUDRE LORDE There are so many roots to the tree of anger that sometimes the branches shatter before they bear. Sitting in Nedicks the women rally before they march discussing the problematic girls they hire to make them free. An almost white counterman passes a waiting brother to serve them first and the ladies neither notice nor reject the slighter pleasures of their slavery. But I who am bound by my mirror as well as my bed see causes in colour as well as sex and sit here wondering which me will survive all these liberations. When I think of Audre Lorde I think of a very broken person. To me, poetry has always been a very soulful way to share your inner thoughts, and I feel that broken people tend to communicate more in this way because they have easier access to the pieces of their inner thoughts due to the cracks their past has put in their identity. This idea is what makes me see Lorde as broken because she said she likes to communicate in straight poetry. When I think of the poem "Who Said It Was Simple" I think of a fired up woman, who has had enough and is ready to tell the world about it. So naturally, when I see Audre Lorde's poetry, picture, or anything to do with her, I think of a feminist. There are so many roots to the tree of anger that sometimes the branches shatter before they bear. Let's just take a moment to unpack this. There are so many ways this stanza could go. Is Lorde talking about the anger everyone feels or about her own anger? Why did she choose to use a tree to embody these feelings? Why does she need a whole tree, with roots and boughs to express the anger? Does the size matter? Or is the size of the item she used for her metaphor irrelevent becuase it could be applied to all sizes of trees, small and large, as long as they have roots and branches? Was that her intention? To prove that anger comes in all sizes and shapes? I believe, the anger is her own, and she uses the tree due to its versatility. For example, Lorde defines herself as a "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" (Audre Lorde). She is minority, after minority, after minority. She has no doubt been the victim of -- if not hate crimes -- hateful comments, discrimination, and countless nasty faces. She IS angry. And she is angry at everyone. Sitting in Nedicks the women rally before they march discussing the problematic girls they hire to make them free. She's angry at the self righteous, straight, white women who "fight for equal rights." She's bad at them for using a modern form of slavery to make it possible for them to fight for the "rights" they were still denying the people they "employ." An almost white counterman passes a waiting brother to serve them first and the ladies neither notice nor reject the slighter pleasures of their slavery. She is angry because she wants to fight too. She knows that "black" men have more power than even the women who are rallying have. She wants to work with them, but they are so blinded by their hate towards colored women they cannot see the colored men who surpass them in the rank of the world. She wants to band with these women, but cannot because they are suppressing her -- and themselves in all reality -- with their narrow minds. But I who am bound by my mirror as well as my bed see causes in color as well as sex. She is angry because of what she sees in the mirror. She is a woman. A black woman, and her mirror and bed make sure to remind her of it every day. But she is tired of seeing submission, and decides to see "causes" in her color and her sex. So she began to rise above the rules and express her broken heart through her poetry. In order to make a better way for the people following her. She chose a tree for the metaphor in this poem because it shows growth. Her hatred has deep roots, and can rot the tree, break its boughs long before they mature and can even hold anything. The ladies marching have a deep rooted hatred because they ruined the branches of what could have been a strong companionship by not even giving black women a chance at friendship. But the tree can grow. It can become a new tree of life that shows "causes" in its branches, and expresses hopes and dreams for a broken, soulful, poetry communicating "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" (Audre Lorde). Works Cited “Audre Lorde.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 16 Apr. 2019, https://www.biography.com/scholar/audre-lorde. Bertke, Amy, et al. “Writing the Nation.” HopeJennings.Com, Weebly.com, 2019, http://www.hopejennings.com/uploads/3/1/0/9/31098595/writing_the_nation_fa_2019.pdf. Full disclaimer: I have had a serious case of writers block for the past week so please forgive me for my less than normal response.
3 Comments
10/12/2019 12:51:31 pm
Ok, this is such a good post! The way you break down each stanza of the poem and interpret the reasons that Lorde is angry is so well done. I especially like that you link the end of the poem to the tree metaphor at the beginning. Great job!
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10/13/2019 06:28:51 am
I really like how you worded this, especially the part about how poetry is a good way for broken people to communicate their hurt to the world. I do agree with that 100%. You do a good job breaking down both poems and I enjoyed reading your analysis. Good work!
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sandra
10/13/2019 05:51:43 pm
A thorough post! The tree represented her anger and multifaceted personality, but you pointing out that it also shows growth is a fantastic point. The tree may have been anger but it can grow into some else, something strong and powerful, and something to be reckoned with.
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