Donika Kelly And Somaz Sharif Analysis

I attended the reading of Donika Kelly and Solmaz Sharif, and it was absolutely fantastic to hear these intelligent, empowered, spirited women speak. It is difficult to put into words of just how spectacular it was. It felt like a privilege to be able to sit in that room and listen to their work. I wish the poetry reading was held in a bigger room so more people could have attended to here poets talk about real issues. I first want to talk about Donika Kelly's. Her poems were beautifully written. I really liked how she used mythological greek figures to write poems of love, self-discovery and travels to the west. It was heartbreaking to hear her say the reason she chose to write about the greek figures was because that was her way of coping as a child the fact that her father used to sexually abuse her. He was the real monster behind her poems.
She shined a light on issues no one ever wants to talk about. I learned things I never knew in those shorts minutes that she spoke. Her astonishing work examines an endless cycle of war and violence. I really loved hearing the poem where she had lifted the words and phrases she had lifted from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. She exposes the euphemisms spoken in that book in order to sugar coat the language, control its effects on people, and justify their actions. My eyes were tearing up when resided her poem on what if she wrote a letter to the prisoner held at Guantanamo bay. It was so powerful to here and it’s something I had never thought about so for her to sit down and say I want to write a poem about this issue is really amazing. I had a chance to talk to her after the poetry readings and she is very intelligent, kind, and humble about her work. I really loved listening to the poetry readings and hope to attend the next one held at UC