Bear Witness

    “Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting” Kevin Powers
What I first noticed about this poem is the way the soldier describes how he loves the recipient of his letter, “I tell her I love her like not killing or ten minutes of sleep...” (1-2). He is in the middle of a war, exhausted and lonely. When he says “I love you”, it carries a great weight.
 “War is just us making little pieces of metal pass through each other” (10-12). These last lines are so profound, yet so simply put. I was struck by the matter-of-fact and detached way in which Pvt. Bartle describes the killing going on around them, and by them. I felt that the soldier writing the letter seemed to be trying to maintain meaning in the words he was writing amongst all the seemingly pointless killing.
“Woman Hanging On to the 13th Floor Window” Joy Harjo
This poem resonated with me the most. The words are so rich and tender. This intense struggle that the woman is going through is meant to mirror that of everyone’s struggle in life. This poem shows the pain in trying to life a full life while not really knowing what that means. There is a loneliness in this poem, but also a shared connection of struggle. The ending lines of the poem were the most powerful to me-
The woman hangs from the 13th floor window crying for
the lost beauty of her own life. She sees the
sun falling west over the grey plane of Chicago.
She thinks she remembers listening to her own life
break loose, as she falls from the 13th floor
window on the east side of Chicago, or as she
climbs back up to claim herself again (60-66).
I believe that the woman wants to claim herself and live, she just does not know where to begin.
-For information on Joy Harjo and to read more of her poetry, visit http://www.joyharjo.com/JoyHarjoHome.html
Powers, Kevin, "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting." poetryfoundation.org
Harjo, Joy, "Woman Hanging From the 13th Floor Window." poetryfoundation.org

Introduction Video

                                                                               Hello

On Vladimir Nabokov's "Good Readers and Good Writers"

(Nabokov's well read teaching edition of Madame Bovary) Image Source: kipbot.com

    Vladimir Nabokov, in “Good Readers and Good Writers” describes a good reader as one who “should notice and fondle details”. The reader should approach a written work with no preconceived notions of what he or she thinks the piece is going to deliver. There must be an aloofness and objectivity in reading while also entering into the imagination of the writer and bringing one’s own imagination into it. Nabokov says that the best that one can bring to a reading is an impersonal imagination and artistic delight. There should exist “an artistic harmonious balance between the reader’s mind and the author’s mind”.
    I agree largely with what Nabokov says makes for a good reader, especially the bit about leaving out preconceived notions about what I think an author is going to say. This is the best way to miss every subtlety and mystery that the author has to offer. To be a good reader, one must be able to know the difference between cheap, emotional entertainment and an art form that is calling the reader outside of his or her own self and offering a view of humanity at its deepest. And then the reader must receive what has been revealed. I strive to read in this way, but I believe it is something that one must work diligently toward everyday.
(Here is an article on how modern romance novels, Christian and secular, are akin to emotional porn)