In our ASTU class we recently studied This Connection of Everyone with Lungs: Poems written by Juliana Spahr. Personally, I disliked the first poem which was written straight by Spahr straight after September 9/11 happened. However, the second poem which Spahr wrote as a process poem during the 2002 invasion of Iraq  managed to spark my interest.

I found Spahr’s second poem interesting as the idea of a process poem which is written everyday is new to me. The fact that Spahr is American but lived on the island of Hawaii at the time provides connection to the war but disconnection at the same time. In the poem she describes seeing things related to the war such as naval ships, which brings the reality of what was happening in Iraq to her backyard. On the other hand, Hawaii is very isolated and distant from the rest of the world, meaning that seeing those ships was as close as Spahr would get to the war.

The theme of Spahr’s poems in This Connection of Everyone with Lungs: Poems is directly stated in the title. I was particularly intrigued by her idea that everyone on Earth breathes the same air and is connected to each other whether we like it or not. It makes me question why humans act the way they do towards each other, from violence to acts of terrorism to torture the list goes on and on. As humans we are all connected, yet we choose to focus on the differences between us such as religion or skin color.

In her poem, Spahr acts as a witness to the events happening around her during the Iraq invasion. But at the end of the day, her life was only affected so much by the war. Spahr, and people like myself, live in a privileged world where we can go about our daily life and observe conflicts such as the Iraq War from a distance. We are all witnesses until we choose to act and make a difference in this world.

Works Cited:

Spahr, Juliana. This Connection of Everyone With Lungs: Poems. California: University of California             Press, 2005. Print.

As part of our ASTU syllabus we examined Marc Falkoff’s Poems From Guantánamo, a collection of 22 poems written by 17 detainees from Guantánamo Bay. Guantánamo Bay is a military prison in Cuba run by the United States, which was opened in 2002. The difference is that the people detained in Guantánamo Bay have not been charged, therefore are being detained on the premise of being guilty until proven innocent.

Reading Poems From Guantánamo was an eye opening experience. A person’s reaction to the poems differs a lot, depending on their personal beliefs and cultural background. On one end of the spectrum there are those who believe that all of the detainees are in fact terrorists and deserve nothing better, while on the opposite end there are those who believe that the United States has stepped far out of line and violated numerous human rights by running the facility.

Personally, I found it hard to identify fully with either argument. While I do believe that there are human rights violations occurring within the facility such as force feeding, at the same time I am not in a position to judge whether the men being detained are genuinely innocent people. However I do feel that the detainees should stand trial immediately and either be charged or released, instead of being held indefinitely in Guantánamo Bay.

In my opinion most of the poems are well written, regardless of who wrote them and whether they are or a monster or a saint. The poems evoke basic human compassion and empathy, which can be confusing as the authors have been labeled as ‘terrorists’. This brings about the question of whether someone who is a ‘terrorist’ deserves to be thought of as a human and be protected by international human rights. If someone has carried out terrorist activities such as bombing and killing people, should they be given any sympathy? Or should they be treated like a monster and tortured in unimaginable ways?

Works Cited:

Falkoff, Marc. Poems from Guantánamo. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2007. Print.