Hello Everyone,

This week in our ASTU class we have been discussing and analysing Juliana Spahr’s poems from This Connection to Everyone with Lungs. Before discussing the poem, “Poem written after September 11/2001”, in class, we read it with a fellow classmate while doing homework. I read it out loud so that she and I would be able to listen to the sounds and ring of the words. We did this out old habits brought back from school but we did not know the importance of reading this particular poem out loud until we discussed it the next day . However, while reading it we did feel that there was more than just sound to the way the words rang in their repetition and resonated in our ears. The words formed patterns and the ring became predictable as we read through a melody of alliterations and rhythmic words that served to draws deeply in with the author. Spahr uses repetition to lead and guide our way of thinking about the poem and what it speaks of. Words sound differently when they are pronounced once then when they are pronounced repeatedly. It puts the reading in line according to the scripted sounds of the author.

Poetry is and has always been a very powerful that hits close to the heart as there is so much more than real meaning of words as the author intends them but there is also the interpretation every reader burdens the words with. Poetry like this one is not only read and understood but is also felt and that is why these poems were so successful when they were published. They lure you in at a constant pase like that of waves in the ocean, constant in their rhythm until to be interrupted by the ending. The ending presents a shift in the structure of the poem, a halt in the constant repetition and addition of phrases, and an explosive emotion of weighty emotion. They poem alludes to its 9/11 concept when it speaks of the shattered glass and concrete that also enters our lungs only to make it extremely clear with the last line. Spahr uses words to convey meanings and the momentum of the dragging sounds to bring intensity to the changing and increasing emotion. Poetry impacts and this poem is very effective at that.

Have a great day!

Andrea Barraza