Reading Zake: Week 6

by Danielle 11 Comments

This semester, I’ve been a frequent commuter for work, and have often felt myself at a loss for focus, struggling to let go of frenzied thoughts between where I’ve been and where I’m going. Spying Shange’s poem, “What Do You Believe A Poem Shd Do?,” as a part of the MTA’s Arts for Transit collection hit me like a wave of present. It, quite literally, ‘stopped me in my tracks.’ Seeing, reading and experiencing the poem in transit reminded me of the beauty in mundane rituals, like travel and movement. To me, the poem seems to celebrate leaning in to the challenge of letting go of haphazard thoughts and committing to the experience and gestures of the present moment.

2015Shang-b

Re-discovering the poem has made me reflect on how magic in the mundane has the power to “happen to you like cold water or a kiss”—just like a poem. I find Shange’s poems somewhat impossible to separate from rhythm, gesture and movement, and so I love reading this poem on the subway, committing to the words and the motion of transit. And in the midst of travel, I am reminded of Shange’s quote: “it is possible to start a phrase with a word and end with a gesture.”

Poems-in-Motion

We’ve talked a lot about how Shange’s choreopoems resonate beyond pages of text and demand a degree of physical engagement. Seeing “What Do You Believe A Poem Shd Do?” on the subway makes me wish that poetry be incorporated into other mundane rituals inherently in motion. A few questions I’ve been thinking about: How can poetry inform our everyday movements? How does poetry have the power to inspire and shape the way we experience our rituals?

Comments ( 11 )

  1. Melissa
    This week I met with Professor Valdés and updated some of my project ideas and refined my work-plan. I am currently working on my archive find blog post
  2. Kim Hall
    Thanks for a very inspirational post this week! I must confess that, as many times as I've experienced this poem on the subway, I never thought about the multiple levels of movement you draw out (" so I love reading this poem on the subway, committing to the words and the motion of transit."). Given our growing interest in words and image, I'll be curious to hear what the class has to say about this pairing of text and image. The title "Funktional Vibrations" makes me think both about Vibration Cooking and the transformation of the everyday/functional with the addition of "funk." Your final question, "How does poetry have the power to inspire and shape the way we experience our rituals?" suggests that perhaps we need to have more conversation about ritual. It feels like some (Michelle, Dania, Amanda, Gabby and others) are making ritual in their scholarly/artistic practice; while some are studying ritual (Melissa, Nadia, Yemi,etc) and some are trying to offer new rituals for 21st century students (Kiana, Nadia, etc.)--and of course some are doing all at once!
  3. Dania
    This week I was able to gather more secondary sources and I visited the Barnard Archives. I was able to find some photos as well ephemeral pieces that I will scan on Monday.
  4. Amanda
    This week I reached out to the Art History department at Barnard and got access to the paint studio.
  5. Nadia
    This week I began making notes from Audre Lorde's "The Uses of the Erotic" and I began choreographing and organizing logistics for my Oshun/Afro-Cuban performance piece.
  6. Yemi
    This week I wasn't able to accomplish as much reading as I wanted. However, I feel more at ease because I've narrowed the scope of my project. I am also becoming more comfortable articulating the key ideas/ intention behind my work.
  7. Nicole
    I didn't get much work done this past week because of midterms, but this week I plan to start focussing on writing and continue reading from my reading list.
  8. Clarke
    I didn't schedule interviews yet, but I was thinking about ways to record the videos/the format in which I want to present interviews, and I also worked to incorporate comments from last class into my project.
  9. Sophia
    I wish I were working at a more rapid pace, but this week I started researching potential strategies by which I could present a digital-magazine or digital-magazine-like experience on the site, and continued to unearth pieces that I may use for the final project.
  10. Michelle
    I did not get a chance to reach out to Che from the BCRW or Michelle Moravec to learn more about 70s feminisms. I hope to get to it over Spring break!
  11. Kiani
    Last week, I worked to digitize notes I have been taking on my readings for the class. Further, I scanned several items from Ntozake Shange's archive.

Leave a reply