Thursday, October 9, 2008

October Poem of the Month: Resurrection, by Amy George

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Resurrection, by Amy George

I don’t remember
when you grew wings…
when they flared out
from your back
above the stab wounds
now only scars.
I just remember your eyes,
how they glowed with
Easter morning,
lightning striking
the same place twice,
though years had fallen
in between.
There was beauty
and trembling
past the bruises,
cynical voices
shattered by an empty tomb.
I remembered the basement,
his hands on your small body.
And I wept to see you
lift up the little girl
you held inside,
her tears now only a memory.

Not even the world,
with all its gravity,
could hold you.



Comments, by Edward Nudelman
This taut little narrative poem by Amy George, with its interesting second person point of view, is strongly personal and experiential; so much so, it nearly defaults into first person. That is to say, while the reader can identify with the ‘you’ in the poem as being a very close family member (or a close friend) of the speaker, the frame of reference can easily devolve into the "I/me", where the voice is seen as referring to self. As such, the poem lends itself to heightened immediacy and a certain tension that would not have otherwise materialized in the first person. Second person POV is difficult to pull off. Often the poem sounds didactic or even maudlin. This is not the case with Resurrection.

This is a poem that speaks to how we heal; how scars are removed. There is a transcendency in tone that is not specifically identified. Details are not given, or belabored, thus heightening the reader’s notion of what’s going on. It makes you want to rush on to the ending (a good thing!) We understand in the very first verses that wings ‘flared out’ where there were once stab wounds, a very elegant and visual framing, setting the tone of the poem which is reserved and restrained. As if to say, these things happened, and this is the way they affected you. And that’s that.

So what is happening in the poem? The allusions to sexual abuse ocurr near the end of the poem, “his hands on your small body,” and ties in the earlier reference of stab wounds. “There was beauty and trembling past the bruises,” adds focus to the central theme of the poem, which is overcoming calamity, moving through un-navigable waters. But not just surviving. Coming through with grace, beauty.

There is, alongside this profile of coping, a second theme of resurrection, made central by the title, and also bolstered in the placement of the event on Easter, or at least describing it in the context of Easter ('I just remember your eyes,how they glowed with Easter morning'). The poem heightens and perhaps shifts in tone in, “Lightning striking the same place twice, though years had fallen in between,” an interesting juxtaposition of the terror of the event, and perhaps the path to liberation as seen through the resurrection: of moving from death to life. Further, there is this reference to a tomb, another Christian metaphor, but not necessarily restricted to that meaning. Hence, we can see how the speaker sees her subject moving beyond the tomb, a darkness and repository for death, as the little girl that was “held inside,” somehow finds a way past her tears. This is finally brought home in a powerful way in the closing strophe:

Not even the world,
with all its gravity,
could hold you

Not scars, but wings. Not death, but resurrection. Not trapped in the world, but freedom for flight. What I like about the poem is its closeness. I couldn’t help reading it as a biographical catharsis. Or better, a biographical record. The speaker seems to be telling us that there is a path beyond the dead-end scars of sexual abuse. For her, that crystallization commands the strength and power of the poem. It is a poem for those who struggle. A poem that identifies extreme exposure and need, and offers hope.


Brief bio, in Amy’s own words:
Amy L. George holds an MFA in Creative Writing from National University. Her poetry has been published in various journals including Poesia, The Orange Room Review, The GNU and Word Catalyst Magazine and is forthcoming in Pennsylvania English. She is the general editor of Bird's Eye reView and also on the editorial staff for The GNU, the student literary journal of National University. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and two psychotic cats.

-EDN,10/08

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20 comments:

  1. Wow. A beautiful poem on first reading, and all the more so when re-read in the light of your comments, Ed. I found the second person point of view very powerful, but couldn't have expressed why till I read your explanation. Thanks.

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  2. now this a born-again experience i can identify with! so elegantly put, painfully lived, and heroically transcended. elegiac. i salute your poetry, amy, and i believed every word. xoxoxoxoxooxox ~lt

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  3. exactly, Laura; these words are credible and thus more persuasive

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  4. congratulations Amy - a well-deserved win!

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  5. Wow. No way can I begin to express how amazed by this poem I really am. I very much admire the way some artists can write based on a different perspective or person. I have only been able to write from what I see or what my personal feelings are towards one thing or another. Again, all I'm at least able to say is ''stunning.''

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  6. This is gripping.A talent to be proud of.


    Jeanette Cheezum

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  7. Amy,

    Your poem makes me think hard, as I compare it to a poem posted on Gather called "Daddy's Little Girl" (link below if you want it).

    The poem on Gather talks about the immediate experience of sexual abuse, while yours speaks of surviving it.

    As usual, I had trouble with the POV shifts (a problem I have with most modern poetry). However, I think that your poem is beautiful, transcendent, and wise.

    I thought at first that the girl might not have survived the abuse, with your reference to "angel" wings early on. However, your words near the end make it clear that she did:

    "And I wept to see you
    lift up the little girl
    you held inside,
    her tears now only a memory."

    Congratulations on your win. This is not an easy poem for me, but it has a subtlety that I am learning to appreciate more and more as I read comtemporary poetry (with a bit of help from Ed!)

    Ann M. (Gather).

    http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977325452

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  8. Thanks, Ed and all. I appreciate your kind words.

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  9. P.S. Ed, great interpretation...you caught a lot of the layers and nuances I hoped the reader would in this poem. It's a complicated simplicity. Thanks again for your attentions to it. (Sorry I didn't post this first...it's late and I'm afraid I am a little brain dead.)

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  10. the poem's fine but (and this may be a cultural dislocation) the packaging seems obnoxious to me- 'you won't want to miss this stellar poem on surviving the horrors of sexual abuse'... 'taut little narrative poem'....the exclamation marks are invisible but I hear them so loud. sorry, it seems antithetical to me to SELL this stuff so damn hard. see ya.

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  11. The second person POV is I think a very powerful way to observe something at close quarters. The use of 'you' is very common is some old forms of arabic poetry. It is a form of address that draws the reader in to the experience as the you as pointed out by Ed can be seen as 'the self' whilst it can also nods in the direction of the sense of 'you too are part or could experience this'. thus the term 'you' is particular and inclusively univeral at the same time. It is interesting as a creative exercise to change any poen you have that is strongly I into this second person and experience how it changes the voice of the poem.
    I found this poem very well crafted as the second person, if not handled well can be come somewhat polemic and declamatory.
    The subject matter that it was seeking to explore gained a power from its use. As in many traumatic experiences the psyche can protect itself by becoming an observer on itself. Therefore I found this poem managed to pull of the being in the now of that experience whilst at the same time also observing from a point of view many years on.
    Good poem, not self indulgent or sensational in the worst use of that term, quiet in its power.

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  12. Jen, thanks for your viewpoint. Actually, after sending that notice, I did look at it and think, wrong choice of words. My intent was to not minimize the subject matter, but also get a little out on what the poem was about, not to 'sell' the poem or market it, but to tag it to anyone that it might help... so hard to do in a blurb. But I can see how it looked cavalier and perhaps self-serving (in view of the blog, etc)

    I see your point and thank you for saying it in positive (and forceful) way. -EDN

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  13. Coming after "eyes,"

    lightning striking
    the same place twice,
    though years had fallen
    in between

    is a powerful amplification. Thanks for the poem, Amy, and Edward.

    Jee Leong

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  14. The emotion reverberates loudly in this piece - beautifully written. I thought at first that the poor child had died - transcended earth to a better place. I'm glad to know she's here, and stronger than ever. Kudos, Amy, for a much deserved win.

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  15. Excellent choice, Edward. Amy, this poem, as Edward points out, powerfully synthesizes a story of personal abuse and soul scarring with the redeeming narrative of the Resurrection.

    There is tremendous pain depicted in the spare description from the speaker´s first person address to a remembered self as the second person, and a fusion of a terrible memory with the vindication from the Savior that is moving and magisterial. Great work, my dear, showing really not only tremendous craft but also self-knowledge.
    Edward has done a real service for all of us bringing out so many of the meanings of this work of terrible beauty and redemption.

    And Amy, as the professional poet she has become, has learned how to indirectly bare her soul so that we may feel directly the emotions seared into consciousness forever.

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  16. What a lovely, illuminating poem. The ending is heart wrenching.

    And Mr. Nudelman's comments were very enlightening, not just about the poem, but about writing in general. Nice!

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  17. Amy George's Resurrection found me hooked, stunned, relieved and then satisfied.

    With its smoothly blended viewpoints reaching far into my soul...I don't think George, othewise, might have accomplished the control she maintained from beginning to end.

    Hats off to the poet of this fine and moving piece.

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  18. I do so like this.
    TerryAnn

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  19. Great poem Amy, Edward says so much about it, I can't add much more except, congrats and keep the great ones coming!

    Peace!
    R Jay

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  20. As a fellow survivor, I relate.
    My father was the abuser.

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