Year of the Ram: Honolulu, February 2, 1991
First of all, I was really pulled into this poem and the author did a wonderful job of leaving a powerful impact. Its complexity and depth had me rereading the mirage of quotes, trying to somehow categorize each sentence and image. Then I realized the poem was meant to reflect the bombardment of cultural and physical control over Hawaii through tense criticism and use of juxtaposition, repetition, and shifts between positive/negative, pleasant/violent, and serious/humorous images. This commentary expresses the general confusion hovering above Hawaii's standing as part of the United States and as a "local nation" staggering between fake smiles for tourists and a dwindling culture left wondering how a collection of rich and vibrant islands could be subjected to the cultural influx draining towards their "pacific basin." The author uses this rhetoric and medium of compiled quotes in order to show the reader a collection of others' words and views in order to convince the reader of the general opinion towards Hawaii and its mixed influx of cultural aspects. The way the poem continues to expand the further you read, specifically the lines "In a desert the tank is hit and sends up a plume of smoke," creates a feeling of prolonged suffering which demonstrates such turmoil found in the islands history. This poem also stretches across a large section of racial diversity by including such lines as "the performance artist in his mariachi suit and Indian war bonnet," and "Available cuisines: Japanese, Thai, Korean, Hawaiian, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Filipino, Singapore, Lulu International, U.S. . ." This poem includes references going back to Cortez overthrowing Montezuma, back up to the Vietnam war, then lingers around modern "Looney Tunes" theme songs, and then flies ahead to "tonight, as the year 4688 gets underway..." It presents a complicated sense of endless cultural assault and leaves me wondering just how securely a certain culture can exist in the world and at what point does it completely blend into the presence of every other group of people trying to express themselves and their countries identity.
-Jessica St.Martin
Jessica -
ReplyDeleteThis a great reading of the form of the poem. The year 4688 is dependent on the Chinese calendar, so rather than being a look into a dystopic possible future, Clifford is merely pointing to another influence that is so distant from our hegemonic influence that they maintain their own calendar and concept of time.
- Trey