Author Archives: Cali

Michael Cunningham’s “Specimen Days” (a quick review so far)

Posted on November 22, 2010 by Cali

I’m taking a break from allowing my life to be consumed by papers. I have managed to convince myself that I’m reading Michael Cunninghman’s “Specimen Days” for pleasure instead of because it is required. This convinces turned out to be … Continue reading →

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Yusef Komunyakaa’s ‘The Towers’ in light of Juliana Spahr

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Cali

Yusef Komunyakaa “The Towers” is a part of his book entitled “Warhorses” written in 2009. The poem “The Towers” is a direct response to the events of September 11, 2001 and has Juliana Spahr written all over it. What’s interesting … Continue reading →

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Catalogues

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Cali

“By listing, by naming, the atrocities-the harrowing stats, the scary particulars-in our world-at-endless-war, we might at least exert control over our sanity and extend our mind and compassion to others.” This is description of Juliana Spahr’s This Connection of Everyone … Continue reading →

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Juliana Spahr and The Act of Being Complicit

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Cali

Upon cracking open “this connection of everyone with lungs” I had never experienced Juliana Spahr before. Spahr’s poetry began on page 3 and immediately I was intrigued. By page 5 I was wondering where Spahr was going with all of … Continue reading →

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So what was Ginsberg doing with his queer shoulder?

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Cali

I cannot stop thinking about it. I read “America” a few semesters ago and took it for what I thought it was: a big “Eff You, America!”, a lamentation, and then a moment of realization that spikes action where Ginsberg … Continue reading →

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Ginsberg’s Sunflowers

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Cali

Allen Ginsberg’s “Sunflower Sutra” is definitely a poem of crisis and recovery. Ginsberg’s sunflower suggests an America that has been tarnished and polluted by the carelessness of modern society. In observing the “dead gray shadow” that is the sunflower Ginsberg … Continue reading →

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Rudolfo Anaya and Hope through Whitman

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Cali

I thought that Rudolfo Anaya’s “Walt Whitman Strides the Llano of New Mexico” was one of the most moving poems that I had ever read. The tango of Spanish and English vocabulary was nothing short of beautiful. The power of … Continue reading →

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Before I Even Really Studied Whitman, He was in My Head

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Cali

One time I wrote a poem about orange peels and college ruled paper in iambic pentameter and on April 25th 2008 it won me a scholarship through the Archibald Rutledge Competition. Over time, the copy I had of this poem … Continue reading →

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Whitman’s Beard: Ginsberg’s Compass

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Cali

“Where are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in an hour. / Which way does your beard point tonight?” I cannot help but laugh aloud at this particular line from Allen Ginsberg’s “A Supermarket in California”. As readers of … Continue reading →

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Whitman the… psychiatrist?

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Cali

Throughout his history, Whitman strived to appear to be identifiable to everyone. His personalized goal seemed to be to be relatable to the laborer, the worker, the young man, the woman, the sailor, the saint, the sinner, the recluse, the … Continue reading →

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