By: Alice Walker
Never offer your heart
to someone who eats hearts
who finds heartmeat
delicious
but not rare
who sucks the juices
drop by drop
and bloody-chinned
grins
like a God.
Never offer your heart
to a heart gravy lover.
Your stewed, overseasoned
heart consumed
he will sop up your grief
with bread
and send it shuttling
from side to side
in his mouth
like bubblegum.
If you find yourself
in love
with a person
who eats hearts
these things
you must do:
Freeze your heart
immediately.
Let him—next time
he examines your chest—
find your heart cold
flinty and unappetizing.
Refrain from kissing
lest he in revenge
dampen the spark
in your soul.
Now,
sail away to Africa
where holy women
await you
on the shore—
long having practiced the art
of replacing hearts
with God
and Song.
This poem was used in the NCTE book to give an example of writing from an example and this was their example. What an excellent poem, huh? The poem that the student wrote about stomping on hearts was just as good! This book has except ideas blended with pedagogy flawlessly. I am looking forward to the chapter on The Color Purple and how to teach it!
Patty
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
this poem really is breathtaking and I think , fits perfectly in showing the trend of Walker's writing. I think integrating other small excerpts of an author's writing can be very supplimental for giving examples of connected literature. It could be a great "anticipatory" sort of piece, or looked at during the reading.
rebecca
Okay, for some reason I still can't sign in to post on this page, but oh well. I just wanted to respond to something that we talked about in last class and didn't really come to any conclusion about.
Patty you brought up the absence of positive male characters in Walker's work and we discussed it briefly. I was a bit startled by it too, thinking that I really hadn't noticed it at first. Is Walker man-hating in this book? But then I was rereading the ending and I found him, the positive male character. It's Jack, Sophia's sister Odessa's husband. He's mentioned as being very quiet, and worshiping of his wife Odessa. Celie makes him a pair of pants when she's in Memphis so he can be comfortable and take care of the children. Though he is a very minor character ( I believe that's the only time he's mentioned in the book) he is there, for what that's worth.
Post a Comment