Poetry Jam:: America by Claude McKay

Apr 5

Written By Amy Bowers

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,

And sinks into my throat her tiger’s tooth,

Stealing my breath of life, I will confess

I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.

Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,

Giving me strength erect against her hate,

Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.

Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,

I stand within her walls with not a shred

Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.

Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,

And see her might and granite wonders there,

Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand,

Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

Written over a hundred years ago in 1921, a love poem to an abuser containing multitudes. You can read more about his life and work here.

Write about the complicated, troubled, and precarious relationships with the people and places in your life.

Poetry jam :: (in just) by e.e. cummings