In 2020, Palestinian-American poet Noor Hindi’s poem, titled “Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying,” was published in Poetry magazine. With an unapologetically provocative title, the poem may not conform to traditional notions – or at least my standards – of what good poetry is; however, perhaps this was precisely the intention.
In response to a dire crisis such as war or genocide, the poem’s narrator vehemently dismisses the importance of form, highlighting the urgency of their message. While I empathise with the emotional intensity of the poet’s response and her cause against the Israeli oppression of Palestinians, I find myself at odds with her perspective on craft. This discord sparks something I’ve been thinking about lately: can a traditionally crafted, formally “conservative” poetry be radical? Conversely, can seemingly “free” verse be considered confined?
“Fuck Your Lecture on Craft, My People Are Dying”, poem by NOOR HINDI pic.twitter.com/e7GdlUVJgf
— آيَة 🍉 (@daydreaminclub) October 18, 2023
First things first: The politics of a poem’s content has nothing inherently to do with its form – the concerns of form have historically been aesthetic. And this isn’t related to poetry alone. A realist is not always a social realist – realism can often contain layers of meaning beyond seemingly…
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