Poetry of Witness
What is Witness Poetry ?
Poetry of witness is a type of poetry that brings to light the personal stories and beliefs of those who have witnessed certain events. These can sometimes be tragic but can also be poems recognizing the beauty within a person who has struggled through extreme circumstances or other difficult events.
Example Witness poem and Explication
A Day at the Beach
by Michael O'hara
My life has been a day at the beach, one in particular
I waded in the waters, safely fearless, youthful fun,
everyone does these things
While the voice in the back of my head must have slept in a seashell
I stepped over
This was nine, maybe, in the way that everything is maybe when
everything's going well
I cannot remember what I was
With burned chameleon scale salt cracked skin set to split
I leave traces of me everywhere
Even where the sand is bleached and reflects the sun
up from your shadow
and the water knows forever what its shapes will take
When I was five, not maybe,
Definitely riding in yellow/black bus of buzzing hyperactive
five year old hive mates
Deposited, stirring to learn the art of war on unharnessed children
in Kindergarten
Thin and pleasant teacher, her face set into an earthquake photograph,
unenviable task rounding her feminine shoulders,
unburdened the message awkwardly:
Stephen would not be in class today or any day
(She sought this job because she truly loved children)
Say goodbye, while the rising tide of sobbing classmates learned about
how God washes His hands after he finger paints
Stephen, with blasted hair, who scrambled over crayon green
plastic school bus seats
Who loud-sang everything he said
Who had strength enough to climb chain link fences
like Stairways to Heaven
Who forgot to pray for strength enough to endure November swimming
pool water heat loss shock
Stephen,
transformed into alabaster porcelain doll floating face down
like a melted snow angel
His hands curled curious, the flatness of prayer palms warped
into question marks
He found you God: You're fired
I am eight and understand when Ex-Navy Man Grandfather
needs no hospital visitors after second stroke
Television helps me imagine a green blinking flatline
that keens its siren song when his heart breaks against the reef within
My father wears black, cries first adult tears
I am too young to see the burial, sleep through grief and dream
of sand shovels
I am at the beach now - the silt is sucked from under
the palms of my feet
The slow music of waves courts me to dance
Everyone is blind, maybe, with enjoyment (abandon)
And the water pulls me upward like a kite in a wave
I spin flat down
Face/chest ground-slapping the bottom like a manta ray
And every attempt to rise meets a wave to the back, lungs flatten
I can feel Stephen's hands hooking my ankles,
he wants me to play hide and go seek in Atlantis
Grandfather's cigar breath brushes my neck, his voice in the foam
"Michael, come home"
Memory tells me he's buried in a Catholic casket but Poseidon
knows his own
Within this well of a boy rose the Other Waters
Where leviathans dwell, maps curl to crack at the
Here There Be Monsters inscriptions
So I pushed with the strength that comes when strength is needed
To bury the dead and keep moving
And broke up to air
A backwards baptism amidst the oblivious
Do not pity Stephen: Just learn to swim
Pull someone you love to shore
And live to tell the stories
by Michael O'hara
My life has been a day at the beach, one in particular
I waded in the waters, safely fearless, youthful fun,
everyone does these things
While the voice in the back of my head must have slept in a seashell
I stepped over
This was nine, maybe, in the way that everything is maybe when
everything's going well
I cannot remember what I was
With burned chameleon scale salt cracked skin set to split
I leave traces of me everywhere
Even where the sand is bleached and reflects the sun
up from your shadow
and the water knows forever what its shapes will take
When I was five, not maybe,
Definitely riding in yellow/black bus of buzzing hyperactive
five year old hive mates
Deposited, stirring to learn the art of war on unharnessed children
in Kindergarten
Thin and pleasant teacher, her face set into an earthquake photograph,
unenviable task rounding her feminine shoulders,
unburdened the message awkwardly:
Stephen would not be in class today or any day
(She sought this job because she truly loved children)
Say goodbye, while the rising tide of sobbing classmates learned about
how God washes His hands after he finger paints
Stephen, with blasted hair, who scrambled over crayon green
plastic school bus seats
Who loud-sang everything he said
Who had strength enough to climb chain link fences
like Stairways to Heaven
Who forgot to pray for strength enough to endure November swimming
pool water heat loss shock
Stephen,
transformed into alabaster porcelain doll floating face down
like a melted snow angel
His hands curled curious, the flatness of prayer palms warped
into question marks
He found you God: You're fired
I am eight and understand when Ex-Navy Man Grandfather
needs no hospital visitors after second stroke
Television helps me imagine a green blinking flatline
that keens its siren song when his heart breaks against the reef within
My father wears black, cries first adult tears
I am too young to see the burial, sleep through grief and dream
of sand shovels
I am at the beach now - the silt is sucked from under
the palms of my feet
The slow music of waves courts me to dance
Everyone is blind, maybe, with enjoyment (abandon)
And the water pulls me upward like a kite in a wave
I spin flat down
Face/chest ground-slapping the bottom like a manta ray
And every attempt to rise meets a wave to the back, lungs flatten
I can feel Stephen's hands hooking my ankles,
he wants me to play hide and go seek in Atlantis
Grandfather's cigar breath brushes my neck, his voice in the foam
"Michael, come home"
Memory tells me he's buried in a Catholic casket but Poseidon
knows his own
Within this well of a boy rose the Other Waters
Where leviathans dwell, maps curl to crack at the
Here There Be Monsters inscriptions
So I pushed with the strength that comes when strength is needed
To bury the dead and keep moving
And broke up to air
A backwards baptism amidst the oblivious
Do not pity Stephen: Just learn to swim
Pull someone you love to shore
And live to tell the stories
Explication
Michael O'Hara uses water imagery and childhood imagery to express the story of a classmate's death by drowning while in Kindergarten. The grave and heavy nature of the poem continues to build tension all the way to the end of the poem, emphasizing the importance of the last line, O'Hara's plea for the reader to "Pull someone you love to shore." The purpose of this explication is to show how the mortal imagery juxtaposed next to childhood imagery is incredibly unsettling and effective in conveying the story of this young child's unfortunate death and the lessons to be learned from it.
Throughout this poem, Michael O'Hara utilizes language that places the reader in the scene with him by using rich imagery and metaphor to retell the story efficiently. For example, In the line "Definitely riding in yellow/black bus of buzzing hyperactive five year old hive mates" O'Hara uses visual and auditory imagery to create the scene of hyperactive children running around and yelling on a school bus. He matches the yellow and black of the school bus to the yellow and black of bees in a hive for the visual, but this line also creates within the reader the sound of buzzing, and that agitated nature is reflected in the excitement of the 5 year olds. At this point in the piece, the reader is still unaware of the unfortunate fate of Stephen, and reads the childhood imagery as innocent and almost playful.
Soon though, the sad truth is revealed but through efficient use of language, while increasing tension within the poem. O'Hara writes, "the rising tide of sobbing classmates learned about how God washes His hands after he finger paints" and it is another incredibly effective line with strong imagery and efficient word choice. O'Hara gives the image of a "rising tide" of sobbing children, keeping the metaphor in line with the theme of water, and gives the line rising tension, to create movement within the poem. He also uses the image of God finger painting, which is incredibly powerful, and still in line with the theme of childhood imagery. Now that we are aware that the poem is discussing death, the juxtaposition between mortality and childhood imagery is set to be utilized again and again.
In the third stanza Mike O'hara brings a strong amount of mortal imagery, creating a more somber tone and tenor. This is even more effective when used directly in conjunction with imagery of childhood within the same line. For example, "Stephen, transformed into alabaster porcelain doll floating face down like a melted snow angel" turns two images that all children are familiar with from childhood, dolls and snow angels, into visuals of an actual child who has died. It is extremely discomforting and extremely effective. The tension continues to rise in this stanza with more mortal imagery and a growing somber tone until it's culmination in the shocking and disturbingly powerful line, "He found you God: You're fired."
In the fifth stanza O'Hara uses another new technique, hyphenating two different words to create a new image. "Ground-slapping the bottom like a manta ray" combines simile and imagery to create a clear visual of the reader flat on his stomach being held down by the wave's current continuously unable to escape. This is so much more effective than what would have been most poets' natural reaction to use a line such as "trapped beneath the waves" or something similar. With O'Hara's manta ray image, it is as though the reader is there with him, watching from underneath the waves. O'Hara's own personal experience in a near drowning situation is intensified by it's strong similarity to Stephen's. He writes, "I can feel Stephen's hands hooking my ankles, he wants me to play hide and go seek in Atlantis." In one line, he acknowledges his lost friend Stephen, personifying him from beyond the grave, and references another popular game from childhood, all while recognizing how close his own death has become while underwater. Throughout the poem, the innocence of childhood is emphasized over and over. In juxtaposition with the mortality of Stephen and the poet's own mortality, a striking tone and message is created, resulting in a poem that will remain with us long after we've finished reading.
Regarding spacing and line breaks, O'hara uses a very effective technique by starting lines a few extra spaces over from the margin when they continue over from a previous thought or sentence. This allows the poem to read very clearly, especially because of the fact that the poem includes short phrases as well as longer sentences. "A Day at the Beach" is an incredible poem from a poetic mentor, legend, and personal friend of mine, Michael O'Hara.
Throughout this poem, Michael O'Hara utilizes language that places the reader in the scene with him by using rich imagery and metaphor to retell the story efficiently. For example, In the line "Definitely riding in yellow/black bus of buzzing hyperactive five year old hive mates" O'Hara uses visual and auditory imagery to create the scene of hyperactive children running around and yelling on a school bus. He matches the yellow and black of the school bus to the yellow and black of bees in a hive for the visual, but this line also creates within the reader the sound of buzzing, and that agitated nature is reflected in the excitement of the 5 year olds. At this point in the piece, the reader is still unaware of the unfortunate fate of Stephen, and reads the childhood imagery as innocent and almost playful.
Soon though, the sad truth is revealed but through efficient use of language, while increasing tension within the poem. O'Hara writes, "the rising tide of sobbing classmates learned about how God washes His hands after he finger paints" and it is another incredibly effective line with strong imagery and efficient word choice. O'Hara gives the image of a "rising tide" of sobbing children, keeping the metaphor in line with the theme of water, and gives the line rising tension, to create movement within the poem. He also uses the image of God finger painting, which is incredibly powerful, and still in line with the theme of childhood imagery. Now that we are aware that the poem is discussing death, the juxtaposition between mortality and childhood imagery is set to be utilized again and again.
In the third stanza Mike O'hara brings a strong amount of mortal imagery, creating a more somber tone and tenor. This is even more effective when used directly in conjunction with imagery of childhood within the same line. For example, "Stephen, transformed into alabaster porcelain doll floating face down like a melted snow angel" turns two images that all children are familiar with from childhood, dolls and snow angels, into visuals of an actual child who has died. It is extremely discomforting and extremely effective. The tension continues to rise in this stanza with more mortal imagery and a growing somber tone until it's culmination in the shocking and disturbingly powerful line, "He found you God: You're fired."
In the fifth stanza O'Hara uses another new technique, hyphenating two different words to create a new image. "Ground-slapping the bottom like a manta ray" combines simile and imagery to create a clear visual of the reader flat on his stomach being held down by the wave's current continuously unable to escape. This is so much more effective than what would have been most poets' natural reaction to use a line such as "trapped beneath the waves" or something similar. With O'Hara's manta ray image, it is as though the reader is there with him, watching from underneath the waves. O'Hara's own personal experience in a near drowning situation is intensified by it's strong similarity to Stephen's. He writes, "I can feel Stephen's hands hooking my ankles, he wants me to play hide and go seek in Atlantis." In one line, he acknowledges his lost friend Stephen, personifying him from beyond the grave, and references another popular game from childhood, all while recognizing how close his own death has become while underwater. Throughout the poem, the innocence of childhood is emphasized over and over. In juxtaposition with the mortality of Stephen and the poet's own mortality, a striking tone and message is created, resulting in a poem that will remain with us long after we've finished reading.
Regarding spacing and line breaks, O'hara uses a very effective technique by starting lines a few extra spaces over from the margin when they continue over from a previous thought or sentence. This allows the poem to read very clearly, especially because of the fact that the poem includes short phrases as well as longer sentences. "A Day at the Beach" is an incredible poem from a poetic mentor, legend, and personal friend of mine, Michael O'Hara.
(Writing Prompt 7)
After Ken Kesey,
After Warren Longmire,
After everyone who helped me to get to where I am today-
Cheers
Love, love, love, love.
love, love. love, love.
love, love,
love, love,
Love
Love is the only reason for living
if there was no love then there would be no living
reproductively speaking
but since we exist, we must love
What do you love?
nothing?
Well you’re lying
to yourself,
otherwise you wouldn’t have made it this far,
I love my friends, they give me smiles and howls and stories for the grandkids
when the grandkids get old enough to become our new friends
My friends are
jolly old St. Nicholas belly laughs and
honestly
is there anything more to life than a good belly laugh?
a laugh is a smile
is freedom
is safety
is love
is God
is protection from everything we are not in control of
I love my family
I love my friends
I love our good times
and our smiles
and our laughs
I don’t know God
I don’t know the guy
He/She/It’s never spoken to me and probably never will
I don’t know God
but I do know what love is
and I certainly know how to laugh
come to think of it,
I don’t really associate myself with people who don’t know how to laugh, who hide it, who feel uncomfortable, unprotected, like somebody’s watching them in a laugh
They don’t understand
and probably never will
Come to think of it,
all my friends are real good laughers-
howl like it doesn’t matter anymore,
like it’s all over,
like there’s nothing left to lose type laughers,
laugh til you cry til your stomach hurts
and your cheeks are so tired from laughing
that you have to leave the room type laughers,
laugh like this is the last party
like this is the last night
like this is the last drink
like this is the last smile
that we’ll ever share together
because in the morning
they’ll cart us all off to jail,
or the asteroid will hit,
or the apocalypse comes
and we’re completely content with it
and don’t even care anymore type laughers
A laugh is a smile
and a smile with the people who I love
is love
and while we’re laughing
is the only time that nobody can touch us,
that nobody can hurt us,
not today
not tomorrow
not me
not any of my friends
because we don’t know God
but we do know what love is
and is there really even a difference?
Love, love, love, love.
love, love. love, love.
love, love,
love, love,
Love
Love is the only reason for living
if there was no love then there would be no living
reproductively speaking
but since we exist, we must love
What do you love?
nothing?
Well you’re lying
to yourself,
otherwise you wouldn’t have made it this far,
I love my friends, they give me smiles and howls and stories for the grandkids
when the grandkids get old enough to become our new friends
My friends are
jolly old St. Nicholas belly laughs and
honestly
is there anything more to life than a good belly laugh?
a laugh is a smile
is freedom
is safety
is love
is God
is protection from everything we are not in control of
I love my family
I love my friends
I love our good times
and our smiles
and our laughs
I don’t know God
I don’t know the guy
He/She/It’s never spoken to me and probably never will
I don’t know God
but I do know what love is
and I certainly know how to laugh
come to think of it,
I don’t really associate myself with people who don’t know how to laugh, who hide it, who feel uncomfortable, unprotected, like somebody’s watching them in a laugh
They don’t understand
and probably never will
Come to think of it,
all my friends are real good laughers-
howl like it doesn’t matter anymore,
like it’s all over,
like there’s nothing left to lose type laughers,
laugh til you cry til your stomach hurts
and your cheeks are so tired from laughing
that you have to leave the room type laughers,
laugh like this is the last party
like this is the last night
like this is the last drink
like this is the last smile
that we’ll ever share together
because in the morning
they’ll cart us all off to jail,
or the asteroid will hit,
or the apocalypse comes
and we’re completely content with it
and don’t even care anymore type laughers
A laugh is a smile
and a smile with the people who I love
is love
and while we’re laughing
is the only time that nobody can touch us,
that nobody can hurt us,
not today
not tomorrow
not me
not any of my friends
because we don’t know God
but we do know what love is
and is there really even a difference?
Letter to President Obama
(Writing Prompt 9)
11/5/2013
Dear President Obama,
PLEASE MR OBAMA HEAR ME OUT BECAUSE THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY CHANGE IN YOUR TERM AS PRESIDENT, AND YOU ARE ALL ABOUT CHANGE...RIGHT? THE FAMOUS ASTRONOMER/ASTROPHYSICIST/HERO CARL SAGAN (I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD OF HIM) OUTLINED THE 4 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE AS HUMANS CAN DO TO PRESERVE LIFE ON OUR PLANET FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS (YOU DO CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE, DON'T YA BARACK?) COMPUTER MODELS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE WILL OCCUR IF NO CHANGES ARE MADE (REMEMBER HOW YOUR CAMPAIGN WAS ALL ABOUT CHANGE?)
1. MUCH MORE EFFICIENT USE OF FOSSIL FUELS (or complete elimination of our dependence on them)
2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON SAFE AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES (especially solar power)
3. REFORESTATION ON A GRAND SCALE
4. HELPING TO BRING THE BILLION POOREST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET TO SELF SUFFICIENCY (this is the key step in curbing population growth)
THESE STEPS WILL PREVENT DEATH BY GREENHOUSE GASES AS WELL AS EVERYTHING ELSE. MR OBAMA YOU ARE THE MOST POWERFUL MAN ON THE PLANET AND IF YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS HAPPEN THEN I AM 100% GIVING UP HOPE FOR THIS PLANET AND WILL COMMIT SUICIDE BY STARVING MYSELF IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE IF YOU DON'T LISTEN. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES OBAMA?
11/6/2013
President Obama: ...
11/7/2013
Dear President Obama,
Startin’ to feel pretty hungry...
Sincerely,
Scott Sigl
Dear President Obama,
PLEASE MR OBAMA HEAR ME OUT BECAUSE THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY CHANGE IN YOUR TERM AS PRESIDENT, AND YOU ARE ALL ABOUT CHANGE...RIGHT? THE FAMOUS ASTRONOMER/ASTROPHYSICIST/HERO CARL SAGAN (I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD OF HIM) OUTLINED THE 4 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE AS HUMANS CAN DO TO PRESERVE LIFE ON OUR PLANET FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS (YOU DO CARE ABOUT THE FUTURE, DON'T YA BARACK?) COMPUTER MODELS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL CATASTROPHE WILL OCCUR IF NO CHANGES ARE MADE (REMEMBER HOW YOUR CAMPAIGN WAS ALL ABOUT CHANGE?)
1. MUCH MORE EFFICIENT USE OF FOSSIL FUELS (or complete elimination of our dependence on them)
2. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON SAFE AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES (especially solar power)
3. REFORESTATION ON A GRAND SCALE
4. HELPING TO BRING THE BILLION POOREST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET TO SELF SUFFICIENCY (this is the key step in curbing population growth)
THESE STEPS WILL PREVENT DEATH BY GREENHOUSE GASES AS WELL AS EVERYTHING ELSE. MR OBAMA YOU ARE THE MOST POWERFUL MAN ON THE PLANET AND IF YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS HAPPEN THEN I AM 100% GIVING UP HOPE FOR THIS PLANET AND WILL COMMIT SUICIDE BY STARVING MYSELF IN FRONT OF THE WHITE HOUSE IF YOU DON'T LISTEN. HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES OBAMA?
11/6/2013
President Obama: ...
11/7/2013
Dear President Obama,
Startin’ to feel pretty hungry...
Sincerely,
Scott Sigl
Explanations of the Poems
The first piece, "After Ken Kesey..." was directly inspired by two different pieces pieces of work: Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next" and Warren Longmire's poem "To Be." (which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFVgB6Dq2tU The poem is a joyous celebration of where I have arrived in my life, and how much potential there is to still continue to grow. Warren Longmire's poem thoroughly discusses love and God and the similarities between the two. His poem begins with the profound and almost silly sounding line, "Love is love when love is love, because that's what love is, when love is love" to which I reference in my own opener. Longmire's belief that "Maybe God exists where love does" as he states in his poem is a belief that I find to be quite positive and calming amongst so much madness in the world.
The other great inspiration that I found for this poem was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" specifically the theme of laughter in the book. Throughout, the character McMurphy is able to brush off any criticisms or threats he receives from the people in authority in the mental institution where he is residing, simply by laughing at them. When McMurphy arrives at first, he is struck by the fact that none of the other residents seem to even know how to laugh. Through the course of the book, McMurphy changes the attitudes of the residents, teaching them how to laugh and ultimately giving them freedom from the rules of the institution and Nurse Ratched. Reading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" helped me to realize the power that I hold in being able to take criticism and simply "laugh it off." Realizing how influential the ability to laugh is in my life, I wrote the poem. The poem does include imagery and metaphor ("Jolly old St. Nicholas belly laughs") but is meant to move very quickly with rising tension, hence the repeating phrase stuctures ("My friends are..., my friends are..., my friends are...) and (Not today, not tomorrow, not me, not any of my friends).
The Letter to President Obama is meant to be a humorous way of emphasizing the importance of environmental awareness while exposing how much (or little depending on how you look at it) power we have as citizens to make a statement about it. A hunger strike is quite an extreme length that I personally am not certain I would be willing to go for my beliefs but it shows how much power a single person could have if they were brave enough. The hunger strike line is meant to catch the reader off guard and take them by surprise, I believe that using all caps for that entire section of the poem helps to hide the section making it more unexpected. It is also meant to be humorous because the severity of the environmental situation does call for the message to be shouted, however it is never professional to type entire letters in caps lock. I actually did send this letter to President Obama, he is still yet to respond...
The other great inspiration that I found for this poem was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" specifically the theme of laughter in the book. Throughout, the character McMurphy is able to brush off any criticisms or threats he receives from the people in authority in the mental institution where he is residing, simply by laughing at them. When McMurphy arrives at first, he is struck by the fact that none of the other residents seem to even know how to laugh. Through the course of the book, McMurphy changes the attitudes of the residents, teaching them how to laugh and ultimately giving them freedom from the rules of the institution and Nurse Ratched. Reading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" helped me to realize the power that I hold in being able to take criticism and simply "laugh it off." Realizing how influential the ability to laugh is in my life, I wrote the poem. The poem does include imagery and metaphor ("Jolly old St. Nicholas belly laughs") but is meant to move very quickly with rising tension, hence the repeating phrase stuctures ("My friends are..., my friends are..., my friends are...) and (Not today, not tomorrow, not me, not any of my friends).
The Letter to President Obama is meant to be a humorous way of emphasizing the importance of environmental awareness while exposing how much (or little depending on how you look at it) power we have as citizens to make a statement about it. A hunger strike is quite an extreme length that I personally am not certain I would be willing to go for my beliefs but it shows how much power a single person could have if they were brave enough. The hunger strike line is meant to catch the reader off guard and take them by surprise, I believe that using all caps for that entire section of the poem helps to hide the section making it more unexpected. It is also meant to be humorous because the severity of the environmental situation does call for the message to be shouted, however it is never professional to type entire letters in caps lock. I actually did send this letter to President Obama, he is still yet to respond...