Poet Sharon Olds spits on Laura's luncheon invitation

[Generic Other]

Published on Monday, September 20, 2005 by The Nation (October 10, 2005 Issue)

No Place for a Poet at a Banquet of Shame

<snip>

I tried to see my way clear to attend the festival in order to bear witness--as an American who loves her country and its principles and its writing--against this undeclared and devastating war.
But I could not face the idea of breaking bread with you. I knew that if I sat down to eat with you, it would feel to me as if I were condoning what I see to be the wild, highhanded actions of the Bush Administration.

What kept coming to the fore of my mind was that I would be taking food from the hand of the First Lady who represents the Administration that unleashed this war and that wills its continuation, even to the extent of permitting "extraordinary rendition": flying people to other countries where they will be tortured for us.

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

Sincerely,

Sharon Olds

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0920-29.htm

[Fridays Child]

1. Two strong, principled women: Mama Dee of New Orleans...

...a courageous woman who has held her neighborhood together, and Sharon Olds, an extraordinary truth-to-power speaker. I don't have a pic of Mama Dee but here's Sharon Olds...

[noahmijo]

2. One Word: OWNED

Good for her she just got herself a new fan.

[Athame]

3. Solitary

by Sharon Olds
for Muriel Rukeyser

I keep thinking of you standing in Korea, in the courtyard
of the prison where the poet is in solitary.
Someone asked you why not in the street
where you could be seen. You said you wanted
to be as close to him as you could.
You stood in the empty courtyard. You thought
it was probably doing no good. You have written
a poem about it. This is not that poem.
This is another--there may be details
wrong, the way variations come in
when you pass on a story. This is a poem
about a woman, a poet, standing in a courtyard,
feeling she is probably doing no good.
Pass it on: a poet, a woman,
a witness, standing
alone
in a prison
courtyard
in Korea.


(from Claiming the Spirit Within: A Sourcebook of Women's Poetry, edited by Marilyn Sewell, Beacon Press, Boston, 1996. IMO a real treasure...)