Aracelis Girmay reads her poems with bite, power
by Wes Martin
Aracelis Girmay began in a shaky voice, steadying line by line first with conviction, then with outright indignation, “The radio will go on, shouting/ the names &, I promise you,/ they will not call your name, Hassna/ Ali Sabah, age 30, killed by a missile in Al-Bassra, or you,/ Ibrahim Al-Yussuf, or the sons of Sa’id Shahish/ on a farm outside of Baghdad, or Ibrahim, age 12,/ as if your blood were any less red, as if the skins/ that melted were any less skin, & the bones/ that broke were any less bone.”
This excerpt from the poem “Arroz Poetica” begins Girmay’s newly published book “Teeth.” The author read Monday night from her new work to roughly 30 students, faculty and Richmondites who crammed into fold out chairs in Lilly Library’s Ronald Gallery. Nearby, copies of “Teeth,” were being sold for $13.
The hushed crowd listened as Professor of Creative Writing David Ebenbach introduced Girmay.
“This is a book that denounces oppression,” Ebenbach said of “Teeth.” “It hits with power.”
After being welcomed to the podium and thanking the college, Ebenbach and Hole House for dinner, Girmay began her reading with a poem not featured in the collection, Roque Dalton’s “Como Tu/ Like You.” The crowd remained attentive.
Throughout the evening, Girmay offered anecdotes about her poems and their creation, like that given for “Astigmatism.”
“I was walking my dog in the park and I saw this boxer who looked like he was trying to fly … when I got closer I could see that he was jump roping,” Girmay said, “but I like that idea of perceptions.”
Girmay read 10 poems before opening the floor to questions and comments. When asked about her writing process, Girmay answered, “I don’t know except to say that I spend a lot of time speaking [poems] out loud and walking and thinking and playing with syntax. I love pushing against the words.”
Girmay was touring and promoting her book, which has been awarded by Poetry Picks “Best Books of 2007,” across institutions affiliated with the Great Lakes College Association.
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