Comments on: Friday poem

By: Bob Buckles

Bob Buckles — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:45:10 +0000

#1 ROBHAYS
“Lest we think we’re in some unique low point in American history, surrounded by insurmountable reasons to despair…”

Where did this come from? Are you listening to and believing the MSM?

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By: Harris

Harris — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 04:23:07 +0000

Ah! the Harlem Renaissance!

I read the poem and thought of Countee Cullen’s Yet Do I Marvel, again with some of the same ambiguity, this tension between outer circumstance and yet the odd blessings that are part of it. James Weldon Johnson extends the thought even more with his great poem Lift Every Voice (sometimes called the Negro National Anthem).

As for McKay, don’t stop with him being a communist. Like so many of us, history kept coming at him. Later in life, he renounced Communism and joined the Catholic Church. Here’s a good account of that from Commonweal. This example might also serve as an encouragement for all of us who wonder about the wandering kids in our family — God keeps showing up and finding our address.

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By: Kwerna

Kwerna — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 22:15:41 +0000

McKay was a Jamaican who came to the US in 1914, encountering racism in the South. Also a communist.

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By: Kyle A

Kyle A — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:38:37 +0000

I appreciate the ambivalence in the poem. It is very honest.

And I like sonnets very much.

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By: RobHays

RobHays — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:22:12 +0000

Very interesting to see the date on this poem. Lest we think we’re in some unique low point in American history, surrounded by insurmountable reasons to despair, it’s good to know that 90 years ago, people were feeling the same thing.

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