Comments on: Poem by Another: “A Litany for Survival” by Audre Lorde*

By: Beth Partin

Beth Partin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:30:52 +0000

Bernard, I’d like to see you say that to her face, but she’s been dead for 17 years. Perhaps she wasn’t so grateful for being a lesbian in pre-Stonewall New York. Perhaps she was. Perhaps being black from the 1930s on didn’t fill her with gratitude either. Perhaps it did. She was a feminist who pointed out where other feminists were missing the boat by lumping all women into one category. She always wanted to bring things down to the specific. I think replying “count your blessings” to a poem like the above is a way of dismissing it because you’re uncomfortable with it.
.-= Beth Partin´s last blog ..Juneteenth* in Denver: Three Conversations =-.

By: Marinela

Marinela — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:24:50 +0000

This is so true for everyone. Great work. .-= Marinela´s last blog ..Diamante Poem =-.

By: BernardL

BernardL — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:57:37 +0000

But for the last thought I read it as a generalization of the human condition. We’re never happy… no matter what we have. In the midst of revolutionary outrage it might be a good idea at some point to count our blessings and enjoy what is already within our grasp.