Pittsburgh Memoranda by Haniel Long is a portrait of a place. Written mostly in prose poems, Long explores Pittsburgh through images of the land as well as stories as famous Pittsburgh people and historical events. In the beginning he writes "Our forefathers were pioneers./So are we.//They came like shadows through the Alleghenies/exploring and hoping," (1) and this sense of courage is seen throughout the collection.
Divided into 12 main poems, each piece correlates with a specific year. Homestead, 1892, focuses on "the strikers, Frick and Phipps and the other barons," who "all believed they were right, and were ready to take punishment for what they believed" (13). Other poems focus on inventors. One focuses on Stephen Foster, a folk singer, and the poem traces his life through his songs, letters, and accomplishments.
Most impressive is Long's embodiment of the personality of a city. In the Epilogue, he writes "A city finds life when a human being/finds life, when he learns how to walk between/forgetting and remember the self.//Once I came home to Pittsburgh in September,/came from the west and looked across the river/at the city in the smoke and ninth-month fog." (84).
Buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Pittsburgh-Memoranda-Haniel-Long/dp/0822936577
More about the documentary form and 1930's Political poetry: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/566462
No comments:
Post a Comment