Post by patrickha112 on May 31, 2013 19:50:58 GMT -5
Terrance Hayes was born in 1971 in South Carolina; living in this setting, he quickly learned what it was like to grow up as an African American within a society dominated by white icons. He grew up painting and playing basketball, leading him to attend Coker College on a basketball scholarship. At Coker College, Hayes began writing poetry extensively and others began to realize his untapped potential. Hayes often cites the impact that teachers, including those at Coker College, had on his development, and today he inspires students daily through his profession as a teacher at Carnegie Mellon University. Hayes recognizes himself not as a poet, but as a teacher, a father, an artist, an African American, and as a student of poetry. Therefore, his often comical, and always enlightening, poetry includes a variety of ideas and different views of the world.
Terrance Hayes is a storyteller who often uses stories from his past to examine the present. It is in his poems, such as “Talk”, that his boldness as a poet is seen. No social image is too ingrained into society that Hayes will not examine it. He even dares to question “The Dream” described by Martin Luther King and how society arrives at this Dream. It is in his poems like “Talk” and “Masculinity” that he constantly tries to understand both the self and society as a whole. Even after experiencing life as a minority and racism, his poetry expresses the “ways community enriches the nuances of individuality; [and] the ways individuality enriches the nuances of community.” Through the struggles and discrimination in his life, Hayes has been able to hold onto a hope for society that permeates his poetry. His poems hold an unblinking truth about himself and society, and as the reader will soon discover, the poems inform those willing to open their minds.
From poems that repeat the same line sixteen times, to poems that use only the letters from the title for the last word of each line, Hayes’ range as a poet is truly stunning and it is clear that he “aspire to a poetic style that resists style.” This freedom from style allows him to truly self-express, something that he enjoys about both his poetry and his art. In his poems, Hayes is able to flow not only from one word to the next, but from one image to the next, creating connections and smoothness where it seems nearly impossible. This smoothness is similar to a painting created by a paintbrush as it flows across the canvas blending colors and images. This fluidness creates an emotional response unparalleled by the styles of other poets.
Hayes’ poetry is constantly changing and developing. From the more outward focus of his first book Muscular Music to his more self-focused Lighthead, his poetry is always a pleasure to read. Hayes is able to capture the human condition, as well as his own condition, in all its glory and in all of its sorrows. His self-reflective narratives and his forward-looking allegories, capture the mood of the reader, providing insightful and often unimagined views of the world.
519 words
Terrance Hayes is a storyteller who often uses stories from his past to examine the present. It is in his poems, such as “Talk”, that his boldness as a poet is seen. No social image is too ingrained into society that Hayes will not examine it. He even dares to question “The Dream” described by Martin Luther King and how society arrives at this Dream. It is in his poems like “Talk” and “Masculinity” that he constantly tries to understand both the self and society as a whole. Even after experiencing life as a minority and racism, his poetry expresses the “ways community enriches the nuances of individuality; [and] the ways individuality enriches the nuances of community.” Through the struggles and discrimination in his life, Hayes has been able to hold onto a hope for society that permeates his poetry. His poems hold an unblinking truth about himself and society, and as the reader will soon discover, the poems inform those willing to open their minds.
From poems that repeat the same line sixteen times, to poems that use only the letters from the title for the last word of each line, Hayes’ range as a poet is truly stunning and it is clear that he “aspire
Hayes’ poetry is constantly changing and developing. From the more outward focus of his first book Muscular Music to his more self-focused Lighthead, his poetry is always a pleasure to read. Hayes is able to capture the human condition, as well as his own condition, in all its glory and in all of its sorrows. His self-reflective narratives and his forward-looking allegories, capture the mood of the reader, providing insightful and often unimagined views of the world.
519 words