Honest Poetry (Words That Pound).

Poetry requires clarity in expression.There are poets who write with a fictitious voice but the most profound works have been by poets who wrote their minds honestly.

 Could it be because they write of the things society feels comfortable sweeping under its rugs?

Below are some of the poetesses whose works I have been honoured to be acquainted with who I believe write with honesty ringing in their words.

    1.  Emily Dickinson

Born in 1830 some of her works allude to that time but most of it transcends time. It casts a light on timeless conflict with Self, Time, Love, Nature among her many themes.
 When a writer is not afraid to marry their souls to their work, their writing is  lent  timelessness. Her seclusion and solitude probably drove her to write out her mind honestly. 

“Real

I like a look of agony,

Because I know it ’s true;

Men do not sham convulsion,

Nor simulate a throe.

The eyes glaze once, and that is death.

Impossible to feign

The beads upon the forehead

By homely anguish strung.

______________________”

Excerpt From: Emily Dickinson. “The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson.”

   2.  Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou might be the voice of the ordinary black American who felt stifled in racial America. She wrote of anger, the pain and the struggle of being a black woman in that age and afterwards showed through her work how one was to overcome the challenge and empower ones self.

Known as a social activist in her day, her words can jolt you out of your comfort zone.

“In a Time

 In a time of secret wooing

Today prepares tomorrow's ruin

Left knows not what right is doing

My heart is torn asunder.

In a time of furtive sighs

Sweet hellos and sad goodbyes

Half-truths told and entire lies

My conscience echoes thunder.

In a time when kingdoms come

Joy is brief as summer's fun

Happiness its race has run

Then pain stalks in to plunder.”

Excerpt From: Maya Angelou. “The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou.”

3. Susan Kiguli.

       A lecturer and an acclaimed African poetess,her poetry speaks of the Ugandan  political struggle and the challenges of growing up as a woman in Uganda.Her work is factual and emotional at the same time.She paints the Amin era and the terrors of the time,the Museveni rule and all is challenges in an honest voice.
Eloquently written most of her poems resound with words most writers would rather hide in metaphors.

      I am Tired Of Talking In Metaphors

I will talk plainly
Because I am moved to abandon riddles.
I will tell you of how we held our heads
In our hands
Because the owl hooted all night
And the dogs howled as if in mourning:
We awaited bad news
We received it
Our mother blinded in one eye
Crippled in the right leg
Because she did not vote
Her husband's candidate.

I will remind you
Of the time the peeled plantains
Stood upright in the cooking pot
We slaughtered a cock
Anticipating an important visitor
We got her:
Our daughter - pieces of flesh in a sack -
Our present from her husband.

No, I will not use images
I will just talk to you:
I do not fight to take your place
Or constantly wave my fist in your face.

I refuse to argue about
Your "manly pact"
With my father -
Buying me for a bag of potatoes and pepper.

All I want
Is to stop denying Me
My presence needs no metaphors,

I am here
Just as you are.
I am not a machine
For you to dismantle whenever you whim
I demand for my human dignity.

Read More of her poems

Excerpt From: Susan Kiguli. “The African Saga”

  4.  Rupi Kaur

An activist and artist, Rupi stays her self in her words. Her poetry is no bakery  so you cant expect any sugar coating. In an age of mimicry her poetry  is fresh breath to a reader.

“the next time he

points out the

hair on your legs is

growing back remind

that boy your body

is not his home

he is a guest

warn him to

never out step

his welcome

again”

Excerpt From: Rupi Kaur. “Milk and Honey.”