Armor and Flesh

Mendi Obadike's poem "A Far Cry" caught my attention in particular. It seems to just recount getting lost in rural Tennesse, Where the narrator feels the white locals would react in a hostile manner towards a black woman. The poem's language conveys the unease she's feeling.She especially captures this feeling in the second stanza when she talks about being followed and suggests that the driver can identify her by her hair. she says "I think he will follow me / into a driveway if I try to turn around." This line really seems to capture that feeling of unease while leaving everything else to the reader's imagination. The unease continues through the entire poem in lines like "What makes them / tear our flesh sometimes?" and "Could be church / or a hanging."

I also really liked the metaphor of her ancestors' armor being the meak demeanor she adopts to fit in to the rural Tennessee atmosphere. It really implies quite a lot about her and her ancestors and their interaction withthe white population beyond whats written on the page.

I also liked the rythym of "Euridice and Orfeu in the Basement" and "Contagion." They both use line breaks and assonance really effectively and interestingly.