Abstract

Hossain reflects on the poems the class had read throughout the semester. They are all eco-poetics, some inclusively discussing historical events and political stigma, while others are specific to human interactions with nature. She chooses to discuss two of these poems: “A Small Needful Act” by Ross Gay and “A Passive Voice” by Laura Da’ and makes a meaningful connection to her own heritage.

The Piece: The Dystopian We Live In

The first poem we read in our first week of class left the biggest impression on me. It’s one of the poems we had read that directly ties to society’s flaws, which affects many of us but in different forms. The title of the poem is “A Small Needful Fact” by Ross Gay. The hero of this story is Eric Garner, a man who doesn’t live in the fictional world but doesn’t live in our world anymore either. Garner was killed by suffocation at the hands of the police in 2014. Gay told his story, that he worked as an employee for a recreation center. One task these employees have is to plant trees. Trees give warmth and shelter to animals outside. They don’t take our food away from us because they make their own. They take needless carbon dioxide and give oxygen “for us to breathe” (line 15). Garner had supported our source of life by planting these trees. The poem describes him to be a martyr; his contributions to society couldn’t change his fate or protect him from police brutality. I think Gay wanted to share his story not just to make us remember his name, but to bring to light that many black lives were failed to be protected, especially by the law enforcers who had the job to do so. It’s systematic racism and perhaps, our country still hasn’t improved from the time of his death. Right now is the time this poem connects with me the most. The same people who have continued to reign with power are committing and allowing more atrocities external to the states.

The poem “Passive Voice” by Laura Da’ has a similar trope of realism and injustice. The speaker is a sixth-grade teacher who is against the use of passive voice in their writings. They allude to the Native American village and its history of colonialism and violence from Western imperialists. Nature is used as evidence that their story existed and the land belongs to them. The marks on the tree they left behind are still present. I think they are insinuating that being passive and acting with a lack of assertiveness will take away what belongs to you, or you’re more prone to it happening. As I said earlier on, this speaks to me the most right now in the present when imperialist governments only care for land and resources they can get access to and steal, no matter how many people are in the way. But other than recent times (or rather, when we are finally starting to be aware), my country, Bangladesh, 50 years ago had fought for freedom also. My family was lucky and didn’t live in the war zones. As the poem said, “[w]here most were women and children”, the men and young boys had formed militias to fight against the oppression because we didn’t have a military of our own. My granddad had also done business in Pakistan so my mother and her family had lived there for some short time, her birthplace being Pakistan. But Bangladesh has always been our home, even if I don’t remember it.