Dirt

“Talk” by Kwame Dawes (2010)

Like “Dirt,” this poem expresses the ongoing struggle of African Americans to live in a world in which they have been oppressed. Rather than a quote, the poem is written directly to August Wilson, giving him credit for speaking up on behalf of the downtrodden. Dawes explores themes of silence, shame, and anger, arguing that anger, unexpressed, petrifies a person and a people. The more silent they are “the heavier the stone.” August Wilson, by contrast, creates characters who express their feelings and the feelings of many who have been denied full rights. Wilson carries “every song of affront.” Wilson and the characters he creates say what others have kept hidden with their silence. This teaches “the healing of talk” and “the ritual of living.”

“Marked” by Kwame Dawes (2011)

In this poem, Dawes explores the violence and degradation enacted by humans against other humans. As in “Dirt,” the speaker does not reference a specific group or historical event by name but refers to “those who lament, bewildered / by the wickedness of the people.” The speaker says that the job of the poet is to mark these people with “a stroke of hope,” and to weep for “the blood / of promise.