Reflecting Circle 5 - "The Black Arts Era"

I wanted to respond to Ansley’s question from the Reflecting Circle 5. Her question was to respond to one of your favorite poems of this movement and explain why it is such.

There were a number of poems that stood out to me but “Jesus Was Crucified or, It Must Be Deep” was one of my favorites. This is a poem about a girl that was feeling sick and her mother called to check on her. During the course of conversation the mother said that she should pray in order to feel better. This daughter (I presumed to be Rodgers) was a student in college. Rodgers admitted she’d been angry a lot lately and went on to question her mother’s religious faith. Her mother told her if she didn’t believe, she was going to go to hell and the daughters response was “I sd I hoped it wudn’t be no hunkies there” which I found very humorous. This poem just reminds me of a rebellious young girl that is learning the ways of the world and how unjust it can be. I enjoyed the vernacular voice that the author uses in her poetry. It really helps bring the words to life. The young girl’s mother said that she believed in the bible and that if the daughter looked deep deep down she would know it was true as well. During the remainder of the poem the daughter jokes about how far down she would have to look to find that “Truth”. She was even getting on her mother about it saying “catch yuh later on jesus, I mean motha!” as she got off the phone. I think it is normal for young people to question their religious faith. Many would argue that it is imperative to question your faith in order to really understand it. This poem was my favorite because it reminds me of the time in my life when I realized my faith might not be perfect and the world around me was not as I imagined.