More on Spoken Word

After realizing in class that our readings for today were in fact spoken work and not poetry, I decided to do a little bit of investigative work. My first stop was Suheir Hammad’s website (for those of you who are interested: http://www.suheirhammad.com/#). One of the poems on her website, entitled Jenin, struck an emotional chord for me:

Jenin

a woman hungry
and dry asks a
stranger with a camera
pointed at her to
put it down
please

help me find my children

it has been five days

Like First Writing Since, Hammad’s work seems to depict her own personal hardships and those of women in general. From the two readings in our Reader and the other five on Hammad’s website, it is arguable that there lies a hint of self-confidence and assurance in the words that are spoken. Even though the poems paint a picture of sadness, the writer seems to emerge more confident and strong having experienced such adversities.
When I read Ishle Yi Park’s spoken word in our Reader I noticed an element of sorrow in all of her works, especially that of the haiku. However when I came across Pussy the first thing that came to mind was “Why on earth did Professor Suh choose to include this poem along with the others.” The only sense that I could make of it was that she, the speaker, is angry at the Man…well, I take that back. Livid would be more appropriate. However, after bashing the male sex, she seems to switch dispositions, and desperately yearns for contact with him. Park’s flurry of contradictions puzzled me. If she is trying to evoke a sense of questioning and emotion from the reader, in that case, I would have to say that she succeeds. Do y’all have any thoughts on the matter?
Also, if your interested, Ishle Yi Park’s website is http://www.ishle.com/. I found it interesting that both Park and Hammad were raised in New York. Perhaps one can attribute their edgy writing and vocal skills to this.