“where are the creative fighters”

Haki R. Madhubuti’s “Claiming Language, Claiming Art V,” can be read as an ars poetica that makes a powerful argument that much of the work of writing a poem, or creating any other work of art, takes place outside the bounds of the page; away from our desks, notebooks, and laptops; and occurs in community, in our relationship with the world and with others. Madhubuti demonstrates that first defining what we do not value in poetry, our own and others’, can be a powerful method of discovering and describing what and how we want our poems to be and do in the world; why we read and write; and the responsibility the poet owes to the world and their own creative work. 

Questions to consider, on your own in writing, or in discussion with others:

• Where do you find poetry? Where do you think poetry should live that it does not yet?
• What traditions do you come from? Exist within? What tradition(s) do you want to create for the next generation?
• What do you want poetry to create in the world? How do you want poetry, yours and others’, to change the world?

Assignment:

Take a sheet of paper, and draw a line down the center of the page so that you have two equal halves. Time yourself for 3-5 minutes and fill one half of the page with anything and everything, anyone and everyone you can think of, that makes it difficult for you to do your creative work. Then, take 3-5 minutes and use the second part of your page to write down everyone and everything that nourishes and connects you to your creative work.

Using the notes you have generated, compose a poem in two parts, using the two halves of your page of notes. One half will describe what impedes or distracts you from your creative work; the second half will describe what connects and nourishes you in your creative work. End the poem with a wish for your creative work, and the next generation of writers and artists.