Reading Morgan Parker is like seeing Beyonce live in concert. I've had the privilege of seeing Beyonce three times in my life so far, and every time there is a certain sensation that occurs when you see her perform. It's like entering a surreal state (the sublime almost), and you finally understand that everything Beyonce does is for you and all other black women and femmes. I had the same sensation in reading this book of poetry.
'I breathe dried honeysuckle and hope. I live somewhere imaginary' (9).
I feel like this line is the essence of the entire book. Honeysuckle is used for healing purposes, specifically of the lungs and throat, this imagery coupled with "hope," we can assume that purpose of Parkers' engagement in speaking on back womanhood is to heal and expose all the violence and prejudice that we have endured and continue to endure as a result of slavery, patriarchy, and capitalism. "I live somewhere imaginary" is both personal and symbolic of Beyonce. I think Parker is alluding to the fact that the present reality cannot and has historically failed in the protection of black women and femmes, therefore the identity of the black woman and femme exist in realms of untapped potential and imagination. Beyonce is also the "imaginary." She has reached a level of iconography that doesn't necessarily reflect the current state of most black women and femmes, and yet this is has made her desirable. Beyonce is so surreal, her amount of fame, success, perfection seems imaginary.
The next best poem, in my opinion, is "What Beyonce Won't Say on a Shrink's Couch" (49).
what if I said I'm tired
and they heard wrong
said sing it
Once again, Morgan Parker appropriates the symbology of Beyonce to gain insight on how black woman and femmes are labored to work within white patriarchal societal constructs. When Beyonce says to the shrink "I'm tired," we can assume that Parker is using Beyonce to echo all of our sentiment around being tired of our oppression. My favorite part of the poem is the use of the word "they in the second line, because it implies that black women and femmes are not at fault for the inability to be seen and actualized within oppressive constructs. The dissonance is in the listener who is unable to hear us and see us as humanly complex, and as result denigrates us for their lack of understanding by demanding us to perform for them. The understanding who is both"I" and "they" is essential to the context of the poem. The "I' isn't simply Beyonce, but every black woman and femme that dares to exist and be seen and heard in colonized spaces.
Lucky you! 3 times! Thank you so much for the sharing the personal in your response. I loved this line, "I live somewhere imaginary" and agree with how you interpreted it, both as the space that Parker inhabits and how Beyonce's image exists in the world. I also though it might be something about living in the imaginary world of an artist who sees the beauty all around and distills it with her magic and command of language and metaphor. Also yes to your analysis about black women's labor and the amount that our culture demands performance and objectification of the black body. This book speaks volumes to dismantling those societal expectations in a defiant, unapologetic epic.
ReplyDeleteYour post made me think back to the title of the collection, "There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce," and how it is provocative a) because of the commitment to taking on Beyonce and b) because it portrays Beyonce as a "Thing." And this is why Parker can say that Beyonce is not the most beautiful thing - because she isn't a thing at all! I think your post gets at the ways in which Beyonce is explored as a symbol of the imaginary - to black womxm and femmes of color AND to white America - as well as a person with dignity and subjectivity (and a therapist, lol), just like everybody else. If Parker were taking on Beyonce as only an individual or as only an icon, the book just wouldn't work.
ReplyDeleteWow yes. I love how you unpack the word choice of "they". You got so much out of such a short poem.
ReplyDeleteYes to your point of The (white) listeners lack of understanding and ability to see / hear / understand. So well said.
Great post, what’s interesting to me every time i see Bey, i think she must be tired. And that’s with a small t and a Large T... her using iconographic women , complicating them is also complicating the tropes (danger of a single story, yes)
ReplyDeleteNice
E