Developing Conclusions on Experimental Poetry

In order to understand the complexity of experimental black poetry, it is necessary to recognize that the aforementioned has no exact definition. This genre of poetry is wholly comprised of a relationship between the poet and the reader, who must work collaboratively in order to comprehend the meaning and intricacies of the poetry. The ultimate goal of many experimental black poets is to create a sense of purpose in the reader. An experimentalist author attempts to have the audience come away from a poem with an unfamiliar feeling created by a lack of closure. In the poetry, there is no definitive interpretation - only a lingering sense of ambiguity. It is the job of the reader to make his or her own conclusions about the poem and decipher the lasting impression created by the poet. Each reading should result in an obscure feeling, and the reader should be left with a need to explore the nature of the poetry. The ‘closure’ derives from this confusion and makes a point to force connections and understanding. By leaving no concrete answers, a catharsis of understanding is created by the empirical experience of the poem. How the audience feels and makes their own interpretations of a singular poem, one that breaks free from the rational, constitutes the goal and meaning of experimental black poetry. The author guides the reader towards a conclusion through connotative language and literary devices that aid in the interpretation of the poet’s original meaning. The authors’ rely heavily on metaphor, syntax, and meter to complicate their works and elaborate the intentions of each poem. These devices function as the clues that aid the reader in discovering how to determine the meaning of the poetry. In order to come to a conclusion, it is necessary to dissect and unravel the author’s word choices and allusions to come to a concrete interpretation. In Elouise Loftin’s poem “april ‘68”, she delves into the subject matter of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the idea of radical social reformation. She scatters many hints throughout the poem, using metaphor and allusion, to establish the necessary tone and concept needed to develop a proper understanding of her revolutionary ideas. Similarly, Primus St. John alludes to another murder in his poem “Benign Neglect / West Point, Mississippi, 1970”, in which he describes the story of ‘Johnny’ and his death’s affect on the community. Loftin and St. John’s poems carry heavy impact and reflect upon the same notion of civil rights. Both authors, with the aid of allusion and metaphor, transcend their ideas and leave their conclusions for the reader’s judgment. It is through the variety of clues that the poets scatter throughout the works that the audience may discover what experimental black poetry truly is, and develop a catharsis through revelation and inference.

Before the reader begins to decipher these poems, it is necessary to examine the titles and their significance.