Description
Book SynopsisAn incendiary literary work more relevant now than ever.
“if anger were an ax/it would split me open/and if this is a sermon/let it be my granddaddy’s sermon/my grandmother’s foottapping/steady rocking/choir singing” —from “This Is Not a New Age”
First published in 1998, Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom than Slavery is the debut collection by acclaimed poet and performer Pamela Sneed. Provocative and potent, it tackles the political and personal issues of enslavement, sexuality, emotional trauma, and abuse. These poems chart the journey of an artist trying to escape cycles of dependency and reclaim lost self and identity. Drawing parallels to Harriet Tubman’s journey on the Underground Railroad, Sneed’s explorations of the woods are a metaphor and emotional path one must explore to attain self-ownership. Sneed’s poems are bound by the search for love, freedom, and justice—from images of lesbian love to Emmet Till’s bloated body, they offer a raging cry and a roadmap for those interested in transforming the personal into social justice and abolitionist practices.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements | xi
Preface: Genesis | xiii
Part One
Languages I've Never Learned | 5
The Final Solution | 6
The Silver Badge | 8
Eyes on the Prize | 13
Incest | 15
Jealousy | 16
Precious Crazy Girl Giggles | 17
Why Did You Have to Be a Poet? | 18
I haven't told you | 20
Blues Suite | 21
Elegy | 22
Rapunzel | 23
Underestimation of Power | 24
Teaching | 26
Stretch Marks and Cellulite | 28
New York | 31
When we broke up | 32
Planet of the Apes | 33
It is Not a New Age | 35
Part Two
The Woods | 39
History hasn't told the truth about revolutionaries | 41
Monologue to God | 42
Dear God, | 44
The Artist | 46
The Revolutionary | 48
Helpful Hints for an Aspiring Martyr | 52
Woman in Love 1 | 53
Woman in Love 2 | 55
Imagine Being More Afraid of Freedom Than Slavery | 57
Epilogue: Runaway | 63
