Debridement

by Michael S. Harper

Poetry. African-American Studies. This is the first complete edition of Michael S. Harper's DEBRIDEMENT, bringing together the two sections previously published under separate " I Want a Witness" and "Debridement." As Anthony Walton notes in his introduction, "Michael S. Harper uncovers the real and sobering truths that lie behind the myths of his native land, repossesses, in the postcolonial sense, the past of 'his people,' not necessarily black, and steels himself to reenter the never-ending field of conflict between the contending forces of progressivism and reaction for ownership of the term 'patriot' in American society." "When there is no history/ there is no metaphor/ a blind nation in a storm/ mauls its own harbors;/ sperm whale, Indian, black,/ belted in these ruins" - Michael S. Harper.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent early poetry collection by Michael S. Harper reflects on race and violence in American history through two long sequences: one on John Brown and his raid on Harper's Ferry in the service of abolitionism, and the second on Dwight Johnson, a decorated black Vietnam veteran from Detroit whose life ended tragically after a tumultuous struggle with PTSD. Harper, as always, is demanding and densely allusive, but his critical narration of the national past is always insightful.

[Mills College Library]

811.54 H295d 1973