Healing, Optimism, And Polarization: A Collection Of Political Poetry Musings By Jennifer C. Wolfe, published by Blaze VOX Books. Reviewed for Crow Reviews by Lynn Alexander.
Jennifer C. Wolfe has put together a collection of poetry that explores the political mindscape of America on the cusp of the post-Bush age. There’s no doubt that we, in America, had high hopes for change with the election of President Obama- many of us want so badly to see change on so many levels and we have come to recognize that we need a certain kind of inspiring leadership to get there. Even the cynical and disenfranchised by choice share a strong sense that there has to be a change in course because what we have been doing has not been working and is now dangerously unsustainable. Is Obama the change? Who knows. At the time of writing these poems it is certainly too soon to tell.
Hope, optimism, unity…these are difficult ideas to tackle, because the diversity that makes us strong is also the diversity that fosters pluralist animosity that renders reconciliation so elusive. Wolfe aims to touch on the dynamics of competing interests, and the nature of polarization in a society where groups tend to compete before they cooperate on mutual goals and opportunities and where divisive strategies seem to rally citizens and garner support and even rouse the apathetic. Can we heal? Can we come together, find common ground? Is it absurd to hope for change, are we that far gone? Continue reading
