All things considered, Cameron Awkward-Rich is a very conservative writer, and he keeps his poetry to books and paid platforms, so finding free versions of his poetry is very often a challenge, therefore, we are taking a second look at Essay On the Awkward Black Object.
This is another outstanding work on the life of Cameron Awkward-Rich, but it's not so well hidden this time. In discussing “the face on the card”, he brings to light the issues transgender people face, not from other people, but from their own self confidence. When people laugh at someone, it often gets into their head and messes with their own self image, and with transgender people, that's most likely a very fragile image that can be easily damaged from anyone outside of themself. The subject of racism is later brought up with the “story behind the name”, which is a reference to the names of some African Americans and the complicated nature of their pronunciation, to which Rich responds, “you already know the story”. This is said with an air of contempt due to the matter of it being only one thing: a name. Even further into the essay/poem, the matter of his chosen name is brought about: Awkward. He describes it as both a punishment and a method, which is comprehensible due to the nature of who he is as a transgender man. “Awkward” as a name most likely depicts how uncomfortable he must have felt in his own skin, and with dealing with people outside of those whose support was specifically enumerated earlier on, which reaches back to “the face on the card”, which is what most of those people tended to see. It possibly also attains to how he felt to himself. He most likely had to get comfortable in his own skin before he spoke with anyone about it, which must have been an extraordinarily awkward to himself. To conclude, this work brings back to light the life of Cameron Awkward-Rich, while simultaneously speaking about relevant issues to both members of the LGBT+ community and tackling relevant issues on racism in today’s society. https://theoffingmag.com/essay/essay-on-the-awkward-black-object/
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http://www.narrativenortheast.com/?p=4610
In Cameron Awkward-Rich’s newest poem, Black Feeling, he begins with telling us a bit about the situation he was currently sat in, with him, his sister, and presumably a Skype or FaceTime call with his mother. It says in the that “virtually every Sunday” they meet like this, which has a double implication of the primary meaning of ‘virtually’, meaning nearly or almost, as well as the second definition which means a sort of augmented reality. This is what leads me to believe that they’re all semi-gathered, face to face and face to screen. He says further along the poem that it had “been so long since I was the girl in the kitchen with the dull knife”, and that couldn’t be more true. Cameron Awkward-Rich had long since been identifying as a boy, as well as having undergone surgery to become one. He mentions how his mother once had two daughters, and how odd it must be for her to now have one daughter and one son, and that must have truly been odd for a while for his mother, considering how used to having two daughters Cameron’s mother must have been. In the same line, he said “mother forgive me”, which implies that they’d had some large dispute, or at least large enough for it to have had a serious influence on Cameron’s life. More than likely, they had a falling out due to Cameron’s change in identity, and later made reparations. This is supported further in the poem when he says “you didn’t and on the news or not the world is ending”. This is most likely about a fight he and his mother had, and reality for others would support this, as it’s more common for African American parents and family to reject LGBT+ ideals. In the very last few lines, he calls to his mother for help, saying that he needs “help raising the shroud from my pathetic shoulders”. This shroud could be several things, but all in all it comes down to being just a few things. The shroud could come down to being the mindset of Cameron not being comfortable in his own skin, and needing maternal comfort in order to come out of his shell and be comfortable as himself. So to be blatant, this is a very difficult poem to understand, but also a vital one to comprehend. I struggled to wrap my head around it, and I still am. This, to a degree, outlines the fears that many transgender people have in public. The “pills that make me dream in oceans” could very well me a subliminal mention of depression or anxiety pills, or alternatively they could be testosterone capsules, which would further enhance the levels of testosterone in Cameron. Further in, he mentions “a tongue in a jar in the ocean”, which I could mean that he feels like something he can’t see is blocking out what he says, and what does get out is lost into something far louder than himself. This is a problem that many trans people face, with their voices being ignored on issues such as transgender rights due to people stating that they “don’t exist”. This is an issue because they are still people with feelings and voices, but are widely ignored due to how they are. Around the same place in the poem he mentions that he’s relieved due to the fact he thought he would “no longer want to reach outside the skin”, which can be perceived in one very specific way. This is most likely saying that he is still not comfortable in his own skin, and wants to reach out as who he is, rather than be judged by his outer body. Being uncomfortable in their own skin is something that many people, trans or not, experience in their life, through self consciousness, or otherwise. Finally, the mention that “this makes every man on the train into something that could kill me” represents both transphobia in men, as well as the fragility of masculinity. Transphobia is more common in men, and they’re more prone to commit criminal acts toward a transgender person. The fragility of masculinity is brought up because of the men on the train not wanting to be “impersonated”, and that causes anger and violence in them. As a result, Cameron is scared in his own skin. To conclude, I found this to be one of Cameron Awkward-Rich’s deeper poems, as well as one of the more telling ones. It talks about his deeper fears, and shows a part of him through that.
http://www.versedaily.org/2016/whatreturns.shtml I saw the title of the poem, and decided that it was apt to review due to the fact that Virginia is about to get absolutely hammered by a massive snowstorm. So in Cameron’s poem “Bad Weather”, he talks about how he’s going out with friends, presumably to celebrate someone’s birthday. But when he’s crossing the street, something happens, and he goes from “drowned by laughter” to “in an ambulance racing along”, and this was something of an awakening for Cameron as it seems. Near death experiences tend to bring certain aspects of a person’s life out, particularly the good portions of it. He talks about how he used to fear his body, most likely due to the fact that he’s transgendered, as many transgendered people do (41% of trans people attempt suicide due to fear of their body or others). But after the incident on the street occurred, he said that “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it, the new storm, minor catastrophe, me”, and that seems to be a happy moment for Cameron. However, there seems to be a major downside to this. He suffered head trauma, which seemed detrimental, considering he said “my skull, wrung, wrong”. I’d also like to bring another point to light. Many, many, many, MANY transgendered people are afraid to speak out on their identities due to the fear of rejection by the public, their friends, or their family. Which raises the question: why is Cameron Awkward-Rich so incredibly open. I believe that it’s due to the events depicted in this very poem. As I earlier mentioned, almost dying can be as eye-opening as it can be traumatic. I believe that this is when our poet realized he needs to accept himself, and that this is what inspired him to write poetry and books, and share his story as a source of inspiration for other LGBT members. He constantly talks about his discomfort in the past, not the present, and I think that it’s as a result of this event in the poem. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments down below.
http://thebaffler.com/poems/bad-weather-awkward-rich https://theoffingmag.com/essay/essay-on-the-awkward-black-object/
Sorry this is late, apparently Weebly doesn't like me, or posting what I write. This was done and posted Tuesday night. Anyways, moving on. The above poem has powerful wording that I'm a huge fan of. Being that Cameron is transgender, he's assumingly often insecure, at least that's what the poem suggests whilst it's talking about Cameron and his ID. "Someone looks at you, your face, then your face in the plastic card", and he's talking about the effects that injectable pheromones can have on the visual element of the face. As a woman, injecting testosterone can cause facial hair growth and a slowly changing facial structure, and vice versa with estrogen. Further in, racism is brought up, with the unethical treatment of some black workers. The poem says "the thing is made to do dangerous work, he flings it's body from the low rungs of a ladder", and this likely relates to how black people are treated in the workplace, with some people being purposefully hurt and making it look like a work accident. With that also comes lower pay due to racism rooted in company history. The last stanza of the poem is the most powerful portion. "We haven’t made it to the punch line. Everyone is waiting. Everyone wants resolution, for the poem to click shut. Who gets the last word? Who, in the end, dictates the story? I’m sorry. I really don’t know. This is honestly very powerful, with Cameron talking about his personal thoughts. He doesn't know how everything is going to end up, and he makes that explicitly clear here. He doesn't know how it ends, or who gets to end it. He's just living his life to the fullest while he can. In conclusion, Cameron's work is excellent as usual, with multiple deeper meaning that were revealed further up that previously. All in all, this poem perfectly reflects the world we live in, and gives us an idea of what to make better. As I've read through this poem, it strikes me as being about Cameron's change from being a girl to being a boy. Take lines 8-10 for instance. "No matter what I do with the girl there she is." I feel like this is a euphemism for the person he used to be, which was a girl. For those who don't know, Cameron is transgender. He shed the person he used to be to become someone he wanted to be, as is suggested by line 13, "a door opens and out falls the world". I feel like this represents Cameron’s old world falling apart behind him as he moves on through his life, through the door to the next chapter of his being. He shed his old, female skin to carry on into a more comfortable, male skin. Another portion that strikes me is the last stanza of the poem, in reference to the old saying about sticks and stones. “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Anyone who has been bullied can tell you this is false. Words can be used to get into your head very easily. I feel like Cameron has experienced this to a degree, and is outwardly expressing that into this poem. Given his status as transgender, people can use and abuse that to make someone feel bad about himself. Overall, this poem has a far deeper meaning than it appears to on the surface. It’s a glimpse into the eyes of the abuse of a man, as well as the abuse of the LGBT community as a whole. I liked this work, and feel free to tell me if you agree or disagree, or if you have any other thoughts, feel free to comment.
http://vinylpoetryandprose.com/2016/01/cam-awkward-rich/ Sorry my post isn't up yet. I've had to write and rewrite three times because technology sucks. It'll be up soon, bare with me. For the record, I'd like to say how difficult it is to write a page of poetry review based on 21 lines of poetry. However, that doesn't mean this poem is lacking in content! It's incredible, actually. It can be interpreted in so many different ways, it could apply to anyone. The metaphorical "knife" in mention? Yeah, not a literal knife. Well, not to me at any rate. It's any problem someone may be facing or has faced in the past. A knife in the form of seduction can be a sort method to help, and that's kind of supported by him saying "everyone have a seam, Unravel to dark sugar". Basically this whole poem is a big metaphor for the issues of people, so say one person's "knife" was an abusive relationship, or parental neglect. The "hole" mentioned further in is the opportunity for growth, and how some people can misuse it or misinterpret it. For instance, when Cameron says that he "only ate what wouldn't nourish", could be taken as a misuse of a growth opportunity. He could have grown himself up, but instead he "grew thin as a wire", which I interpreted as not trying to get better and allowing himself to sink deeper into what happened. At least, that's my interpretation. Poetry is meant to engage the mind, so it's interpretable in many different ways. Feel free to leave your thoughts behind and I'll answer them as soon as possible!
http://www.theshadejournal.com/single-post/2016/09/27/ESSAY-ON-WHAT-IS-ISNT-by-Cameron-Awkward-Rich |