Sam Hamill "The Necessity to Speak"

Karie Lake

Mrs. Cline

Eng 102

6 February 2011

Sam Hamill

            The poem “The Necessity to Speak” was an eye opening poem.  It was full of information that I had never heard of before or even given that much thought to.  Occasionally when watching the news it is brought to our attention that woman and children are battered.  Nothing can prepare us for what really goes on; Sam gives us a look into that life and what can happen.  The poem was so full of information it seemed to jump around a lot.  It was very education for me while reading that it didn’t bother me that it seemed to jump around. 

            Sam expresses his own life experience while he was in prison and it just makes me sick that people actually could gang rape and beat a fourteen year old little boy.  Just think about when you were a fourteen your old and you thought you knew everything.  You did anything to fit and it seems like Sam did things to fit but they were not good choices.  He was a little boy who was battered by his parents.  To be thrown in Prison doesn’t seem like the right thing, I don’t know what he did to get into prison.  Sam later goes into talking about the woman that came to the creative writing class and it moved me.  It was amazing how many lives were touched.  It’s truly amazing the live that was changed by attending the class.  This woman that managed to take what Sam tout her and get out of a battered situation should be news headlines. 

            The time of the poem that was spent talking about the war and innocents that sign up to fight our battles was an eye opener.  We hear about the war and soldiers that die fighting but the details of how the sign up and they are so innocent is just disgusting.  How at the age of eighteen is younger is a man or woman capable of knowing what they are getting themselves into by signing up for that armed forces.  These men and woman are promised the world and most give their lives to something that we can’t understand.  Do they even understand what and why they are fighting? 

            Overall this poem is another example why I have changed my outlook on poetry.  Poetry can be so complicated and confusing.  It makes it boring; I tend to shut down with that kind of poetry.  Sam moved me and opened my eyes to the realness of poetry.  It doesn’t have to rhyme or use fancy big words.  The poetry that she wrote was simple and gave great knowledge for those who are blind to the world.  The poetry that she wrote was simple and gave great knowledge for those who are blind to the world. 

The link below is a great place to go to learn more about Sam Hamill: 

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/733
The link for the Picture:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.enduringamerica.com/storage/blog-post-images/IRAN%2520PRISON.jpg%3F__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION%3D1293012367983&imgrefurl=http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/tag/sakineh-mohammadi-ashtiani&usg=__yEc0lAm1rFeG4b1Lo6INWZ5Sv4k=&h=361&w=519&sz=52&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=tKxp47kwsw3WcM:&tbnh=168&tbnw=232&ei=M-5OTd2QG4zCsAOE3_mWCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dprison%2Bbars%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1199%26bih%3D675%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=536&vpy=399&dur=1119&hovh=187&hovw=269&tx=174&ty=155&oei=M-5OTd2QG4zCsAOE3_mWCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:0