Ivan Mendoza

Professor Blakelock
UH 2010-02: Hon Poetry
November 11, 2015
Final Thoughts
It was difficult to pick one last poem from The Essential. I enjoyed the volume very
much, and for my last journal I would like to compare two of Knights poems: Welcome Back
Mr. Knight: Love of My Life and Various Protestations from Various People. In both poems,
Knight tampers with the darkest realm of his conscience. He plunders his inner value and
character, which is challenging for many people to do. To be able to step back and be aware of
your shortcomings is a transforming experience. This was something, however, Knight did often.
After being released from prison he devoted himself to living a clean life. He did not keep this
commitment, and when he started to relapse he felt no self-worth. One could assume that Knight
would try to change. Interestingly enough, Knight hints in these two poems that he in fact does
not care about his problems.
The use of repetition is also prevalent in both poems. I admire a poem that successfully
and uniquely uses repetition to send a message to the audience. More than emphasizing a phrase,
repetition serves as a hammer to a loosely hanging picture frame that holds a masterpiece.
Knights masterpiece was his corporate culture mentality. He spoke as if nothing in the world
mattered. In Welcome Back Mr. Knight: Love of My Life, he states all of his deepest problems
in life. One problem he kept referring to was his Ol Liver problem. Etheridge Knight died
because of lung cancer and liver failure in 1991. Knight inhibits a sense of sarcasm with the use
of repetition Gotta watch out for the Ol Liver problem. He was well aware he did not live a
socially acceptable life, but chose to live that way regardless to what others told him. This is also
clear in his poem Various Protestations from Various People. In this poem, Knight goes line
through line of people complaining about his habits such as drinking and not praying enough. He
ends it with a memorable line of repetition, Say sing about me being free too much? Knight
lived against the social norm. In this way, he was revolutionary. He chose to live his life despite
what others said or did, something the once admirable Hard Rock failed to do. In the end, I
believe Etheridge Knight died a happy man, even though he spent a lot of reflection in his
shortcomings, he made something out of himself - a very hard task from a simple black convict
from Kentucky.