Post by lemoise35 on May 20, 2012 16:41:15 GMT -5
When I was first told I needed to choose a poet whose works I would analyze and grow familiar with I knew I had a difficult task ahead of me. Furiously, I took to google, searching and searching for what would become my perfect poet. When I read Maria Mazzioti Gillan's poem, Betrayals, I knew I had found my match. As I read this poem, I could understand what Maria was feeling—her regret as she looked back towards the treatment of her father, but also her unconditional love for her family. Such a topic is exactly what makes Maria's poetry is so great. At one point in a person's life, they have looked back with regret, gotten so caught up in the moment they lose their temper, or forget right from wrong and do something they know is bad. But everyone has also experienced what it is to love someone and to cherish those close to your heart.
Maria's poetry is, in short, truth. Through the span of her works, the reader can see Maria's transformation from child into adult as she becomes a parent able to learn from past mistakes and as she witnesses her own children developing into their own person. Most importantly, however, is her reflection of what family truly means. To Maria, family is a “burden of love,” “hands loving [you] awake,” crying in your mother's arms, voices reaching “across phone wires,” and watching with fear and wonder and your family grows older before your eyes. Maria's poetry is more like series of letters to her family—letters in which she apologizes for any of her weaknesses, but also lets her family know how much she truly loves them.
Born in 1940, Maria Mazziotti Gillan is the daughter of poor Italian immigrants. She grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. Her father was a custodian, who, in a work-related accident became crippled. Not much is known about her mother except that in one poem dedicated to her Maria writes how her mother's loving hands woke her up every morning as did the smell of the warm Farina she made for her daughter's breakfast. Maria has two children with her husband Dennis, John and Jennifer. These are the people Maria needs to survive. Her existence is based purely upon the absolute love that flows from Maria's heart as she writes her poetry. Maria relates her experiences in plain honesty, what you see on paper is exactly what comes from her heart. As Maria once said “It is the old woman or old man who lives in our bellies, who helps us to be wise truth-tellers. We need to learn to trust that inner voice, and not to depend on the intellect to guide us.” This inner voice is part of the beauty of Maria's body of work. By relating her life events to readers in her signature, pure, raw form, readers are able to capture small snapshots of Maria's life and empathize with her emotion.
Her fourteen books of poetry, as well as various awards, for example the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, all prove Maria's utter magnificence as a poet. Never before has there been a poet who can leave such a lasting impression on the interior of the heart simply by pouring truth on a page.
And so, without further adieu, I present to you, Maria Mazziotti Gillan.
word count:572
Maria's poetry is, in short, truth. Through the span of her works, the reader can see Maria's transformation from child into adult as she becomes a parent able to learn from past mistakes and as she witnesses her own children developing into their own person. Most importantly, however, is her reflection of what family truly means. To Maria, family is a “burden of love,” “hands loving [you] awake,” crying in your mother's arms, voices reaching “across phone wires,” and watching with fear and wonder and your family grows older before your eyes. Maria's poetry is more like series of letters to her family—letters in which she apologizes for any of her weaknesses, but also lets her family know how much she truly loves them.
Born in 1940, Maria Mazziotti Gillan is the daughter of poor Italian immigrants. She grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. Her father was a custodian, who, in a work-related accident became crippled. Not much is known about her mother except that in one poem dedicated to her Maria writes how her mother's loving hands woke her up every morning as did the smell of the warm Farina she made for her daughter's breakfast. Maria has two children with her husband Dennis, John and Jennifer. These are the people Maria needs to survive. Her existence is based purely upon the absolute love that flows from Maria's heart as she writes her poetry. Maria relates her experiences in plain honesty, what you see on paper is exactly what comes from her heart. As Maria once said “It is the old woman or old man who lives in our bellies, who helps us to be wise truth-tellers. We need to learn to trust that inner voice, and not to depend on the intellect to guide us.” This inner voice is part of the beauty of Maria's body of work. By relating her life events to readers in her signature, pure, raw form, readers are able to capture small snapshots of Maria's life and empathize with her emotion.
Her fourteen books of poetry, as well as various awards, for example the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, all prove Maria's utter magnificence as a poet. Never before has there been a poet who can leave such a lasting impression on the interior of the heart simply by pouring truth on a page.
And so, without further adieu, I present to you, Maria Mazziotti Gillan.
word count:572