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Ossuaries by Dionne Brand: An Exploration of Memory, History, and the Poetics of Loss

Raymond Parker

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Ossuaries

by Dionne Brand

4.7 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	828 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Print length	:	131 pages
Screen Reader	:	Supported

Brand's poems are deeply rooted in her own experiences as a black woman in the diaspora. She writes about the pain and trauma of slavery, colonialism, and racism, but she also writes about the resilience and strength of black people in the face of adversity.

In the poem "Ossuaries," Brand writes about the discovery of a mass grave in Rwanda. The poem is a powerful indictment of the horrors of genocide, but it is also a meditation on the power of memory and the importance of remembering the past.

we come here to this gutted place to this broken field to this violated earth to make memory

The poems in Ossuaries are often fragmented and elliptical, reflecting the fractured nature of memory and the difficulty of coming to terms with the past. However, Brand's language is also lyrical and evocative, and her poems are full of beautiful and haunting imagery.

In the poem "Elegy," Brand writes about the death of her mother. The poem is a moving and deeply personal meditation on grief and loss.

my mother is dead i am alone in the house of my mother

The poems in Ossuaries are ultimately hopeful. They offer a vision of a future in which the wounds of the past can be healed and in which black people can live in freedom and equality.

In the poem "The Future," Brand writes:

we will not be silent we will not be erased we will not be forgotten

Ossuaries is a powerful and important collection of poems that deserves to be widely read and studied. Brand's poems are a testament to the power of memory, the importance of remembering the past, and the resilience and hope of black people.

Dionne Brand's Poetics of Loss

Dionne Brand's poetics of loss is characterized by its fragmentation, its elliptical nature, and its focus on the power of memory. Brand's poems often explore the fractured nature of memory and the difficulty of coming to terms with the past. However, her language is also lyrical and evocative, and her poems are full of beautiful and haunting imagery.

we come here to this gutted place to this broken field to this violated earth to make memory

The poem is fragmented and elliptical, reflecting the fractured nature of memory. However, Brand's language is also lyrical and evocative, and the poem is full of beautiful and haunting imagery. The poem's final line, "to make memory," is a powerful reminder of the importance of remembering the past, even when it is painful.

Brand's poetics of loss is also characterized by its focus on the resilience and hope of black people. In the poem "The Future," Brand writes:

we will not be silent we will not be erased we will not be forgotten

The poem is a powerful affirmation of the resilience and hope of black people in the face of adversity. Brand's poems offer a vision of a future in which the wounds of the past can be healed and in which black people can live in freedom and equality.

Dionne Brand's Ossuaries is a powerful and moving collection of poems that explores themes of memory, history, and the poetics of loss. The poems in Ossuaries are often haunting and difficult, but they are also deeply beautiful and ultimately hopeful. Brand's poems are a testament to the power of memory, the importance of remembering the past, and the resilience and hope of black people.

Ossuaries

by Dionne Brand

4.7 out of 5