First fight. Then fiddle. Ply the slipping string With feathery sorcery; muzzle the note With hurting love; the music that they wrote Bewitch, bewilder. Qualify to sing Threadwise. Devise no salt, no hempen thing 5 For the dear instrument to bear. Devote The bow to silks and honey. Be remote A while from malice and from murdering. But first to arms, to armor. Carry hate In front of you and harmony behind. 10 Be deaf to music and to beauty blind. Win war. Rise bloody, maybe not too late For having first to civilize a space Wherein to play your violin with grace.
In 1949, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote, “First Fight. Then Fiddle.”. Brooks was an African American poet who grew up during a period much different than the modern day. She managed to write powerful and inspirational poems for her audience as a young adult and activist in a segregated period. Additionally, to being a literary role model, Gwendolyn Brooks worked with the NAACP where her writing style was further developed, which led to her writing, “First Fight. Then Fiddle”. This poem shares the importance of fighting and having the strength to obtain freedom before creating works of art. Brooks expresses this idea because of her belief that when there are larger issues and circumstances, like war, art is something to be put on the back burner. The title, “First Fight. Then “Fiddle” supports this because of the use of describing the chronological order of when to “Fight” and when the time is proper to “Fiddle” afterward. There is also a period in between the two phrases, which soldiers the importance of how a fight must be finished before any time to partake in art takes place. Another aspect of “First Fight. Then Fiddle” is the musical approach that the poem takes through word choice and word flow. Brooks chooses words like “Fiddle” and “violin”, which are musical instruments, the word “note”, which alludes to musical notes in lyrics, “bow”, which is used to play musical instruments, and “harmony”, along with stating the word “music”. Using musical connotation helps develop the main theme of the poem because of the importance of putting out the message that music and other forms of art need to take place after a war is won because that is what is important. There is alliteration and assonance in “First Fight. Then Fiddle, which further enhances the musical aura that the poem creates, outside of only word choice denotatively. In line 4, “bewitch, bewilder.” represents the assonance Brooks uses because “e” sounds repetition. When read allowed, the poem sounds like music, keeping up the music theme of the poem. Alliteration occurs in line 11 with, “beauty blind”. The b’s at the beginning of both words contribute to the repetition of the letter, which also contributes to the musical flow and sound of the poem. The sounds of the poem through assonance and alliteration are attractive to the audience when read because the poem reads to be like a song. Line 3 states, “With hurting love; the music that they wrote”. This line holds power in the poem because it describes a popular action of those during that period. The struggle and hurt of the artists are identified and music is written as a safe space and outlet away from the hardship of the writers. This line creates a contribution to a theme, being the power of art. Art touches the lives of many and is a place where creativity can tell hard-to-express stories, like in this case war. “First Fight. Then Fiddle”, is a relatively short poem. The overall structure of the poem consists of 14 lines. The even amount of lines allows for each line to link with another in rhyme. This structure sets up the poem to have a song-like outcome when read by the audience. To me, Gwendolyn Brooks did a beautiful job speaking about the power and importance of art through using art, but at the same time in presenting the message that fighting and more importantly finishing a fight is more of a priority. With an outside world filled with tension, it is a necessity for society to become unified to where art can truly be appreciated and expressed to its full capacity. Having peace is a connector to creating art and sets up that needed base to freely display and express the work an artist creates.
“Lipstick” by Blythe Baird in her book, “If My Body Could Speak”, represents the evolution of a woman from childhood to womanhood. The title of the poem is an object that reflects femininity. So, readers are automatically aware about the importance of lipstick and it sets the stage for how this object is going to play a role in Baird’s perspective on her life. Lipstick is also on the cover of the book, so its reference in the poem is foreshadowed through the image on the cover. Blythe Baird highlights her life story and experience as a girl and young woman in her poems and does the same in “Lipstick”. She is a daughter, so her journey under her mother’s wing to growing into her own person separated proves that there is contrast in the different stages in life. Baird becomes her own person, with her own ideas, and beliefs. Her independence and path towards being an independent woman is made known to the reader. There is importance in Blythe Baird sharing her evolution because it is something girls and women can relate to as they grow up outside of their confined boundaries in a family atmosphere. This poem is short, but in doing so, quickly gets to the purpose of how she has evolved. Baird can connect that evolution to her use of lipstick. The five line poem shifts time periods in Baird’s life very quickly, especially with her word choices. The poem starts with “Growing up”, so immediately the reader finds themself in the mindset of a child. In this case, Baird as a child, is under strict rules, which her mother placed. It was a privilege for Baird to use “lipstick” as it was only for “special occasions”, but that idea became dated to Baird as she grew up. This opening of the poem contrasts from its ending. “Now”, was written by Baird to change the time perspective of the reader to prove that shift between lines. Her age difference from child to adult can be noted and with that comes Baird’s maturity in the piece. Punctuation use in the poem is significant to the work. Commas are used twice in the first and fourth lines to highlight a change in time. The function of the comma to create a pause sets the scene for the reader to have awareness in the change. This further shows how Baird has progressed into her mature, adult person. The layout of “Lipstick” is special in a particular manner. There are three sentences within the five lines of the poem, and in the first three lines there is line spacing before the ending of the sentence. After “reserved” in the second line there is a noticeable line jump before the next line, which completes the sentence starting at “only”. Then, there is repetition of “special occasions”. This phrase holds a new meaning to Blythe Baird because “special occasions” become her everyday. She states that “lipstick” is worn a lot of the time now as an older version of herself without her parental influence. Further, Blythe Baird recognizes herself as a higher version with more confidence than her younger self. She calls herself a “special occasion” and does so through saying “I am”. This personal identification that she uses as the author and narrator in first person brings an assertive tone. It makes the reader know of the difference of herself as a person and takes herself away from being seen as a daughter to an independent person. Blythe Baird changes as a daughter to a grown up, a child to a woman, and a person confined from parental influence to someone with indepence that relies on their own “teachings” other than her mother’s. This growth being noted makes the cycle of life relatable to young people who are stuck under strict rules. Baird used her perspective and broadened it through the uses on an object, which makes her piece represent more than her own story.
“Before the Starving” by Blythe Baird is a powerful poem about the development and the questioning of the beginning of an eating disorder. The poem’s title sets up a base set of knowledge about the author. Baird experienced anorexia, which is a disorder that most of the time comes from someone’s past or mental state. The author creating this title for the poem brings the reader to the place she was when her disorder started.
I believe Baird to be someone who is incredibly brave and creative. Sharing her story about her eating disorder is something that is deeply personal and doing so in a poem highlights her triggers to the disorder from a perspective on someone looking back into their life. Knowing when something started to happen is confusing, but speaking about it has power to help one recover and crack down on it. Her words hold something powerful and talk about an issue that is relatable.
Baird opens the poem by describing a child-like, make believe setting where she flashbacks to her younger self playing a game. She called the game, “outdoor survival”, which alludes to television shows where prize money is won for competing in survival challenges in harsh conditions. Presenting this game connects to the perspective of society to where it is stigmatized for someone to be considered worthy and pretty though being skinny. Baird took a television game that is favored by society and created a version of her own where someone so young should have been playing games to enjoy it for the outcome of being happy, not for the outcome of being skinny.
The author notes of her “refusal” to stop playing the game of survival even when her stomach “whined”. This represents the toxic parts of an eating disorder, as it almost becomes addictive not to eat. Baird’s diction choice through saying “refusal” only highlights the obsession of not eating while in an eating disorder state. She wrote, “the siren of my stomach for an audience applause” as she reflected back to her childhood game. Baird had the belief that starving herself is something to be proud of, so worthy of applause. Using the word “siren” has a negative connotation as sirens are used on ambulances and police cars as they are called for help. This creates a metaphor because a siren is an alarm and that alarm was ignored, much like the early signs of her eating disorder were ignored.
The mindset of being skinny overpowered all other senses of pure childhood adventure because of an undiscovered motive behind it from the desire to focus on appearance. I think events before realizing a situation, like an eating disorder, can be hidden and not always presented to those affected right away. Different factors play into someone’s self-esteem, especially the pressures of society that beauty has standards that girls have to meet to be acceptable.
Baird compares outdoor items in her “outdoor survival” game to real nutritious food that is consumed. “I whisked daffodils into egg yolks with sharpened sticks. I tossed salads of lavender cabbage and pebble croutons”. She brings the child-like sense of being able to play pretend, but compares it to a greater topic that is damaging. None of the items she used to play with were edible and when compared to edible food her starvation at a young age is heightened in the poem. Blythe Baird said she “wonder” why she chose to play “survival” out of any other game to play in her backyard. This piece of the poem is at the ending lines of her work. So after flashing back to her childhood, she sums it up to try and find answers to the beginning of her eating disorder. It had been if her eating disorder had always been developing, which took away the joy and fun playing of her childhood and connected it to her pain. The author’s use of speaking about her childhood adds connection to the life of her adult self. The build up of playing games as a kid relates to her actions in adulthood. I think it is sad how when she reflects back on herself playing, which should have been remembered as enjoyable and whimsical, is something she thinks of as the beginning of her pain. The title incorporates and prepares the reader well for the poem as “Before” represents a segment of time. That time is something that the reading can then reflect on too, which adds empathy to the piece.
Originally from the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Baird has garnered international recognition for her stunning performance pieces that speak urgently and honestly about sexual assault, mental illness, eating disorder recovery, sexuality, and healing from trauma.
Her work has been featured by Glamour, ELLE, TEDxMinneapolis, The National Eating Disorder Association, Mic, The Huffington Post, Everyday Feminism, Medium, The Mighty, The Body Is Not an Apology, Write Bloody, Button Poetry, A-Plus, and many more.
Baird graduated from Hamline University in 2018 with a dual degree in creative writing and women’s studies. In 2020, she became the recipient of the prestigious McKnight Artist Fellowship for Spoken Word administered by The Loft Literary Center in Minnesota.
Emma Trelles is the 9th Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara, California, and a Poet Laureate Fellow at the Academy of American Poets. She’s received writing fellowships and honors from CantoMundo, Letras Latinas, and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs. The daughter of Cuban immigrants, she’s the author of Tropicalia (University of Notre Dame Press), winner of the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize, and is completing her second book of poems, Courage & the Clock. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, Chiricú Journal, New England Review, Best American Poetry, and elsewhere. She curates the Mission Poetry Series and is the series editor of the Alta California Chapbook Prize, open to Latina/e/o/x writers and published in bilingual editions by Gunpowder Press.
