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Tompson Poetry Journal
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Richard Zhu01/30 Poetry Journal Submitted LATE (with LATE ticket)
“Speechless” by Kyra LeeThis poem was definitely an experience. Having read The Bone People, I could
understand the domestic violence and beating aspect of this better the drunken father beating
Leigh to death is not unlike Joe’s nearly beating Simon to death, and his reasoning even more
similar. Just as Joe is wont to blame others (mostly Simon) for his “need” to beat Simon, so the
unnamed dad in “Speechless” likes to blame Sasha for his murder of Leigh.
The poem itself captures the sadness and despair such an event would cause well Lee
repeats the most astounding details of the situation (“I am six \ And she is three”) once at the
beginning when we do not know what is going on, and one nearly at the end, when we have fully
understood what has happened. What is more, Lee also writes in language appropriate to a
sixyear old to make the story more realistic. There is no complex language, just Sasha telling
the story of her sister’s murder.
The rhyme scheme and simplistic language adds an undertone of irony to the situation
we do not expect the singsong language and simple verbage of a sixyear old describing such a
violent and depressing situation, and that jarring juxtaposition of innocence and violence is
thematic dissonance that jolts us, making the poem even more striking and impressive.
By writing from the perspective of a close relation to the murdered, Lee also captures the
perplexing and utter loss Sasha feels after the loss of her sister, “her best friend”. Sasha stops
speaking because she feels guilty that speaking caused her to die. Furthermore, we are not
given a resolution. There is no justice yet, just speechlessness. Lee poignantly captures loss in
this narrative of child beating, describing the victims of such violence.