The Human Tree

This dissertation is a collection of poems based on my experiences interviewing African refugees from Kenya and Sudan. The critical chapters that accompany it examine the extent to which documentary poetry marks human suffering. My intent is not to supersede historical analysis but show how the sourcing, corroboration, and examination of evidentiary material practiced by documentary poets contribute to history-telling. Mainly, this form of poetry builds connections between the reader and subject; it establishes these relationships not in an attempt to incite pity or create superficial common ground among people, but rather by disseminating responsibility so that the act of reading moves readers to encounter many variations of human need. Case examples studied include poetry books by Carolyn Forché, Greg Miller, Brenda Coultas, C.D. Wright, and Mark Nowak. These poets provide models for different methods of writing documentary poetry and establish particular examples of how documentary poetry transforms suffering into language that is present, factual, and assertive of human dignity. By analyzing these poets' work and the larger reaches of documentary poetry, I provide criteria for writing and evaluating my own creative poems about African refugees and asylees transitioning to life in Dallas, Texas. Scholarship on African refugees has been seen for sometimes as being too general. Therefore, my poetry functions to situate the personal accounts of Lucy Mashua, Kenyan asylee and director of the International Refugee Choir, members of her choir, and Kenyan asylee Emmanuel Kamau in social, political, cultural, and economic contexts. In my poetry, I aim to show how the burdens and personal plights of these people do not end at the U.S. border and therefore become a part of America's political and social responsibility.