Sam Sax is a Jewish American poet. He has been writing poetry over the past four to five years and has been very successful. His content tends to be more random, but the poem I told titled “lisps” is partly about his upbringing. As the title suggests, Sax struggled throughout his childhood with the speech impediment.
Every single line of this poem contains an “S” sound, as that is what people with lisps struggle to pronounce. The making of this sound is something that Sax has struggled with throughout his life and that is especially an issue for him since “[his] name hinges on the S.” In the early part of the story, each line seems to have no connection to the next, but after taking a closer look at the lines as an entirety, a story is told. Sax’s parents were embarrassed of his lisp and took him to attempt to fix it with a professional. Sax was bullied for his lisp. In school, he never said a word in fear of being made fun of. He practiced being silent and observed.
At this point in the poem Sax shifts away from the topic of his struggles. He begins talking about the history of the S, saying it comes from the hebrew letter Shin. Then, more randomness comes from Sax. From what I understand it seems to be a sexual relationship with a neighbor. The poem as a whole was confusing for me as a reader. It didn’t seem very connected, but hey, that’s poetry for you.
My poet was jewish too, but he didn't try to include that in his poetry. Its interesting to see how Sax integrated Judaism while keeping it connected to his theme about "S". Was this his only piece focused on his lisp? Pretty cool though!
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