Write Right

The Writing Life

Erin Beasley

Reflecting on Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Kindness”

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Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Kindness” opens with the following lines:

…..When deeds splay before us
precious as gold & unused chances
stripped from the whine bone,
we know the moment kindheartedness
walks in.

The five lines evoke a world, one in which there is an “us,” a “we.” This we—perhaps two people, perhaps a large number of people—examines deeds and unused chances, almost appearing as riches displayed on velvet cloth or constellations on a clear, blue-black night. In this examination, something reveals itself: “the moment kindheartedness / walks in.”

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Alphabet Adventure: X, Y, and Z

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Well, hello. Apologies for the monumental delay in finishing Write Right’s Alphabet Adventure. It’s a bit like getting to the end of the alphabet game—the one where you go on a trip and try to name an alphabetical list of animals or fruit or some other entity—and struggling to successfully complete, and win, the game. Alas, no prizes will be awarded to Write Right.

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Favorite Reads of 2021

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I debated the title of this article throughout the morning, which is no surprise. I frequently argue with myself about words and punctuation marks. (Is this a sign I’m a writer? Perhaps, perhaps.) Should I say “best” or “favorite”? “Best” implies a standard of quality—one hopes an objective standard, yet the word often falls victim to conceptions of taste rather than quality. Not “best,” then.

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