Searching for Deeper Love in Baraka's For Hettie Amari Baraka's poem, "For Hettie," may seem like just another feature card; banal, overly simplistic and unrealistic. However, after reading this poem, our thoughts changed drastically. Our first impression was that it was offensive and insulting. The speaker criticizes almost every aspect of his wife, even the unborn child. The first time we saw no evidence of love or affection. Furthermore, we also recognized how it could be interpreted as a loving vision, where the central concept is imperfect love. In any case, both sides provide compelling arguments for each perspective. The speaker is supposed to be writing a love poem to his wife, but the unmistakable criticism he directs at her leads us to wonder whether this is really love he is talking about. It may not be a "traditional" romance, but he doesn't need to degrade his wife like this. Reading this poem for the first time made us feel defensive and almost angry at the speaker for criticizing his wife so harshly. While it's flattering to be the subject of a poem, we don't believe many women would want to be described this way. Hettie is left-handed, which seems to be the entire basis of her "quirk". He says it is "a shame and a shame" (Baraka 7.699) the way people always try to be different. Why do you consider being left-handed a shame? It's not fair to say that, because she has no control over that. Furthermore, her husband bosses her around like she's an animal, and thinks he has to tell her what to do, and what's right, because after all, apparently, he has all the answers. At one point he even seems angry that she isn't writing in the right direction, and he shows this anger in a particular style. Written in capital letters he tells her, "GET THIS DAMN PENCIL OUT OF THAT HAND. YOU'RE GOING BACKWARDS" (13-15.699). From the way she dresses to the way she acts, there is no way this man can like her. He even goes so far as to "attack" their soon-to-be-born child. He states, "and now his belly sags into the seat. They say he's a baby. But I'm not so sure" (16-19.699). A loving husband would not make such hurtful comments about the woman he supposedly loves.