I have been sharing a lot of “me” content here on this blog lately and I think it is time to move on. I love reading and literature in general but I could not find time with all the paperback release excitement and my university finals. Thankfully, with me joining Twitterverse, I had a chance to see the writing community in great detail. There are so many talented, versatile and passionate people out there! Gosh! So, this post is all about those poets and their work I discovered thanks to internet.
- Heather Myers, Origin Story from The Journal
I was scrolling down my Twitter home page and saw this wonderful poem. I was immediately captivated. The opening lines are echoing a familiar feeling of detachment and displacement from one’s own “self”. The fact that the pure deconstruction of it is given in the construction stage of the poem frames the whole human existence. We ruin and we mold at the same time; it is inevitable and beautiful in its own way.
I especially like the juxtaposition of constructing and architecture with the idea of self. Human desire to enact a legacy to sustain a “self” in the minds of others that resists time is interwoven with the question, or rather the anxiety, of power.
I don’t want to reveal too much but I would love to write a whole essay on this poem! Here is a short quote, thank you Heather & The Journal for letting me share it. The poem will be available in print soon. Follow The Journal and Heather.
I grow with my loss. The heart builds new rooms.
Heather Myers, The Origin Story from The Journal
I rise into this architecture I don’t recognize.
- Kimberly Nguyen, i develop a skin picking disorder from perhappened
Do you know the feeling when you stumble on something magnificent at random and you are taken aback with gratitude? This poem is that. I was just looking through perhappened’s latest “snowfall” issue and the title caught me off guard, so I opened it and here we are!
Before going on about this piece, I should add that it is tagged CW for dermatillomania.
I love poetry, especially when it is darker than usual and for me, Nguyen’s poem is one of those. The language strikes you with its sheer simplicity, it does not hold back or sneak. It is directly speaking to you, to itself, to every eye that lends a glance. It is a self-portrayal that is not only personal but also universal because we all carry those “self-inflicted infractions”, don’t we? But its originality and importance lie in blending dermatillomania‘s obvious nature of “falling apart” like the skin and fragmented human psyche. I like how they overlap. The contrast between the smooth flow and the rough subject also enriches the piece overall as well.
Kimberly kindly allowed me to share a short quote, here it is and don’t forget to follow her writing journey!
what i know about grief/ i learned here/ to bury and unbury in the same stroke/ each day—a burial and an excavation/
Kimberly Nguyen, i develop a skin picking disorder from perhappened
- Aura Martin, what lives in us from perhappened
I might be spending too much time on perhappened’s twitter page or their site but there are such amazing pieces there to read over and over again! I came across Aura’s cento over Twitter as well and to be honest, I was not aware of such a form but now that I know it, I believe I can truly appreciate it. what lives in us contains words from sam sax and Anne Boyer and is featured in perhappened’s LOVERS issue.
Wikipedia defines cento as “a poetical work wholly composed of verses or passages taken from other authors, especially the Greek poet Homer and the Roman poet Virgil, disposed in a new form or order”.
What is astonishing, for me, is the familiar feeling of solitude and hurt. It is almost chilling my bones, to be fair. And I think we need more literature like that. That will chill us, haunt us but also tell us that we are not alone- almost like a stroke on the hair.
Although I am not familiar with the form to further analyse it, from what I felt from this particular piece, it has a melody of its own that we don’t immediately recognize, yet don’t resist to embrace either.
Here’s my favorite quote, don’t forget to follow Aura!
Spare me the lecture on the survival of my body. To have a body means you will not always see what has happened to it.
Aura Martin, what lives in us from perhappened
I just realized all 3 poems are somewhat connected to theme of “self” which is interesting as it tells at least a thing about my reading preferences haha. I may turn this post into a weekly series because I love reading poems so much! Let me know if you want to read more posts like this and follow me on social media:
Dion Anja 