An anatomy of harm

Abstract

this is a collection that explores the actualization of hurt, from the first wisps of discomfort, to the physical act— like the taking of blade to skin— and the resignation to regret that follows. regret. oh yes, this emotion colours each page, as shame polishes every line bright enough to see faces in it. so many eyes and I’s are here. soft eyes, hard eyes, E’s eyes— all spill out over these words. this collection wavers through memories, visions, godless saints, and the spectre that has haunted since childhood. the choreography of pain is a delicate beast to pin down, so it vaults and spins from syllable to stanza, always just out of the reach of pens, and refusing to be pinned down like a papilionidae. however, what this collection strives to achieve is the acute corporeality of hurt, how it unravels from the soul and the mind and pools on limbs, anchors itself into the flesh. a palpable, thrumming visual that is simultaneously worn like a badge and pushed into the margins. these poems attempt to paint this picture in mere words. introductions here are not necessary, because grief and harm are the truest commonality— all the figures and slanted remembrances that follow are simply one incarnation of it.