I had been working on another piece after being inspired by the book Enormous Smallness by Matthew Burgess about e.e. cummings. I am using his style as inspiration for capturing some of the bigger things I frequently think about. Last night, however, I was in the E.R. with my 11 month old son who had badly burned his palm on our wood stove (Dad was on-duty while I was in class, ha!). We have been in the E.R. four times in the past year for one reason or another (the frequency seems to grow exponentially with each additional child) , and each time, there's much to observe (accompanied by strong feelings and conflicting thoughts). I tried to focus in on them as I penned this.
e.r.
c
r
o
s
s
section
of society from stratosphere
to slums
condensed into
a
petrie dish
of
vinyl & red bull
and flannel & vomit
and scalp scents;
a hive of buffoons & entitlement &
tooconspicuouscommunications
5 security guards?
REMEMBER, REMEMBER, REMEMBER:
the road toward genocide is paved with divisive thoughts, so detour through a "funds of knowledge" sieve
&
hope
for
the best.
First of all, I am so sorry you had to take your eleven-month-old to the ER. That sounds like an extremely stressful situation.
ReplyDeleteSecondly--WOW. I really loved the way you were able to play around with language in this poem. My favorite line is the first one, I think, about the cross section. The use of alliteration and structure really captured the feeling of chaos, as well as as sense of contemplation. I loved it! One question I have is I got a little lost in what emotions or thoughts you wanted to convey in the line about genocide. It might just be me and my literary analysis brain, but I would love to know more about that idea, especially since it seems so crucial, following the colon.
Oh, and I also love "tooconspicuouscommunications." That has to be the most on-point description of a waiting room at the hospital ever.
The line that seems abstract is a reference to a lecture I listened to about genocide and the incremental steps a society takes toward it. The first step is dividing people into categories or an "us vs. them" approach. When I'm in the E.R., it is difficult for me not to stereotype and feel almost hostile toward others in the waiting room who seem easy to categorize. I have to remind myself, over and over, to see people from a broader perspective.
DeleteThe E.R. is no fun! Hopefully the streak ends here... This was really neat, I don't think I've ever read something like this. What inspired you to write in this way? I'm not very familiar with this type of writing so I don't know how to suggest anything, I guess the only thing is that I am a bit confused about "the road to genocide..." part- I'm not really sure how that fits but maybe that's what you intended? Anyways, thanks for sharing this neat style of writing!
ReplyDeleteI was inspired by e.e. cummings' poems. He would use interesting formatting to emphasize his message and would combine words in unconventional ways. The sentence about genocide, like I had mentioned to Alison, is a reference to a lecture I listened to about genocide and the incremental steps a society takes toward it. The first step is diving people into categories or an "us vs. them" approach. When I'm in the E.R., it is difficult for me not to stereotype and feel almost hostile toward others in the waiting room who seem easy to categorize. I have to remind myself, over and over, to see people from a broader perspective.
DeleteI love your poem, but not that you had to visit the ER so many times to come up with it.(I had never been to the ER until I had children, ugh) I can imagine you at a coffee house in 60s attire on stage reciting your poem with great inflection!
ReplyDeleteThe ER is a great reminder of what our society is truly made up of, and to give us patience among our own. It is also scary that we are in a position of telling people all these secret things in front of strangers. I loved your quote about genocide, I talk to my AP class about the Wannsee Conference and their deliberate and sometimes casual conversations over the annihalation of the Jewish population. Your line brought that same idea to mind, and your description later supports it even more. It is scary.
On a lighter note, I really liked that you stepped outside the box with a more fun way to describe such an awful ordeal. It made it more descriptive and even the flow of the letters and size of the letters let the reader know how you were feeling.
p.s. I hope your little guy is ok!
ReplyDelete