she is a time capsule of skinny vellums
corpuscular secrets atomized:
a halo of guilt, Illuminating serifed letters
shelved temporarily (on a biweekly basis)
she collects broken hearts in creased palms
semi-soggy Shreddies puzzle pieces
a kindergartner uses Elmer's glue
& it works for 18 years
she sees the substance & it is nothing but
an ethanolic stench reeking from a mind turning
a blind eye -
this is a permanent intermission.
she is a receptacle of missives:
& they fall into her lap like pennies and dimes
she wonders why each one doesn't count for more?
these punctuating missiles.
she is a time capsule of Korsakoff's memories:
a single corpus of a thousand volumes
& she reminds you: "don't forget;
start from the end."
Points:
Time spent:
IP address:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
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142,275 Literary Works • 677,112 Reviews
This is the best kind of poetry. Verbose, extremely vibrant images, nebulous in the right way, and just burgeoning with emotion. I really don't have much else to say! So I will just list the bits I loved:
Chef's kiss:
1
2
Pretty damn good:
And also, thank you for reminding me that the word "vellum" exists. It had been too long since last I'd read it.
Now, regarding the meaning:
What the hell does the narrator do???? Teach graphic design at university? That's what it reads like. Then you read the bit about missives and I think... mail room? But who the hell has a mail room anymore. Then you get to then end
Shrink for people suffering with Korsakoff's? Feels like it now. And the rest of the imagery also falls into place neatly with this reading.
But, I'm thoroughly lost and I LIKE IT!
Hi there! I really liked reading this!
The style in which this poem was written is pretty distinct and surrealistic, and I loved the focus on the metaphors of memory, writing, and preservation. How her role in the poem is presented as some sort of a “time capsule” is especially endearing to me as it gives the whole thing this quality of incorporating all sorts of fragments and people alongside her.
The imagery was also pretty interesting! Making the broken hearts into puzzle pieces and then comparing them to something a kindergartner would put together with glue was a lovely touch a fitting combination of fragility, mundanity, and how complex putting a person back together can be. The imagery around the letters and messages was also great
I thought the juxtaposition of it being some small, unassuming thing and simultaneously this heavy object for holding and containing feelings was really well done.
The language perhaps is my favourite part words such as “corpuscular,” “atomized,” “serifed,” or “Korsakoff’s memories” all give the feeling of a detached and academic presentation. However, I think some parts of the poem perhaps could’ve been more simplified there were moments where I had to re-read a line to understand what was going on. I think simplifying some parts and complicating others is the best way to showcase the imagery, and I think certain lines didn’t allow that.
I also liked the ending and the idea of remembering things by first recalling their endings. You get this nice circularity that thematically supports the ideas of memory and preservation beautifully. Overall, it was an extremely experimental and literary piece, and I liked the process of connecting the dots between the various metaphors and images. Good job! <3
Hi hira! Thank you so much for your review. I was wondering if you would be able to point me in the direction of the lines that you found were maybe a bit too much/hard to understand?