I surrender myself to the sea
the salt of infinite lives
washing over me
I can forgive a little sand
lingering in my hair
artifice
we speak in riddles and doublespeak
and half-finished glances
i am tired of never saying what i mean
and hoping you understand
me:
coy but ready
you:
distant but yearning
everything is artifice
and we are just playing parts
Day 3-Write about interpersonal relationships and the games we play to avoid vulnerability.
Today was a good day, but…
I have not quite burned down this house
let’s call it a coat that I have hung up in the summer months
a house feels too large
and too final a thing
and I fear that winter will find mind me
and I will be all to ready to drape myself in old sorrows.
Day 2- Write a poem that addresses at least one other poem and/or poet by name. You might imitate, parody, disagree with, champion, or generally respond to the other poem and poet.
I chose A Good Day by Kait Rokowski
Housekeeping
I’m about to post a bunch of poems from the various half-finished poetry challenges I’ve started for 2015. Enjoy.
Promptly in January
For My Girl April 2015
Love Like a Mango
Dec 22, 2014
There was a fullness to our love
like that mango just within your reach
unblemished and warm
falling straight into your palm
eaten under the shade of the tree
juice dripping down your elbow
temporary in its bliss,
but perfect in that moment.
Showing|Learning
For one of my classes in my first semester of college, my final project was to create an installation demonstrating how I learned in the class. Throughout the semester I was perpetually frustrated with the course. It was based in art history, but the art we looked at and the conversations we had remained centred around whiteness. That is a story for another post though. The installation had to include an image of ourselves as learners, objects, and a quote. I have compiled some photographs of this final project, my statement, and audio from my final presentation.
“The world is nothing but my perception of it. I see only through
myself. I hear only through the filter of my story.”
myself. I hear only through the filter of my story.”
–
Byron Katie
Byron Katie
In
Psychology, there are two techniques that are recommended to help in learning
and memory: elaboration and self-reference. With elaboration, the learner makes
multiple connections to a stimulus. With self-reference, the learner makes
these connections to their own experiences. My time in How Do I Look highlighted through absence how difficult it is for
me to learn if I cannot elaborate and self-reference. One of our stimuli, the
Womanhouse project, was a feminist art project focused on womanhood; but the white,
suburban womanhood it portrayed was not something that resonated with me. The
layers of my experience as a Black, Caribbean woman from a working class
background made it difficult for me to connect with their narrative. One of the
class’s texts, the introductory chapter of Practices
of Looking, also discussed the value of self-reference, though it presented
it in a different way. That initial
chapter introduced the idea of ideologies as the beliefs and values that inform
how an individual interprets the world. The ideas self-reference and ideologies
as integral to learning and understanding stuck with me, and became the basis
of my image of myself as a learner.
Psychology, there are two techniques that are recommended to help in learning
and memory: elaboration and self-reference. With elaboration, the learner makes
multiple connections to a stimulus. With self-reference, the learner makes
these connections to their own experiences. My time in How Do I Look highlighted through absence how difficult it is for
me to learn if I cannot elaborate and self-reference. One of our stimuli, the
Womanhouse project, was a feminist art project focused on womanhood; but the white,
suburban womanhood it portrayed was not something that resonated with me. The
layers of my experience as a Black, Caribbean woman from a working class
background made it difficult for me to connect with their narrative. One of the
class’s texts, the introductory chapter of Practices
of Looking, also discussed the value of self-reference, though it presented
it in a different way. That initial
chapter introduced the idea of ideologies as the beliefs and values that inform
how an individual interprets the world. The ideas self-reference and ideologies
as integral to learning and understanding stuck with me, and became the basis
of my image of myself as a learner.
My
piece, Iris, highlights these aspects
of my learning process in two ways: the layers and the lens. Iris is made up of
two parts to resemble an eye. The first is the iris, which is made of strips of
my written assignments. The strips overlap, but the overall shape is confined
within a concentric border. This represents elaboration the way every new
assignment would build upon existing knowledge and understanding of what I
knew. The layers create a wide aperture,
the centre of which is a black velvet circle, representing the way I absorb new
knowledge. The entire image of the eye communicates the idea of learning and
ideologies creating a lens.
piece, Iris, highlights these aspects
of my learning process in two ways: the layers and the lens. Iris is made up of
two parts to resemble an eye. The first is the iris, which is made of strips of
my written assignments. The strips overlap, but the overall shape is confined
within a concentric border. This represents elaboration the way every new
assignment would build upon existing knowledge and understanding of what I
knew. The layers create a wide aperture,
the centre of which is a black velvet circle, representing the way I absorb new
knowledge. The entire image of the eye communicates the idea of learning and
ideologies creating a lens.
The objects I
chose tie my image and my in-class learning together again. I chose my
annotated printout of the first chapter of Practices
of Looking and my reading glasses. My copy of Practices is heavily annotated, often with notes that reference my
experiences and perspectives. My glasses–which I only use when I work– echo the
central theme of looking through a lens.
chose tie my image and my in-class learning together again. I chose my
annotated printout of the first chapter of Practices
of Looking and my reading glasses. My copy of Practices is heavily annotated, often with notes that reference my
experiences and perspectives. My glasses–which I only use when I work– echo the
central theme of looking through a lens.
always in the quiet hours (22 sept 2014)
at night i ask
when will i relearn to love myself
in the quiet hours
lessons i have yet to learn
(22 July 2014)
Things that start with
“maybe if I”
and end with
“then I will feel better’
rarely ever work.
Happiness will not come from someone else’s touch
there is nothing and noone
you can put in your mouth
or on your body
that can bring you joy.
27 april 2014
self-loathing:
i find myself
relieved when vile men can
still find this expanse of flesh
appetizing
24 april 2014
you are
not a graceful
sleeper but i have learned
to love your sprawled sighs when
i can’t
sleep.