Using Pia Arke's exhibition Arctic Hysteria, Lesley Harrison writes an ode to nakedness and vulnerability. Arctic Hysteria refers to the trauma that Greenlandic women experienced when the men of their colony went hunting, which is also the core of Lesley Harrison's poem: it's about escaping codependency and learning to live as yourself, to claim your … Continue reading Lesley Harrison // Nude
Cosmic longing and a homesickness for the unreachable are key themes in Louise Glück's poetry. Telescope is centered around a moment of quiet, at night, on the cold hill, it's an immersive reflection upon human life on the macroscopic scale. Glück uses the intimate second-person pronoun you to make the reader visualise the discrepancy between … Continue reading Louise Glück // Telescope
Ilya Kaminsky's Deaf Republic is a story of civil disobedience through silence. The dark shadows of oppressive soldiers loom over his poems, the gunshots are deafening, the city streets reek of human death. And amidst all that, Alfonso and Sonya - the two main characters of the first act - are allowed their moments of … Continue reading Ilya Kaminsky // While the Child Sleeps, Sonya Undresses
How do we connect to our own souls after altering them so violently so as to fit inside stifling social norms? Why do we do that, anyway? Why are we so willing to do anything to guard this immense gap between who we appear to be and who we really are? Tracy K. Smith's Shadow … Continue reading Tracy K. Smith // Shadow Poem
The Layers is a poem like a mantra to me. Every word carries intent; it's something to keep in mind, something to whisper to yourself when you start to feel like a foreigner in your own life. I am not done with my changes is powerful in its sheer simplicity; it grounds me in the … Continue reading Stanely Kunitz // The Layers
archive of longings 