Thinking Stresses Poise
Last week we featured the writing of Adam Wolfond, whose poem, “Owls Easy on the Way of Language,” is a prime example of world building through words. I wrote about the way in which this vibrant poem makes possible new questions, escaping the “what” of autism to embrace the “how.”
Another gifted nonspeaking writer whose “how” is forever foregrounded in her motioning poems is Imane Boukaila. Adam actually introduced the two of us last year and since we started working together Imane has repeatedly challenged and “reset” my “preset” understanding of language and how it works. For a poet, there is no greater gift.
Two weeks ago, she wrote this poem:
When Imane begins to type, I lean forward in my chair, fingers light on the keys, ready to do real work. Within the first few words I start to sense patterns emerging. Within the first few lines those various patterns converge into formal possibilities. In this poem, when she got to “stream” I could sense that the form would need to echo the content, streaming across the page until she gave me the signal (reshaping) to break it once again. Then I wove the braided lines (lies) down the right side until she signaled me once again with the peaceful stream of poise that allowed us to travel back to the left margin. I trust Imane’s mindful rhythmic style, tracking the traces that she leaves for me in the moment. Together, we find the most authentic way for the poem to say and move together.
You’ll notice subtle patterns spread throughout the poem. Four lines and then a stream, four lines and then a stream, four lines and then a stream. The pattern breaks with five lines and then a shortened stream that ends in a clipped couplet. Each of the streams ends with a -ing verb. These are things we are not planning in the moment, but paying the closest possible attention to. This is emergent, embodied writing.
This week, Imane wrote about the need to embrace mistakes and mess, looking closer to reveal the unexpected truths that lie hidden within. The mind wants to chop the block of marble down to a clean and preset shape, but the body wants to discover the shape that beckons toward expression from the raw material itself.
The “how” often feels more difficult. We have to experience it before we understand it. We have to practice an embodied trust rather than rush to reduce and digest. But let me tell you, it’s worth it. Let me know how these poems reset and reshape your own minds.
In New Ways Always,
Chris