1. |
Dedication
01:06
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Dedication
O’s (they/them or she/her) story comes out of a network. Their smallest start branches out of a series in The Lyme Letters that sort through nonbinary, queer, crip, and femme experiences in Biblical master narratives across Judeo-Christian texts. First and foremost, then, this start comes out of the unnamed, “marked ungrievable” spouse of the prophet Ezekiel, who inspired the character O.
It is also, though, possible because of the trans and nonbinary folx in our queer communities that have relentlessly fought and died for visibility and safety. This starting point and the subsequent branches of O’s poems are only possible because of you who are both living now and haunting the now. This project is dedicated to you.
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2. |
I. "O–" Epigraph
00:57
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I. “O–.”
Also the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
¬¬– Ezekiel 24:15-18 KJV
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3. |
Boylesque
02:50
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Boylesque
That summer, smoke gorged
itself on sky. Two silver
sleeves of “boy” flung fire.
Hungry ravines echoed the Stop—
don’t rush rock’s rough hewn
shrubs, O Burning bush. That summer
was one after the last clearing
orange to blue, animal brains wet
as walnut slabs refusing to burn.
Between us—Stop. Look, if I could
pause the—O Wild
here you would choose me over
a People, oiled blackberries purpling
our wet hands pressed to wetter
lips. Only you could stop the smoke signals
lisping through the rain. In the pause you could
ask: How do you autopsy a branch?
O Ash already peopling the sky
that was the summer before
Anthropocene chic & if I could
freeze our branching away
if I could take dead coral off walls
if I could pull all of it back
To us To ocean To ice
O What humidity would hold
still between us, our bodies luminous
as heat snapping through clouds
electric eels echoing elsewhere:
“O” “O” “O” “O”
For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife
Or, for a full transcript of the poem and to hear an interview on it with the editors of Poetry Magazine, visit here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/150768/boylesque or pick up the September 2019 issue of POETRY from The Poetry Foundation.
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4. |
My Dearest Ezekiel
02:05
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For the transcript to this poem, you can purchase the full print collection at: https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife
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5. |
My Dearest Psalm XXIII
02:32
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For the transcript to the poem, you can purchase the full print book at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife. It is also available in the Winter/Spring 2020 Issue of FENCE Magazine.
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6. |
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife or visit [PANK] Magazine, which first published this poem as "Love Technique here: https://pankmagazine.com/piece/love-technique/.
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7. |
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife.
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8. |
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife.
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9. |
Hewn
01:31
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife or visit FIVE:2:One, which first published the poem here: http://five2onemagazine.com/five-poems-by-c-r-grimmer/
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10. |
II. "Ezekiel" Epigraph
00:45
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II. Ezekiel
When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
- Ezekiel 1: 19 – 21 (NIV)
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11. |
My Dearest Ezekiel
09:17
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife.
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12. |
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For the transcript to this poem, purchase the print edition at https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife.
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13. |
Acknowledgments
03:19
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Acknowledgments
This exploration is the start of a larger manuscript, and it has been nurtured by unconditionally supportive friends, mentors, and colleagues, namely: Abi Pollokoff, Patrick Milian, Woogee Bae, Katelyn Oppegaard, Sarah Dowling, Sridevi Nair, Lisa Stewart, Colleen Burner, Tim Rengers, the ISL workshop cohort guided by Shira Erlichman, and John Beer. Thank you, also to The Harlan Hahn Disability Studies Fellowship for providing the time and space to write several of these poems and complete the prequel, The Lyme Letters.The following presses offered edits and encouragement to pursue O’s story by publishing the several poems in this manuscript:
“Boylesque” first appeared in the September 2019 issue of POETRY
“My Dearest Psalm XXIII” is forthcoming in the Fall 2019 FENCE issue as “Psalm XXIII”
“My Dearest Love Technique” was first published` “Love Technique” in [PANK]
“My Dearest of Moon Tides…” was first published as “Narration” in S H I F T: A Journal of Queer Art
“Hewn” was first published by FIVE:2:ONE & #sideshow
Judy Twedt (she/her) is a sound artist working primarily on auditory representations of climate data. She has a masters degree in Atmospheric Sciences and is a PhD Candidate in climate communication at the University of Washington. A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, her climate soundtracks have been aired on NPR, PBS, Canadian Public Broadcasting, podcasts, NOAA’s Science on a Sphere, and live for TEDx Seattle. She is a fifth-generation settler on Coast Salish land and a University of Washington instructor in climate writing and sustainability studies. More information at www.judytwedt.com.
Woogee Bae writes poems and edits the ecopoetics journal Snail Trail. She received her MFA from the University of Washington Bothell. Her writing can be found in P-QUEUE, Poetry Northwest, Small Po[r]tions, Tagvverk, and elsewhere.
Abi Pollokoff is a Seattle-based writer and book artist with work previously in Foundry, CutBank, Poetry Northwest, Black Warrior Review, and Guernica, among others. A 2019 Hugo House Fellow, she has been the poet in residence for the Seattle Review of Books and The Alice. Currently, she is the events manager for Open Books: A Poem Emporium, the managing editor for Poetry Northwest Editions, and a content director in visual communications. Abi received her MFA from the University of Washington. Find her at abipollokoff.com.
Katelyn Oppegard is a poet parked in Seattle. You can decide which of those is transient.
The Print Edition contains original artwork by Colleen Burner, an ink series named "Hewn Fruit." You can have a print sent to you from crgrimmer@gmail.com or purchase the print edition of this chapbook (and the art therein) here: https://www.gasherjournal.com/product-page/o-ezekiel-s-wife.
Finally to GASHER Journal and Press: for the heart, care, time, and willingness to experiment with mediums and my tree-like idea branching. I could not have had better fortune than to work with you.
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C. R. Grimmer Seattle, Washington
More at www.crgrimmer.com. C. R. Grimmer (they/them) is Assistant Professor of Poetry at Utah State University. Their books include The Lyme Letters (Texas Tech University Press, Winner of the Walt McDonald First Book Award), O–(ezekiel's wife) (GASHER Journal and Press), and The Poetry Vlog: Critical Edition, forthcoming from the University of Michigan Press. ... more
