In a sense, this 3rd part of poetry issues #26 is a closer blending of text and image. In the video, the text is spoken and the image is moving. Everything changes a little in benefit of the whole.    

A Fight

You were afraid that winter would come

and it was true: the days were getting shorter.

You longed for that last day on the beach

but the weather had already changed. 

The end, most of the time, doesn’t come with a bang

but as an echo of thoughtless words or as an aftertaste

of dry, bitter grass.

It’s crazy how the weather changes

faster than my mood.

Anyway, I believe we’ll make it 

through the winter.

We both haven’t been really good

at being weighed down by reality.

“Lightness” has the word “light” in it. Light is spring. 

The last day on the beach I was alone.

I found in my bag a kernel of corn 

that you had given me. It was stale

but I ate it ceremonially. It was late

it was cloudy and I was cold. 

I set our messages of fire. We’ve had enough

sun for a summer. Now it was time to step back inside.

You can read more about the poetry issues project here.

Creation is a process of trial and error. Since my major interest lies in the different ways of presenting and experiencing text, for part 2 of poetry issues #26 I created a small book from scratch: My own handmade paper, colored and illustrated with a mixed media technique, integrating collage elements, handwritten text and lots of color, that I always love. The book itself is a unique, collectible item. However, below you can find a digital version of it. All I can say about the poem, which is also available here in simple text form, is that it appears as a common love piece, but maybe a second reading will reveal the underlying theme of gender identity. In any case, I prefer to leave the interpretation open to the reader. 

For "Our Lost Babies" I included an audio reading of the piece. Here I went a step further. This time I have a song for you:

Distance

The howling of the wind

triumphant in the space between us.

I just want to sleep

imagine the death of the wind

silence under the yellow sun

children's laughter roaring

a happy dog's bark.

That's how you tolerate loneliness

how sadness becomes sweet.

In a dream you held my hand

and led me through a dancing crowd.

In that dream you were my man.

An impression of the physical book:

Also, here's a link to the digital flipbook or, if you prefer, to the .pdf.

You can read more about the poetry issues project here.

Part I of poetry issues #26 comprises the poem "Our lost babies" and the assemblage piece Mirrors. A "lost baby" is anything we dreamt of and didn't flourish, everything we strived for but lost in the end. Creation and loss are main themes in this piece, but closely connected to letting go and moving on.

Mirrors is a larger assemblage piece (95x60), the first one in a series of worlds. Every box is its own small world but they are all connected and constitute a single piece, like a mind with its several thoughts and ideas. 

For the first time I've included an audio file of the poem. Some people claim that poetry is meant to be read, as it was done originally. I do not necessarily agree. However, it is another dimension and a different sort of experience:

For more detail:

You can read more about the poetry issues project here.

Poetry Issues #25 was published between September and December 2021. I experimented further with assemblage collage and with the longer poetic form. I am also exploring new physical publishing formats. 

The poem "Goals" and the assemblage collage Dead Flowers comprise Part 1 of poetry issues #25. 

In Part 2, the poem "Victorian complaints" is accompanied by the assemblage painting window.

In the poem "Love Song" in Part 3 I have tried to acknowledge many of the themes regarding time that arise at once in a fleeting moment that is aware of itself as such and to mimic their fragmentary but nevertheless linked nature. The artwork, Radio, is an assemblage collage on wood.

The 4th and penultimate part of poetry issues #25 contains a found poem. The best found poems are the ones you weren't searching for. There is something inspiring and immensely optimistic in finding poetry in non-literary texts, as it reminds you that this is the way to look at the world in general. The accompanying artwork is Happy End.

In this last part of poetry issues #25 I've experimented with a longer format. A long poem has a different sense of rhythm and once you capture and ride it it takes you to the larger space of the piece. This room means that the longer poem offers a very different experience. The bookmark to accompany the "Essence of Absence", Think, is a touchingly adolescent collage in its vulnerability and doomed hope, and luckily it fits right in the middle.

You can read more about the poetry issues project here.

In this last part of poetry issues #25 I've experimented with a longer format. In general I find long poems tricky, prone to becoming boring, because the element of surprise, in plot as well as in language, appears in longer intervals if at all, and then I don't find the poem amusing anymore and my mind drifts off. However, a long poem has a different sense of rhythm and once you capture and ride it it takes you to the larger space of the piece. This room is the advantage of the longer poem, which turns it into a very different experience. Luckily, I made a bookmark to accompany the "Essence of Absence", Think, a touchingly adolescent collage in its vulnerability and doomed hope, and it fits right in the middle.

You can read more about the poetry issues project and other parts of this issue here.

 Dear friends,

The best found poems are the ones you weren't searching for. There is something inspiring and immensely optimistic in finding poetry in non-literary texts, as it reminds you that this is the way to look at the world in general. And from the rhythmic, resonating beauty therein springs the understanding, support and compassion that completes us. 

Behold! The 4th and penultimate part of poetry issues #25.

 You can read more about the poetry issues project and other parts of this issue here.

Dear friends,

Part III of poetry issues #25 is out. In "Love Song" I have tried to acknowledge many of the themes regarding time that arise at once in a fleeting moment that is aware of itself as such and to mimic their fragmentary but nevertheless linked nature. The artwork, Radio, is an assemblage collage on wood and officially one of my favorites.

 Enjoy!

 You can read more about the poetry issues project and other parts of this issue here.

Uncannily published in the witching hour, poetry issues #25, Part II, is certainly not lacking atmosphere. It even has a painting with lace (tellingly called "window") to prove it.

You can read more about the poetry issues project and other parts of this issue here.

After a long and very productive break that will probably signify the beginning of a new era and more diverse projects, Poetry Issues is back, and better than ever. At least I'm excited. Enjoy here the first part of issue #25.

 You can read more about the poetry issues project here.