Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras – BRAINFØG IV

Posted byAngela Chaidez VincentPosted inHermelinda Hernandez Monjaras
Visual poem with a title that reads: BRAINFØG IV. There is a light gray, scattered image behind the words. The poem’s orientation is landscape. On the left-hand side of the poem, the text reads: was it a drive shooting? was it gang related? was he walking home from school? I remember his mother crying gun — man with a — knife approaches poaches school gets quietquiet forest tranquilized Also on the left-hand side of the poem, toward the bottom, there’s a small circle of words with the single word “gaslight” in the center, and the text reads: world is flat is global warming is ‘good’ ‘kay’ is Afterwards another small text reads: / tiny / its / bones / stuck out On the right-hand side of the poem, the text reads: faces fall like domi -noes blood spirals stream he swears he is going to come at night at rapebeat me the police says we are going to investigate it they give me a pamphlet of sexual assault the officer calls me there is nothing to worry about the officer explains I have two daughters so I know how you feel he assumes [my stalker] is a nice man who mis- understood field shrouded with trees rustling man? coyote? horse? I push my feet I push my feet field ends loud tracks disappear Text sprawls across the entire poem, in multiple directions. A reader can start or stop in multiple directions or orders. The sprawling text, roughly left to right, reads: air flows south / a *cough a * sneeze tiny moments gather lung inside a sheet air flows in the mucous of my nostrils / I hold its tight constriction air agua men rain deathsink agua sombrero berenjenas 106 degreesol air composed of smoke/ swirls grease-respiratory rot decrease bladder dissipates a giant organ pumping large gasps of breath a lifespan always argues out of breath a burst of wild breath opens its arms pumping debris the extinct humanintestines bleached shadows veins crawling anthropomorphic flies solo swim shaped animals anthropomorphic flies with intense focus goat horn swim woman shark platypus tunnels underneath shaped marsupial reptile eats animals ram on black bears? polar bears? In the center of the poem, near the bottom, there are 9 concentric circles of words, with the font getting smaller as they close toward the center, making the diagram look like a spiral downward. The text reads: water smoketer smoke water smoke wateroke water smoke water smoketer smoke water smoke wateroke water smoke

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Artist’s Statement: For The Fresno 15 Creative Writing Marathon, I used 15 Rorschach I made by dabbing a red rose with paint onto paper. This series is an attempt to write on brain fog: forgetfulness, incoherent thoughts, mental fatigue, lack of clarity, and more. Each day became a challenge: the strings attached within me were reluctant to push, create, and pull; memory became a mass of confusion to frame. Luckily, these 15 days were possible due to persistence and help from my mentor, Anthony Cody, author of The Rendering. Lastly, this series is one step forward toward my future poetic work.

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