Accoutrement

Sacrosanct, your space I mean the choices
we made 
an emblem of notoriety [post-post-post] Expressionism
liberty

the space between us became the screen [misanthropy]
before us that separates,
defines identity
inhibits integration [sensation]

further connects us.
Fleshed out like tropes, a facile [contagion]
reve, people threaten
the prospect of relationships

without mitigation, protection
words or images inflections, [suspension]
a symbiosis vicariously met
via the technology of breaking words. 

Images trash images [perceived]
trash images trash, propaganda rewrites

history, inflections misconceived as

actuality,

politicize reality; a circumstance [compliant]

as a planned occurrence,

spaces contrived as measurable. [ritual]

A pandemic as a panacea?








Brief Notes on "Accoutrement".

I thought I would give some explanation to my intent when writing the above poem. It's informed by years of writing and reading experimental poetry and experimental poetry's links to other art-forms, such as photography, video, visual art, animation, other literary forms and performance, music and dance. The abstruse and imaginative nature of experimental writing can make for a difficult read, where comprehension is always challenged by sparse, conceptual connections and unfamiliar and, seemingly incongruous styles spliced together. 

Essentially and succinctly, "Accoutrement" is about lockdown and the continuing restrictions to our lives from the current pandemic. We were already immersed in communications via new technologies and I wondered, essentially, what the impact of greater immersion, together with social isolation and social distancing would be? My primary concern was the impact upon our perception of ourselves and reality. 

On a more societal perspective as opposed to an individual perspective and, indeed a global one, I had already noted the appetite for protest and pragmatism from the general public that was fed by communications via new technology. Peaceful protests can be destabilizing and anxiety-provoking, particularly when numerous, however the occurrence of violent protests and other violent events has seemed to increase ever since the new Millennium. Whereas this is a matter of intellectual and ideological concern it can also become a far more serious and immediate concern when protests and events become violent. 

The destabilizing and anxiety-provoking nature of the information age and the politicization of information are occurrences that concern me.

The Author.