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Poetry Reading: Negative Land
Wild Roof Journal Podcast, Episode #24
I had the honor of attending the contributor reading for Wild Roof Journal and sharing my poem Negative Land. You can watch it on YouTube. I give a brief story about the poem starting at 18:45.
About the Poem
I cover this in the reading, but I thought I would add it here.
This poem originated from a Button Poetry Workshop with Sabrina Banaim. We had 1 minute to write as many verbs as we could think of. We then had five minutes to write 10 lines based on one of the verbs. I chose the verb “dig.” This poem I am reading today is almost exactly how it poured out in those five minutes. 10 lines. Five stanzas. Only a few words were changed in the editing process for flow and rhythm.
This is a poem that contemplates the future and the past. It is a poem curious about the stories of artifacts we make and lose in time. It is a poem curious about the arc of a life and a family. It is a prescriptive poem that asks you to imagine the arc of your own life. It is a poem that wonders what is left when the things you treasure go missing.
© Trapper Markelz 2023
