Oh-zones

oh-zones are attempts to find forms of embodiment in environments and language under pressure. There is a progression through the sequence from the position of an observer of transitions between rural and urban spaces, through to a sense of selves acting out in the world (and the limitations of what can be achieved in times of natural disaster) and on to a more integrated embodiment of, and in, nature and writing that produces something other than “nature writing.”

“Whords” – words experienced as chords – explore simultaneity in perception and identity. Breath-chords couple words of the same length in a breathing motif, while sun-chords integrate whords into the haibun form, with each word in the central section corresponding to a musical note. The
expression of multiple simultaneous perceptions allows a figuring of the paradox of being at once part of nature and removed from it. There is potential here for living more organically through and with language and space.

The heartache in stems, the resilience of pink and the necessity of sharks inhabit these sensory-zone-poems; inhaling, releasing and resonating through stress.