"Obsessed by memory and"
Poem Toward People by Ariel Yelen
Since starting poetry school, I’ve been obsessively looking for new books to draw inspiration from, specifically books that aren’t on all the buzzy lists. The other day, while browsing through a bookshop, a collection called I Was Working caught my eye as did the colorful sketch of clocks on its cover. As soon as I read “absurdities of office life” on the blurb, I knew I needed to read it. And I’m glad I did.
Ariel Yelen’s poems, much like the essence of thought, are disordered and mundane, erratic and funny, wishful. They pick a part time and the ways we must sacrifice it to make a living. Work and money are undeniably the most forceful things in life, well at least my life, so I’m always thrilled to read literature that attempts to dissect their psychic effects.
I’m realizing now that the Yelen poem I’m sharing today actually isn’t about work or money, but I think it embodies another compelling aspect of I Was Working: the meaning that the relationships to oneself and others can provide in an increasingly soulless and frigid society.
Some things I’ve enjoyed recently:
This interview between Ariel Yelen and Leah Dworkin for BOMB.
Anora, a new film directed by Sean Baker. My boyfriend thought it flattened/glamorized the realities of sex work, which is probably true but I still found it to be awfully funny and charming. Don’t watch the trailer!
My favorite snack: sliced apples with tajín and maple syrup.
Knowing that my bad feelings will pass, and that things will change. It’s only a matter of time.