The Amnesiac and the Anemone

Abstract

The Amnesiac and the Anemone is a collection of lyric poetry which explores the nature of visual and aural experience. A central question posed throughout these pieces is, How do speakers (and by extension, poems themselves) express events that elude clear understanding? My characters encounter phenomena which escape view and frustrate perception, and though they are unable to fully account for such occurrences, they attempt to do so nonetheless. These include such figures as the notorious axe murderer Lizzie Borden, Saint Veronica (a pious woman from Jerusalem and the patron saint of photographers), and a version of the vaudeville star Eva Tanguay. In an effort to make the objects that surround them coherent, my speakers occupy positions of radical uncertainty; their utterances often take the form of hallucinations, questions, mirages, or second guesses. As a collection of poetry, The Amnesiac and the Anemone is committed to both representing moments of interior thought and developing character voice. In doing so, it reconsiders the nature of the lyric and dramatic genres, testing the relationship between and limits of each.