Three Poems from “Static”
art by Tiffany Babb
by Emily Barton Altman
the birds on the power wires
stretched down the street. French doors.
our plants are particular. I can’t see
the source of the sound.
an abandoned home improvement project.
a bowl of cherries.
the whistle of the neighbor’s tea kettle, the low murmur
of inarticulate voices.
it’s a soft sound right now. the body
gets used to the rhythms.
a faint smell of lavender from the closet. it catches me
unawares. my most repetitive routines.
view-obscuring film. a slow wave
today, not a thought-obscuring sound.
the residue they leave behind.
I’m relieved at the break
from the heat. I have piled up
the silver. the occasional
car on wet pavement.
***
an abandoned horror inclusion property.
a brain of cherries.
the whistle of the kettle, the low murmur
of the inarticulate.
a soft space right now. the bonus
gets used to the rift.
lavender from the closet.
my most repetitive rules.
virtue-obscuring fire. a slow week
today, not a thumb-obscuring space.
I’m relieved at the breeze
from the helicopter.
***
an abandoned house industry.
a breakdown of cherries.
the whistle of the neighbor, the low murmur
of inarticulate walls.
it’s a soft spectrum right now. the borough
gets used to the roads.
my most repetitive sacrifices.
obscuring fitness. a slow whim
today, not a timetable.
the result it leaves behind.
I’m relieved at the brochure
from the highway.
I have piled up to the sky.
*These poems come from an initial experiment where once a week I sat in each room of my apartment with my eyes open and then closed and recorded my sensory experiences. Then, I pulled the best lines from that text and composed them into poems. I ran those poems through an online n+7 and n+15 generator, replacing many of the nouns and editing them down to two versions echoing the original. The resulting poems create an experience of disintegrating yet recognizable language that records and distorts the experience of daily life.
Emily Barton Altman is the author of two chapbooks, "Bathymetry" (Present Tense Pamphlets, 2016), and "Alice Hangs Her Map" (dancing girl press, 2019). Recent poems appear in *The Spectacle, Second Factory*, *Quarterly West*, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Poetry from NYU and a PhD in English & Literary Arts from the University of Denver. She teaches at Michigan State University.
Tiffany Babb writes and edits articles about comics, baseball, and pop culture. She is the editor of the comics criticism journal The Comics Courier and baseball website The Fan Files. You can find her poetry in Rust + Moth, Third Wednesday Magazine, and Cardiff Review. Her first collection of poetry A LIST OF THINGS I’VE LOST is currently available for purchase from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press and can be ordered wherever books are sold.
