I am reading Heredities, a book of poems by J. Michael Martinez and am fascinated by the language and music of his poetic inquiry into identity.
Here are sections 4 and 5 of his poem titled Atopos:
[4] To Name Is to Reduce the Amorous Subject to an Object
You said, The skin is pallid beneath the noun. I said, Confidence is the faith
in the reciprocity of acting and being. You take my name gently in your
hands and unpeel: Michael, My, Call, I, cull, Miguel, Me, cell, Mi, compel,
My comb, womb, wound, sought, caught, capture, conceal, leap, lunge, lose,
confuse, con, call, saw, me, Michael. You discard these peelings like callused
skin.
[5] Undo the Name to Undo the Ego
I said, Light peels from the sky like callused skin. You said, The last name
must be sung: Martinez, mar, teen, is, mart, I, nest, mar, I, nest, which is to
say, To nest is to is to I to nest to mar the I. The words unfold from your body.
I winter there from noun to verb beneath your maiden name.
Here are sections 4 and 5 of his poem titled Atopos:
[4] To Name Is to Reduce the Amorous Subject to an Object
You said, The skin is pallid beneath the noun. I said, Confidence is the faith
in the reciprocity of acting and being. You take my name gently in your
hands and unpeel: Michael, My, Call, I, cull, Miguel, Me, cell, Mi, compel,
My comb, womb, wound, sought, caught, capture, conceal, leap, lunge, lose,
confuse, con, call, saw, me, Michael. You discard these peelings like callused
skin.
[5] Undo the Name to Undo the Ego
I said, Light peels from the sky like callused skin. You said, The last name
must be sung: Martinez, mar, teen, is, mart, I, nest, mar, I, nest, which is to
say, To nest is to is to I to nest to mar the I. The words unfold from your body.
I winter there from noun to verb beneath your maiden name.
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