I’ve pinned a new Start Here page to help people navigate the site. If you’re reading this, you probably don’t need it, but it’s there and it’s quite useful. It gives a brief orientation to the site, how it’s organised, and how to find your way around. I’ve also changed to colour of links from green to black. All the links are still there, they just look different.
For those following the descent arc, it may seem that the last two pieces, The Last Bus and Basement Level Two, shared a theme. It seemed that way for me, too. In both pieces, the same sequence plays out: uncertainty, discomfort, hesitation, a turning away. In both scenes a figure sees something they don’t quite know how to interpret, and withdraws. It’s a compelling idea, but the scene needs the right voltage and I didn’t manage to find it this time. The pieces are a little flat as a result. That’s something worth noticing, and a good opportunity for reflection and to shift the arc in a different direction.
Part of the reason for this comes from craftwork: I’ve been working on voice, structure, and perception. This work has a way of draining intensity from the writing, and the focus on technique has resulted in clean but hollow poems. That’s simply part of the process at the moment, and it will turn again.
Nonetheless, the descent arc will undergo a shift. The next piece will still feature perceptual uncertainty, but the focus will change. Or perhaps I will throw the craftwork rules out the window completely, and let the piece find its own form. I haven’t decided yet.
Another question worth noting is what ‘dark’ means. Counter/field began as a field of poems with a dark and a light side. It still is, but there are now multiple facets: the mythic/occult, the system voice, and recursive voice fracture among them on the dark side of the field.
On the light side, there are themes like stillness, weather and nature. To be honest, though, the themes are often quite mixed. One poem might have several themes, often conflicting.
Moving forward, I’ll be exploring different aspects of ‘dark’ poetry, so the current descent arc will continue to feature experimentation. This will also be true of the ‘light’ side of the field, when the arc moves upward. The ascent will employ as much experimentation as the descent.
Time to hit the books.
Cheers,
Stef.