A Case History

Nancy Kuhl

The warp of it, her sight, is a memorial
to some ephemeral revelation, an instant—

sudden and vivid and obvious—the background
coming into focus. Mindless and without,

in a split-open second of flash and tweak:
she authors a bright new smallness.

At once, everything adapts to her method
of blur and diminish. She laces the family

together (they whisper and coax and wish).
It's easy now to find oneself lost in thought.

She was taken in by their complete and brutal
love. Until that moment, holding still

as for a camera. Until, in that golden dazzlement,
she saw the world and the world saw her.




see "We shall be reminded, moreover, of hysterical macroposia . . ."
Case 2: Frau Emmy von N.
from the book ON HYSTERIA / Shearsman Books
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Some poems in "On Hysteria" include gloss notes referring to the text of the founding work of psychoanalysis: "Studies on Hysteria" (1895) by Sigmund Freud and Joseph Breuer. My poems engage with this seminal book in various ways, so the word “gloss” is significant; I mean to suggest explication and commentary but also glancing attention and equivocal analysis—even luster and brightness are at issue.

Nancy Kuhl on "A Case History"
Color photograph of flag and Chicago skyline at dusk
Chicago Searches for First Poet Laureate

"'Chicago has always been a city full of talented and renowned storytellers and artists,' said Mayor Lori Lightfoot. 'The creation of the Chicago Poet Laureate program will foster a new bond between the city and the creative community that supports artists while enriching the culture of our city. I look forward to selecting a Poet Laureate who will serve and strengthen our city’s literary and creative communities.'"

via NBC CHICAGO
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Cover of the issue of New Humanist in which Brian Henry's translation appears
What Sparks Poetry:
Brian Henry on Tomaž Šalamun's "Sutra"


"Though Šalamun would leave the interview format behind, he continued to ask many questions in his work, sometimes building poems upon a series of questions, as in the poem featured here. Although the title, 'Sutra,' implies the imparting of wisdom or knowledge, Šalamun was more interested in the interplay between the questions and answers than in satisfying the expectations of a conventional sutra."
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