A poetry collection.
“Outside of Here is Death:” Poetry Explanation
With the world being taken by storm due to COVID-19, I created of series of three block out poems with corresponding illustrations from Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel Fever and Samuel Beckett’s Endgame. The first and third poems are from Fever while the middle one is from Endgame. Fever is a book the depicts the life of a teenage girl during the yellow fever in 1793. With the progression of each poem, the colors become lighter to depict the coming of happier times and hope. The poems themselves do not have a name, but as a collection they are called “Outside of Here is Death,” which is a line from Anderson’s novel on page 79. I thought this was fitting because during times of epidemics, most often death or desolation appear to be the only offerings.
The first poem features a grim reaper and darker colors. This is the period where all hope seems to be lost and hardships faced. Centering around an epidemic, the grim reaper is there to carry the diseased to death. This poem is straight-forward in its announcement of several hundred dead and more to go with the red color being that of death. Both the red background and the black grim reaper symbolize death itself.
The second poem centers around a window with a brighter background but a mundane center. Within Endgame, the characters are trapped inside a house with a view of a gray and empty world outside. The open window depicts the gray outside, but the purple background symbolizes mystery and power. This is also the block out poem with the darkest meaning. After being inside for long periods of time while the outside world does nothing but suffer, one starts to have more negative and depressing thoughts. That is what this poem represents.
The final poem includes a dove, the symbol of peace and hope, with lighter colorings. By giving the dove a blue background, I wanted to represent the feelings of hope that explode at the ending of a pandemic. The “yellow sun” floating in the bright blue sky, so to speak. The feelings of comfort, optimism, and liveliness of the yellow dove highlight the peace and stability of the blue sky.
During this time of a new pandemic, I want to remember that there is always hope. A new future awaits. It is impossible to go through life care-free and nobody is alone during this time. Even though the grim reaper may be calling while we have a gray outlook, there will come time for peace and hope.
Anna,
Your poems are quite well done. In response to Prof. Minton asking about the dove being an outside thing, and your depiction: I saw the dove being, as a depiction, trapped in the page, caged beneath the words, perhaps. I hear your lines, "The sun continued to rise/ people/ moved on/ morning/ ghosts/ memories of/ fear." and it reminded me of the false sense of security produced by our faulty memory; we lose the vibrancy of live experience as generations succeed one another. For example, who can recall the feeling of hearing for the first time that atom bombs can obliterate mankind in moments, or that something like the Holocaust exists? We are terribly removed as a condition of…
Hi Anna!
I hope you're doing well! :)
I'm always in AWE of blackout poetry. Every time I've tried my hand at it usually ends in disaster haha. The artwork you used in the backgrounds is absolutely riveting (I especially love the grim reaper!). The window around your second poem almost resembles a spider web to me--kind of contributing to that feeling of being trapped within quarantine (also that bright pink is so jarring with the black and white, but, like, in the best way possible). I also loved the hopeful tone that your last poem leaves us readers with.
Beautiful work!!
Take care,
-Niah
Anna,
The approach you’ve taken to integrate Endgame, COVID, and much more is original, artistic, and thought-provoking. I haven’t read Fever, but it looks like another ideal book for our times. Your three images of the grim reaper, the window, and the dove give a nice sense of progression from loss to depression and finally to a hesitant hope that is enhanced by your color choices.
Writing poetry that is selected from other works has an interesting effect, for it brings to mind the repetition of history (e.g. epidemics). Your format also suggests news reporting, which is with us all the time now and filters how we view current events. As a result, I cannot help but look for the…