Poet Republik–Dylan Krieger
Dylan Krieger’s collection, no ledge left to love, is the recipient of the Ping-Pong Free Press poetry prize, chosen by judge and poetry badass, Brian Henry. It is my extreme pleasure to share with you one of my favorite poems out of this fascinating and essential collection.
divine debris
out of the dead leaves, i motion myself sick before the world. little obliterated bits of god, raining down onto this globular water-logged orb. before the fornicating of subatomic fractals even started, the last ledge had already parted from the abyss, rendering a semblance of solidity out of a hologram of steam. and suddenly, the backs of all the elephants and turtles grew heavy, and the amoeba split in two until a multitude of blue lagoons began to spit up monkeys from their goo. maybe evolution ends here, where the creature turns shrewd enough to see its own doom, lets go of that last ledge he always thought would see him through, and propels himself downward into the chasm’s mouth, the floating man falling at long last toward the knowledge that there is no ‘he’ to bottle or bog down with cogs and gallows, only the sorcery of swamp and hollow, and the infinite question: what follows?
About Dylan Krieger:
Regarding the creation of her book Krieger writes, “As the titles in its contents suggest, “no ledge left to love” is a poetry project that reimagines and challenges the frameworks of Western philosophical thought experiments, especially with respect to gender categories, moral certitude, and diachronic identity. Each poem focuses on a different thought experiment in analytical philosophy, from Plato’s allegory of the cave to Nagel’s spider in a urinal. Recognizing that Western philosophy—like most all academic disciplines—has been largely dominated by wealthy straight white men, “no ledge” attempts to dismantle the reductive binaries and disembodied logic of the analytical philosophical vernacular, emphasizing instead the robust physicality and potent mutability of the bodies required to convey its lofty ideas.
Dylan Krieger is a genderqueer feminist who currently works as a trade magazine editor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she earned her MFA in creative writing at LSU and twice directed the annual Delta Mouth Literary Festival. Before studying with Lara Glenum and Laura Mullen at LSU, she lived in northern Indiana for the bulk of her young life and studied poetry with Joyelle McSweeney and Johannes Goransson at Notre Dame. Her first book of poems, “Giving Godhead,” was released earlier this year by Delete Press and received an glowing review in the New York Times Book Review.
Henry Miller Memorial Library announcement of Ping-Pong Free Press poetry prize, awarded to Dylan Krieger here.
Featured image: Michele Magdalena Photography
Poem used with permission.
The poem “The Burden of Choice” by Mary Hodges covers the philosophical idea of free will. There are many philosophical takes on the concept of free will, whether we have it, or our choices are made for us regardless of the illusion of choice. When I took Philosophy my senior year of high school, this topic baffled me. Of course, we have a choice, or do we? Is it all about our perception instead?
“Tell Me” by Shel Silverstein I believe is tied to the philosophical idea of existentialism.
Tell me I’m clever,
Tell me I’m kind,
Tell me I’m talented,
Tell me I’m cute,
Tell me I’m sensitive,
Graceful and wise,
Tell me I’m perfect—
But tell me the truth.
Tell me I’m clever,
Tell me I’m kind,
Tell me I’m talented,
Tell me I’m cute,
Tell me I’m sensitive,
Graceful and wise,
Tell me I’m perfect—
But tell me the truth.
Ideologies are substitutes for true knowledge,and ideologues are always dangerous when they come to power,because a simple-minded I-know-it-all approach is no match for the complexity of existence.
-Jordan Peterson
Donald Hall’s poem, “Affirmation” takes on the philosophical idea “Epicureanism” which was created by Greek philosopher, Epicurus. What the idea entails is, “Don’t fear god, don’t fear death, what is good is easy to get and pain is easy to endure” (What Are the Top 10 Philosophical Ideas That Everyone Should Understand?). In Hall’s poem he takes on this idea through understanding and accepting that everything is where it should be. He discusses topics like death and grief but at the end of the poem reassures us all that what we have, we will lose. Although our fears like grief and heartbreak exist, everything will be fine once again.
It almost breaks me down every time I think about my relationship with you. I know you don’t mean any harm, but it hurts having you be vaguely present in my life. I wonder if you feel the same about me?
Nunca te he visto llorar.
You laughed at my little self when I asked you this question, but I was so serious. I had never seen you show any emotion, and when you did it was minimal.
I see you in myself, in the way I guard myself around you.
It seems almost hypocritical that I feel confused about your behavior, when I do the same.
Thank you for being strong, Dad.
I chose this poem “The Things I Cherish” by Caren Krutsinger as it displays existentialism through the notion that they won’t be able to stay behind and give those things love or appreciation. The idea of death not only takes away your life but the value of objects you cherished is impactful as those feelings and background held on with those objects mean nothing. This idea was explained very well in the rhythmic response given by Caren Krutsinger. It gives a feeling of somberness as this is something we will all face.
A poem I chose is “Lost and Found” by Wayne Visser covering the philosophical idea of self discovery. As you read through the poem you are able to identify different philosophies throughout the process of finding yourself. In the sense that while finding yourself you lose other parts of yourself throughout the journey.
“Lost and Found”
When I’m lost for words, I find my true voice
For silence is borne with the wisdom of choice
“I look into my Glass” by Thomas Hardy.
But Time, to make me grieve,
Part steals, lets part abide;
And shakes this fragile frame at eve
With throbbings of noontide.
In this poem Hardy talks about the idea of time, and what time has done to his body. How he has began to look old. He looks old on the outside, but his heart and mind are still young. He feels as his heart has betrayed him and that he will die lonely.
“Thomas Hardy – ‘I Look Into My Glass.’” – The Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation, https://www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poems/i-look-into-my-glass.
The poem I chose is “life is like a box of chocolates” I chose this poem because I feel that it’s a phrase i’ve heard all my life and it happens to be a logical fallacy. We compare life to a box of chocolates because we never know what to expect and we learn things along the way. We might go through hard times but in the end it’s a “treat” because we get to learn and experience life along the way. Faulty Analogy is my favorite logical fallacy because it’s interesting how we can compare unfamiliar ideas to each other and make it a bit light hearted and humorous at times.
“I won’t hatch!” Shel Silverstein
I vividly remember being a child, being at the library nearly all the time I was free, reading Shel Silverstein. Although I didn’t quite remember this poem, I am glad that I was able to find it again. I believe that this poem may touch on existentialism, why is the world a place we live in, why does it have such horrible assets, why am I even here? This poor little chick is growing up, not wanting to leave out of its shell knowing that it can never go back, and not knowing where it will go in its future. This may also touch up a bit on free will, that the chick is able to stay within his shell to avoid such violence outside.
The face is
a…
Canvas
of radiant
everwarming
everlonging
ever…saying
everything that matters in this
world
We say so much
with
so little
We think too much
and too
little
We do just and never
enough
But life must go on
So
let’s just keep
smiling
M Bravo
Pablo Neruda’s “This Is Simple” covers the philosophical idea of introspection as Neruda speaks about what power, profundity, and purity genuinely mean to him and how he came to understand the meaning of it as he uses nature as his way of understanding while giving ways certain people might say to fake their power, profundity, and purity.
Power is mute (the trees tell me)
and so is profundity (say the roots)
and purity too (says the grain).
No tree ever said:
“I’m the tallest!”
No root ever said:
“I come from deeper down!”
And bread never said:
“What is better than bread!”
‘The Journey’ by Mary Oliver
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.”
This poem by Mary Oliver is about the importance of self-reliance. The poem makes it clear that everyone must live their own lives and that there are many obstacles when trying to succeed throughout your life. She used ethos, voice, and emotion throughout her poem. Oliver used a confident and fiery tone to connect with her audience, which is maybe going through a similar situation or struggles in their lives. Transformation is the main theme as she developed confidence.
I myself have been grappling with the concept of introspection recently. Throughout this poem the writer is having a realization of sorts, about how him and the fly are very similar in nature, even if it may not seem like it at first glance. Blake analyzes the death of the fly as he swatted it with his hand, and contemplates his own existence in relation to the fly. He then thinks comes to the conclusion that the action of thought is a sign of life, and the absence of thought would be death which comes with it’s own bliss. It leads him to the conclusion that he will be a happy fly in life and in death. Blake follows the thought of introspection as he compares his existence to the fly’s existence, and ultimately comes to a realization about his mortality.
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
A. Ibarra McDonough
“And some days I forget
what it is to be gentle with myself –
how to look at myself with kind eyes
and speak to myself with soft words.
Forget that I am my home
and a temple worthy of worship.”
The poem written by Becca Lee shows an example of the philosophical idea of introspection. Many individuals may struggle with body image, body dysmorphia or simply aren’t peace with themselves. This poem explains how precious the human body is and individuals should learn how to treat their body like a “temple worthy of worship” as Becca Lee stated. Sometimes we can be so hard on ourselves when we just need a reminder to be kind to our bodies and find love in ourselves with who we are.
Invisible fish by joy Harjo covers the philosophical idea of life as we know is being destroyed by operating are ways of life, specifically roads and buildings.
Invisible fish swim this ghost ocean now described by waves of sand, by water-worn rock. Soon the fish will learn to walk. Then humans will come ashore and paint dreams on the dying stone. Then later, much later, the ocean floor will be punctuated by Chevy trucks, carrying the dreamers’ decendants, who are going to the store.
The poem “It’s okay to cry” by Alfred Ramos talks about how one should not hide away from their emotions or experiences that they are scared of in life. He emphasized that it is okay to do all of the things that people say are not okay to do or we feel uncomfortable doing. I think that the philosophical idea in this poem is about finding yourself and being comfortable with yourself, which could be referred to as introspection.
It’s okay to cry
It will help cleanse your soul