Epistolary
What is an epistolary?
An epistolary is a poem that has qualities of a letter. It can be directly addressed from the writer to someone or something else, or the author can take on the perspective of another someone or something, much like a persona. Epistolaries are devices to explore themes and topics deeper than the typical letter, however. For example, a letter with random line breaks is not an epistolary; instead, the poem should contain some qualities of a letter such as salutations, conversational language, and direct address of the targeted reader(s). However, the greater meaning of poem should ideally extend beyond the target reader--it should have universal importance or relevance.
Understanding the poems:
For the first poem, I was inspired by the change of seasons and the leaves piled at the bottom of the hill in our front yard. I remember when Jude and I would play "King of the Hill" before my younger siblings were born. We had many games and adventures in our yards, which I often write about and how they recall the passage of time and growth. It was quite weird to be writing a letter to my brother, as he lives in the same house and will likely never read this, but my intention was not necessarily that he read it, but that my feelings are conveyed to the general audience. I wanted to warn the audience to remember to enjoy time as it passes and remember their beginnings. In order for the poem to have a letter-like quality, I was sure to use a " meandering, digressive, and conversational style," as Hannah Brooks-Motl suggested in her essay, "Learning the Epistolary Poem - Poems that serve as letters to the world". (Fun fact: the biblical apostle, Jude, is identified as the author of the "Epistle of Jude", which is a letter; hence "epistolary".)
For the second poem, I wrote a letter from the perspective of a doorknob. When I began writing, I was not sure what direction I wanted to take it, but as I started brainstorming the qualities of a doorknob, I realized that it was vastly underappreciated and overlooked. I felt that this could convey a larger metaphor of someone being "grabbed", but never "held", both literally and figuratively. I tried to make it seem as though the doorknob had some sort of ongoing friendship and trust with it's owner, as I needed to make it feel like the epistolary was "part of [an] endless chain of other letters and communications". I did this by making the language conversational, revealing the vulnerability of the doorknob.
For the second poem, I wrote a letter from the perspective of a doorknob. When I began writing, I was not sure what direction I wanted to take it, but as I started brainstorming the qualities of a doorknob, I realized that it was vastly underappreciated and overlooked. I felt that this could convey a larger metaphor of someone being "grabbed", but never "held", both literally and figuratively. I tried to make it seem as though the doorknob had some sort of ongoing friendship and trust with it's owner, as I needed to make it feel like the epistolary was "part of [an] endless chain of other letters and communications". I did this by making the language conversational, revealing the vulnerability of the doorknob.
To My Brother, JudeYou remember, don't you?
When we stood at the top of the hill looking down at our messy piles of time passed etched into the veins of crisp leaves, when we screamed silly words in silly voices something about being the king of a hill. It was all kind of silly, don't you think? Another fall will pass, another pile will gather. You will walk by them again, rake them to the streets to be sucked away in an instant. One day, this hill will no longer be ours but will you still be king? Will you look over all those pieces of the past piled at the bottom and remember when they were just-fallen reds and greens and yellows? |
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