Review of Kiarah Hamilton's "this is what fifteen feels like"

Kiarah Hamilton, this is what fifteen feels like (KDP, 2024) 145 pages, poetry, $19.99 US. Order here.

Hamilton invites us to read this collection from the point of view of our 15-year-old selves so that's where I'm going to write this review from (mostly). I say "mostly" because I'm late Gen X and Hamilton is Gen Alpha, I believe, so our 15s are very different POVs. When I was 15, the internet was called "Prodigy", it was dial-up, extremely expensive, almost no one had it (almost no one had a PC), and social media didn't exist yet. Late Gen X are in general a nihilist group of people who believed the world would end before they finished college and as teenagers were criminals and gangsters who got away with everything precisely because they were the first generation with parents who divorced at high rates, worked two jobs, daycare didn't exist yet, and smartphones were sci-fi. It was ghetto. I'm sure it's extremely difficult for kids today too, just in very different ways. Same old threats with new avenues.

As a teenager, I was a moody goth but not goth, punk but not punk, (nowadays the term might be "emo") loner who wrote poetry and lurked in shadows and wore black as often as my mother would let me get away with it. Because if you wear black and stand very still, you can be as near to invisible as physics allows. Very handy for avoiding bullies. My poetry was similar to Hamilton's but much less innocent and light. I wrote about dark stuff. I wrote about stuff I lived with, violence and loneliness and darkness. And I found beauty in it. And, stereotypically for a teenage poet of my generation, I could quote Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" on cue (I can't anymore). None of my early poetry survives today.

Hamilton writes more as a teenager should, if there is such a thing. Her poetry is as light, innocent, and clean as her book cover. It's refreshing. She writes about the pressures social media puts on youth to have a certain appearance, which is something that certainly hasn't changed, although social media has prismed it uniquely. She writes about social anxiety, the stresses that hormonal changes bring, trying out different hobbies to find a few that'll stick as she works out who she is, and her crushes. All typical of the adolescent experience. And which certainly do help take you back to your own personal experiences.

There are some poems here that give you a window into Hamilton herself. She writes about moving around a lot and about her family dynamics. Another fun feature is that she includes a playlist of songs that you can look up on Spotify or YouTube. This places her 15 in a specific time frame - more so than the copyright notice will because not everyone reads a title page - but it also includes a whole other dimension to the book and a view into the poet's mind. I particularly liked this because when I write, I always have soundtracks in mind too. But since it never occurred to me that I could simply write up a playlist to include, I weave the songs into the poems and books themselves in ways I'm sure no one has caught on to, lol. Hamilton's playlist is an elegant solution to this conundrum. 

In summary, this is what 15 feels like. The poetry is not sophisticated. That's not what you're here for. But it is what you're here for. A walk down memory lane vicariously. A reminder that no matter how many years have passed, 15 is never very far away.

Wednesday Night Virtual Poetry Feature - May 11, 2022

 

A(A) E-Reading #4: National Poetry Month Edition, April 29, 2022

Featuring Rachel Neve Midbar, Justin Hamm, and John Compton. Hosted by David Sykes and Sabne Raznik.

 

Is(sue) 10 is live, Youtube Channel, and Special Pandemic Is(sue)

 

Dear Kinfolk,

 

Lots to talk about at AvantAppal(achia):

 

First off we wish to express our sorrow on hearing of the death of bell hooks. That is a blow, not only to Appalachia, but to the world.

 

Secondly, Is(sue) 10 went live yesterday! We have some potent work from 3 countries and 14 states. The word is getting out and the quality of the work and the volume of submissions continues to grow. We are thrilled about that! Go check it out at www.avantappalachia.com.

 

We now have a Youtube channel which will be used to host videos from our submissions where the artists do not have channels of their own from which to host videos. The videos will remain hosted there until the Is(sue) in which they appear is taken down. At that point, it is up to you as the copyright holder whether we continue to host them in perpetuity on Youtube or not. Just let us know. So if you don’t have Youtube yourself, send us the vid anyway and we’ll handle the rest.

 

Announcing “The Modern Plague Years” Special Is(sue): this is(sue)’s deadline is March 31, 2022 and it will go live under Special Is(sues) in the menu on April 10, 2022 where it will remain as long as the website does. Please refrain from arguing the politics of the pandemic or of vaccines. We are interested in your individual pandemic experiences. See the home page and Sub(missions) for more information. And please remember to put “Plague Years” in your email subject line to differentiate it from regular is(sue) subs.

 

Is(sue) 11 – the next regular is(sue) – has a deadline of May 31, 2022 and should go live on June 15, 2022.

 

Don’t forget that you can donate towards keeping AvantAppal(achia) online by going to Donat(ions) in the menu. Thank you so much, Kinfolk, for everything you do! You make this unique, fun space everything that it is!

 

Sincerely,

 

Sabne Raznik

Poetry/Art Ed(itor)

Sabne Raznik reads Shreya Vikram’s “Sestina about the Colour of a Missin...

Sabne Raznik reads Gil Arzola’s “December Something: 1973”

New Minireading: Sabne Raznik reads Michael Farry's "Molly Courage"

New Minireading: Michael O'Dea's "I Give You"

A(A) E-Reading #3: National Poetry Month Edition Video

AvantAppal(achia) Virtual Poetry Reading on Zoom - September 25, 2020

Beautiful

Swan Lake Reimagined

Annual "Best Oriental Dans Videos on Youtube" Article is Retiring Permanently

I have decided to retire the annual "Best Oriental Dans Videos on YouTube" article for good. If anyone wants to pick up where I've left off, you're welcome to! My fascination with oriental dans is not at an end, but hopefully I will soon be moving on to better things for which some sacrifice is required. All past articles - originally published on Yahoo Voices- are now on this blog. You can access them via the relevant labels in the cloud to the right. As consolation, here is the reigning queen of Tribal Fusion at her best. Enjoy!

Being Ophelia (Video)

Ophelia is, like most Shakespeare characters and particularly the women, a complicated part to play. She is sweet, innocent but not unknowledgeable about what men get up to in their spare time, in love, heart-broken, fragile, uninhibited, and in the end a kind of mad prophet of impending doom.

For the final assignment of Coursera's "Shakespeare In Community" class, we students were asked to make a video of a piece of any Shakespeare play. This afforded an opportunity to showcase our acting skills and creativity. However, I am only beginning to learn the ins-and-outs of Windows Movie Maker, so I decided to keep it simple.

"Hamlet" is one of my favorite plays and Ophelia is a character I can relate to. She is an innocent victim of events, but strong and wise in her own way, even after she descends into madness. So I chose her soliloquy from Act 3 Scene 1. But to portray Ophelia requires more than emoting Shakespeare's poetry.

First, there was the consideration of what my Ophelia should look like. I rarely tease my hair or use hairspray because it damages my hair extensively, but Ophelia is the daughter of the King's counselor. As such, she would dress well. I chose to clothe her in black and red because I wanted to convey that there is more to Ophelia than meets the eye, but chose simple makeup due to her youth and sweetness. (Also, my corset is red and black; one must work with what costuming one has. *shrugs*) The heart-lock and key earrings symbolise her relationship with Prince Hamlet. The lace-like cover-over convey her modesty and proved to add a dramatic touch at the end. It was rainy out and that resulted in wonderful lighting that I could not have arranged.

Then I moved on to more abstract considerations. For instance, in our modern world, how might an equally fragile and complicated woman react to the tragedies that eventually drove Ophelia to madness? That question brought the song "Chandelier" by Sia to mind. One could even argue that the lines "I'm gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry, I'm gonna swing from the chandelier" could be something Ophelia was feeling as she drowned at last. The scene where she hands out the flowers spouting her prophetic riddles could equate to this verse: "Help me, I'm holding on for dear life, won't look down, won't open my eyes, keep my glass full until morning light, cos I'm just holding on for the night." Therefore, I chose to sing them in my "Ophelia Descends into Madness" scene to add a touch of the modern to my Ophelia.

The red nose was added to the costume in that scene to emphasise that Ophelia has at this point and in some measure lost touch with reality. I didn't realize that it is the first ever Red Nose Day in the U.S. today, until after I had made that decision (but in the famous words of Gwendolyn Brooks: "I have no objection if it helps anybody").

Getting in the emotional place for Ophelia's soliloquy took some preparation. I drew from my own experience with doomed relationships and listened to Sia's "Chandelier" on repeat while I dressed. Ophelia would have felt her pain deeply and without restraint of any kind.

Here is the text of Ophelia's soliloquy:

"Oh, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!—

The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword,

Th' expectancy and rose of the fair state,

The glass of fashion and the mould of form,

Th' observed of all observers, quite, quite down!

And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,

That sucked the honey of his music vows,

Now see that noble and most sovereign reason

Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh;

That unmatched form and feature of blown youth

Blasted with ecstasy. Oh, woe is me,

T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"

Now I present to you the finished video to enjoy or criticise as you will:

Modern "Much Ado About Nothing"?

There is an internet-inspired trend in text analysis that involves computer tools, such as the above word cloud. The theory is that these various tools will help someone approach a text in a different way than one has before. This word cloud was produced by entering the text to Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing", which I love, into a word cloud-making website. I must admit that for me such tools would be more helpful when composing collage poetry (because it helps to disorient the text and break it up) than in formulating text analysis.

For instance, one would naturally eliminate the character names, since of course they would be the most frequently used words in the text, and then concentrate on what is left. From there, the poetry combinations are endless and exciting and almost write themselves. But those poems would only be text analysis to the point that any collage poem is, and most poets who employ that form are thinking of anything except what is traditionally considered analysis.

So I tried a different tool: Storify. In the end, I didn't so much write a story as use it to search hashtags and internet search engines for new perspectives on "Much Ado". And I found one.

 "These Paper Bullets!" is a modern take on "Much Ado" with the music written by Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. Green Day started out in the '90s as a modern punk rock/alternative band. Since then it has become a little more pop in its aesthetics, but with a decided punk edge. Recently, Armstrong redefined what the Broadway musical could mean with his wildly successful "American Idiot" musical. "These Paper Bullets!" was his next theatrical project. The storyline revolves around a band called The Quartos, modeled after the early Beatles, and its members' search for true love in the midst of fame. Unfortunately, a recording of the full production doesn't seem to exist, which left plenty to my imagination.

Other than the curious aspects of "what would a punkish/Beatleseque version of 'Much Ado' be like?", there are also larger questions that could be explored. Much of Shakespeare's original play hinges on witty, sarcastic humor with a decided gender bias. Benedick is against marriage and very much a spouter of male virtues, almost to the point of chauvinism, and Beatrice is very much a hard-bitten feminist. Funny, then, that they should eventually fall in love with each other based on hearsay. How uncharacteristically suggestible of both of them! How would that work in a modern setting?

For instance, in this post-feminist world, why would a woman feel a need to despairingly rant out the "O to be a man" speech? The whole dynamic of the plot may have to be reworked, but what is "Much Ado" without the friction and the obvious social critique of his time that Shakespeare meant it to be? Also, it is no longer a life and death matter whether Hero really "tarnished" her honour or not. That too would have to be rewritten. What, therefore, would be left of the original play?

These are things which I was forced to consider and which caused me to view "Much Ado" as a masterpiece of wit that can continue to survive due to that wit only. No longer can it also be a painful mirror held up to society which is barely made palatable by that wit. How I wish I could have seen "These Paper Bullets!" in order to have at least one set of answers to these questions.

Do you think "Much Ado" still works as a social critique? If so, in what ways?

The Wildfire Series by Sabne Raznik

The Salome Series by Sabne Raznik

Book trailer for "Linger To Look"

Get your copy here now!

The Story Behind U2's Song "Miracle Drug"

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on July 29, 2011. The link in this article was extracted then)

U2 are famous, among other reasons, for the surprisingly touching and often pregnant with meaning inspirations for their songs. One of their songs that has been most discussed for its meaning is "Miracle Drug" from the studio album "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", copyright 2004 U2 Limited. Although never officially released as a single from the album, "Miracle Drug" has quite a devoted following among the band's fan base, and even outside it. Here is the remarkable story that inspired it.

Cerebral Palsy is an "umbrella term" that covers a number of neurological disorders of varying severity and symptoms caused by lesions, and sometimes tumors, in the brain. Therefore, there are various types of CP as diagnosed, and it is not uncommon for an individual to have multiple types of varying degrees in the same case. Because CP is so variable, very little is known about it. There is no cure. And treatment consists wholly of attempts to correct growth anomalies and minimise symptoms and long-term complications. Even this is very hit-and-miss, more experimentation than anything. Researchers and doctors are not able to even agree on what causes the lesions and damage to the brain that results in CP (though oxygen deprivation is the undisputed cause of a small percentage of cases).

Christopher Nolan (September 6, 1965-February 20, 2009) was born with severe Cerebral Palsy. His was a very complicated birth. He was breached and, in order to save the life of both mother and child, a C-section was performed. A second surgery was also required on his mother. He himself was deprived of oxygen for approximately two hours, but somehow he managed to survive. His condition has often been described as paralytic, but that is inaccurate. As he himself wrote in his memoir "Under The Eye Of The Clock" he rarely ever stopped moving. The trouble was that he had almost no control over those movements. He humourously describes his embarrassment when stress and tenseness caused his limbs to fly about unbidden and he punched someone in the face or worse. His spasms were so severe that when he commanded his body to move a certain way it often froze and refused to move at all. Even his ability to speak was affected: his words came out only as moans and shouts. He was placed under the care of the Central Remedial Clinic in Clontarf, Dublin, and when he reached school age his family moved into Clontarf so that he could attend at the school sponsored by the clinic. His family, friends, and school staff communicated with him through a system of meaningful eye movements. After the medication Lioresal became available, he was able to control his head just enough to type using a "unicorn" device attached to his forehead. He immediately began writing letters, short stories, plays, and poems heavy with alliteration. Soon, he decided he wanted to attend school with the able-bodied. He tested as having above average intelligence, but a school could not be found that agreed to take him.

Mount Temple is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin which was established in 1972. It was an experimental school for its time. It was the first public school in Ireland to be nondenominational and one of the first to enroll both sexes. The faculty employed a very liberal, tolerant attitude toward the behavior of their students and in the teaching methods they used. (Interestingly, it also has the distinction of having the most star-studded alumni in its period of Irish history, the most recent of which being actress Eve Hewson, Bono's daughter.) It was thus the school to which to send children who didn't fit anywhere else. After a brief interview with Nolan, they agreed to take him on. He was the first disabled child to be taught there. For the first week, he attended half-days in order to build up his stamina for the full-day schedule, to give him time to become relaxed in the public school setting, and to give his able-bodied student helpers time to adjust as well. In time, he adjusted very well to the format of Mount Temple despite the great fatigue that the long days gave him and he had a large body of friends there. When he was fifteen, his collection "Dam-Burst Of Dreams" was published which established him as a school legend to this day. Eventually, he went on to Trinity College, Dublin and published two more books: "Under The Eye Of The Clock" (a reference to Mount Temple Comprehensive) and the novel "The Banyan Tree". He died after choking when he was 43 years old.

The boys that became U2 also attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. They were also put out of other schools because of being children of bi-national and/or bi-religious parents and/or having behavioral issues. Fourteen-year-old Larry Mullin, Jr. posted a sign up there for auditions in his family's kitchen. Seven boys answered the post and the Feedback was born. Mount Temple allowed the boys to use a classroom there to practice in. In time, the lineup was whittled down to its four current members and the name was changed to the Hype and, finally, to U2. It was by winning a talent contest at Mount Temple that the "baby band", as fans now affectionately call that stage (originally coined by U2's manager Paul McGuinness), was able to cut its first EP with CBS Records: the now very rare and sought after "U2 3". All of which is now the stuff of legend.

It was just as U2 were enjoying their last year of school that Nolan arrived. He must have left a mighty impression on the boys of this band, for there you have the possible roots of Bono's least discussed and longest held cause: disability advocacy in Ireland, particulary for those with CP. And the inspiration for "Miracle Drug" which is written as if from the view point of Nolan's mother.

"Miracle Drug" by U2 ("How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb", 2004)

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=RNm7P2lY9DA

The Five Funniest Videos on Youtube

(Originally published on Yahoo! Voices on January 25, 2011. Links in this article were extracted then)

In this article, I list what I think are the four funniest videos now available on youtube.com. This is intelligent humor- meaning that it is funny while still being relatively dignified. Much of the comedy has to do with the words that are said. There is no slapstick or bodily functions to be found in these videos, only good, clean fun. And each skit just improves with repeated viewing! Each description includes who posted it, whatever description the poster put with it, and a brief idea of what to expect when you click the accompanying link. They are listed in order. Get some tissues to wipe your eyes, sit back, and laugh until you can't breathe! The object here is enjoyment- and remember, laughter has in fact been scientifically proven to be the best medicine.

1. Jedimaster0096 shares with us the funniest sketch. From the second season of "A Bit Of Fry and Laurie", this is Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie discussing "Beauty and Ideas". This sketch proves beyond all doubt that these two actors are comedic geniuses. The discussion itself centers around an actual philosophy and this sketch has been used in college classes for perusal and dissection on this and similar theories. What other sketch can boast of that? Fry leads the discussion with an overwhelmed Laurie struggling to keep up. Fry continually changes Laurie's name throughout- even calling him 'lovelet' at one point- and exhausts himself with passion for his subject. There are times when you can see both of them struggling not to laugh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RQzRhH67Q0

2. Albanbytyci gives us Victor Borge's "Phonetic Punctuation". Just what show this sketch came from is not listed. But this hilarious jewel is just what it says: what if we spoke punctuation as well as words? After demonstrating the sounds of various punctuation marks, Borge reads a short story with these sounds. If you do not fall out of your seat, I'll be very surprised! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw

3. Johal91a has posted another Victor Borge moment. This one is Borge's "Inflationary Language" where he inflates the numbers that naturally occur in the English language with one number higher. Thus, as Johal91a points out, anyone becomes anytwo, etc. Again, he reads a short story to demonstrate this language. Imagine the practice that had to go into this sketch before he could perform it! Again, you're certain to fall out of your seat! My favorite line: "Get out of here, you three-faced triple crosser!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY6kElOYcd8&NR=1

4. BBC gives us the longest sketch in this article. At the time, David Tennant and Catherine Tate were co-stars on "Dr. Who" and here Tennant is Tate's new English teacher for "Comic Relief" in 2007. First she jibes him for being Scottish, brilliantly throws out some "Dr. Who" references, and finally lampoons Shakespeare in a fashion that will have you crying in merriment in short order. Perhaps the best bit is at the end where Tate quotes the entirety of "Sonnet 130" as if her mouth were a machine gun designed to slap Tennant hard in the face. You've never heard the Great Bard like this before and likely won't again any time soon! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxB1gB6K-2A

5. BrokerTim uploaded this brilliant video of his "dad at Comedy Barn" in Tennessee. This is for those of you who feel the need for less intellectual comedy at this point. This video became so popular that a ringtone was derived from it and a website was launched at http://thelaughman.com. I could watch this all day and I'll still laugh! Poor guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4Y4keqTV6w