thoughts on isolation
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complete with unabridged writing, artwork
and thoughts from our contributors. Click on the contributor name on the right to jump to their web entry.
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[ thought #01 ]
"To be a Sovereign is to be apart, to rule by Divine right is to be divided from your subjects, and a queen moreso than a king. The isolation of being a ruler is as cold as the hardware which weaves through her body..." - John W. Elliott
Half-life An unexamined life is nothing to write home about. Take away the music of the spheres and you have roller rinks. Take away savings and loans and the secrets of successful people. Take away absolute zero, antimatter, perpetual motion, oxygen. An unexamined life is its own reward. Take away aluminum and New Jersey. Take away bubblegum and you'll forget geometry. Take away railroads. Take away the animal kingdom and the mineral will be no consolation. Take away the Kingdom of God. Somebody will bring it back. Take away fear itself and you still have fear. An unexamined life covers its tracks. Take away sight but your appetite lingers. Take away the message, the medium, elastic, uranium. Take away memory and history. Rely on geography. Take away the mother and you have all wars. Take away a tree in the forest. See who notices. An unexamined life keeps the doctor away. Take away the waiting room and stand in the street. Take away the street and save time. Take away belts, shoelaces, sharp objects. Take away the antidote. Live dangerously. Take your breath away. An unexamined life is the devil's playground. Take away plot and you gain synchronicity. Take away hats and no one will miss them. Take away the chicken and then the egg. Take away collective bargaining, the baby, the bath water, the Big Bang. Start over. An unexamined life is harder than it looks. Take away the echo and discover a new language. Take away direction and concentrate on accuracy. Take away a fish and proverbs are the poorer. Take away the center of attention. Take away saxophones, salt flats, Ayres Rock. An unexamined life is all you ever wanted. Take away the paperwork and the rains will cease. Take away patriotism and the sky fills with stars. Take away too many light bulbs and a man walks into a bar. Take away the future and you can't do a thing - Karen Drayne
The Tomatoes Were Falling Red
the wet placenta surrounding the seeds
"YOU'RE A DIRTY, ROTTEN SON OF A BITCH ...
bleeds an acidic juice.
" ... THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE!
the milky yellow corn grins from its shuck
"PICK IT UP! YOU STUPID BITCH. PICK IT UP!"
as his bottle spins.
"NOW, GET THE FUCK OUT!"
but the flame on the stove was still waiting
"YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ME, DO YOU?"
for the pot of vegetables.
while in the garden
the tomatoes were falling red
ripe from the vine.
"After writing "The Tomatoes Were Falling Red," I realized that the poem unfolds much like a two-scene, one-act play. Both scenes take place simultaneously. One reveals the venom of alcoholism and how it controls and isolates its victims. The other unfolds as a backdrop representing the ripple of waste that alcoholism often leaves in its wake.
I wanted the reader to understand how the poison of alcoholism taints the lives of those closest to the alcoholic. Inevitably, it filters into the world around them - a world ripe with promise, yet fragile and vulnerable.
The bruised fruit of the characters' lives literally ripens on the vine and falls to the ground unnoticed. At its peak of ripeness, rather than being nurtured and engaged for its potential, it falls to waste.
In this poem, alcoholism wins through control, abuse, and isolation of its victims. For those who suffer from the impact of alcoholism, the pivotal question becomes, Will the fruit fall far enough from the vine to sprout and thrive in more fertile soil, or will it lie where it falls, rotting in a barren garden?" - Richard E. Hall
Let Go & Hang On
White petals fall softly
Velvet on skin
My mind says to leave now
My heart says slide in
Warm perfumed water
Awakens like dawn
The sensations take over
As you float; peaceful song
Close your eyes to the dangers
Hold your breath, just let go
To the fears in your heart
Listen now to your soul
Enveloped around you
Submerged, hold me now
As the tension it builds,
Sweet release building, how
softly and gently,
demanding and rough,
Every brush burns like fire,
I tremble, you touch.
Beyond all the answers
The logic and pain
The defenses and fortress
Surrounded in rain
And the vessel is full now
Overflowing beyond
Any dream of the past
Just let go and hang on.
Two Clicks Closer
two clicks closer to Heaven
and Jesus is calling my name
the gates up ahead are open
walk through and you're done
with the game
two clicks closer to Grace
forgiveness is harder to find
when you walk around in circles
searching for answers,
in your own mind
two clicks closer to Peace
but it runs from the fear in your heart
too strong to repress any longer
you should have known that
from the start
two clicks closer to Angels
their wings gently sway in the air
a soft hand on your shoulder
their presence has always
been there
two clicks closer to Goodness
and the longing it grows all the more
for the bliss of yesterday
when you were welcomed by
love's open door
two clicks closer, you're winning
two clicks closer, you'll find
that two clicks more are hard earned
to win them your heart must
be kind
push out the darkness, see light now
move through the days with pride
silence the sinners and vagrants
let it all hit you in stride
two clicks closer, now do it
two clicks closer, come on
two clicks closer, salvation
two clicks closer, it's dawn.
"The first entry deals with the sweet first time exploration of sex and virginity, the unity of two people in the ultimate act of anti-isolation; the second entry deals with the searing heartbreak and isolation that ensues, along with the struggle to find grace and purpose as you wait for the next dawn to break." - Connie Chesner
"Ray charles and travis bickle wouldn't seem to be two characters that you would often associate with one another but they do both come forth when thinking of the themes of isolation and anti-isolation. travis bickle, as played by robert de niro in martin scorsese's brilliant movie taxi driver, is the epitome of the darkness of isolation. he is "god's lonely man." he has removed himself from the world. he's socially awkward and has no friends nor family and the only social interaction he has are the people who ride in his cab and those tend to be the people of the night, the pimps and junkies and whores. he tries to reach out to the world but doesn't have the proper skills to because of his isolation and so he is rejected. this throws him into a rage which ends in a violent shootout. his isolation is a dark hole that he can't get out of no matter how he tries. ray charles to me is the antithesis of travis bickle when it comes to isolation. charles was obviously isolated by the loss of his sight as a young boy but also by the jim crow south and the prejudices against him for both his race and his disability. every morning that ray charles woke up, he woke up alone in the world. charles could have easily hated the world for what it was and what it had done to him and been consumed by this, like travis bickle, but he didn't. he saw the world for its beauty and he celebrated that beauty in his music and through that he made a world who hated him for who he was love him for what he created. this is what i tried to contrast with in these two paintings, the dark ugliness of travis bickle vs. the bright beauty of ray charles. both are touched by isolation but one who let the that isolation consume him and turn him into an animal who destroys and one who accepted his isolation and through his genius made the world that he loved love him back and in so doing took away some of that isolation."
- Patrick Harris
"No man is an island, or a planet." - Jarrett Webb
Lessons from Darkness
Winter
cold, windy, dark
Faint reflections of obscure light
struggle to reach the floor
through the forest trees.
Apparel
silk, wool, down
Each weathered traveler
layered with coverings
for protection from the elements.
Insulation
boots, gloves, hood
Each expiration my breath echoes
as I peer beyond my quilted cowl,
relieved by the sight of human forms.
Sheathed with weather proofing
hiding from the crystal-laden steel air,
our contours appear similar.
At least we have these openings
through which to look around,
assuring ourselves that we are not alone.
Survival
A clearing in the timbers.
To the east?
The same landscape.
To the west?
A denser, darker patch.
Some go east.
Others go west.
I need a change,
I choose west.
Besides, I've heard it's always darker
right before the dawn.
We enter the haunted thicket
frostbite in the air,
darkness swallows us.
Our bodies gather closer,
it feels safer that way.
Necessity
Huddling we trudge.
The temperature amongst us rises,
some remove their hoods.
It's nice to see a human face again,
to hear another voice in place
of my echoed breath.
The warmth gives rise to hope.
Survival with grace
We struggle through the thick darkness,
no longer obscure human figures.
Forced to travel more closely,
it is clear our forms are uniquely shaped.
Each contour has its place along our sunless path.
Necessity with grace
Landscape changes,
darkness slowly fades to light,
images become lucid.
Sunlight
limpid, warm, inviting
Sun shines clearly
streaming lightly to the floor
though the scattered trees.
Grace
Layer by layer
we discard our protective garments.
Our outlines now in full array,
beauty to our eyes
deep appreciation
each mortal significant, distinct.
Survival, necessity, grace
Life, significance, purpose
Darkness to light
Unveiled
"I have a poetry submission. It's one I wrote in 2007. It came to mind with your theme this zine of "isolation" and "anti-isolation." - Judith Piper
"I did the analog drawing (bottom sketches) to start the ball rolling. It showed the constrictions of environment and how isolation can bring freedom. hangers just vibed with the theme" - Robin Anderson
Atoms of Sound
I look back, remember and think, I look back and piece together the little details that lead up to the "event", the moment in time that I cannot take back and the moment that would change the world, my world, forever.
It now , as people say, seems like a dream. Over the days following I would endure not only tests by laboratory standards but of life, the pursuit of life and the dream of past life , the sequence of life to come, the pain, anguish, the horror, distorted days and weeks, and the isolation. My senses have changed, I feel things never felt, I smell things never smelled, I see things never seen, and I taste the flavor of things that I never experienced on my inexperienced palette. Things around me happen with new speed or with new meaning. Things I remember and never saw are now seen and hardly remembered. The cold chills rise up along my spine as I feel the new sense settle in my senses. Like learning to walk and breaking a grin on the face of innocence to crown my achievement, I feel the super-hero shield when I feel the breaking of atoms around me. I learn to communicate by making motions with the extensions of my brain, the frantic movements to some the cries of passion to others. I secure my life in the halls of my hallowed chamber, searching for the renewal of energy, the connection of hope and the desire to escape from this cell. But yet, I find the event somewhat of a blessing. If not for the event, I would still endure the torture of many of the curse of having soak up the information true or not true, the constant bombardment of the splitting of atoms, the disruption of the waves of air and the lies, the putrid lies, the pain, oh the pain, and the broken promises. Now I don't have to endure anything more than what I read, see, or care to endure. I can close my eyes, I can choose not to read, I can ignore, I can IGNORE! My ignorance is now a sense, a escape and a reason. But reality cloaks me, like a curtain from the stage, as I stand to sing, I cannot carry a tune, as I try to call, I cannot form the words, I cannot call out to my lover, and I cannot express my love.
I cannot hear.
- Silvera D. Durango-Brown
"Not sure why this came to mind....
When I think about isolation, I usually want to trace it back and see the cause of it. Everything is cause and effect, even on a very slight sense of scale.
Sure sometimes we want to get away, have a few quiet minutes to ourselves. Maybe in hopes to simply day-dream or brood or cry - whatever we need at the time. Sometimes we wind up on our own without any real reason, and have that silence to spur speculation. "Isolation" in itself isn't always a bad thing.
However, a lot of times I suspect it's imposed upon some. That's when there are problems.
I have always found it amusing the social judgments that cause people to ostracise others. How they incorporate some things, while ignore their inner hypocrisies. How these judgments fluctuate and evolve, mostly along with the personal habits or tendencies of the critics. I am torn between considering it all spawned from control - the inability to find it for oneself and so imposing it on others? Or the need to be "better than" about something.
There's a thin, thin line there. What one uses to judge may not be self-seen as their flaw, but it is assured that someone else will find one for them.
No better example than cigarette smokers and the gluttonous. Mainly because it is such a widely and easily focused upon social "flaw". And a lot of times, I suspect, an easy deflection.
" - Jackie Green
@2010 e.o.a.c.m. All submissions appearing within this publication reflect the opinions and attitudes of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the publisher or editors. All submissions are the sole property of the artists and authors and they retain all rights to said work. By submitting, each author and artist agrees to allow e.o.a.c.m. to reproduce, crop, excerpt or otherwise modify their work in order to share it with others.