"the process" by CW Bromberg. This is her second submission to the jam, and you can read the first one - "redacted" - there. She says these are "more poems from the past year. some newer, some older. played a little more with alignment this time. I'm not sure what I'm doing here, but I know I've been doing this for a while and not really sharing any of it. Consider these little diary pages ripped from the source." I know her work is writing which has pretty much been kept entirely private until now and I can understand why. The only kinds of writers who don't keep a pretty serious collection of work they never intend to share, are the grifter sorts who want to vacation to the Verso Loft and attend private apartment poetry parties with 40 dollar bottles of wine. A friend once put it as "New York socialite champagne socialists" or something like that. People who desperately overshare every thought in their head to make money are either destined to doom themself by an inability to change the thoughts that harm others, or are claiming everything is out in the open because of a terrible truth they want to conceal via over saturation. CW is the opposite of any kind of person like that, and as I've stated before that's why I understand and appreciate how different and new sharing these collections likely is for her. The importance of finding paths that help avoiding eternally bottling emotions up feel a little more comfortable is valuable when you know the world doesn't want people like you to have any outlets at all.
the process continues the exploration of pain and sadness informing a life. It's so honestly self-reflective and aware of any contradictions, but it tells the truth regardless. It's not specifically about Jewish ancestry/culture and generational trauma the way redacted is, but it extends from that specific aspect of her life and thoughts into broader areas. Relationships, intimacy, friends, interactions with others in physical and digital spaces. This collection focuses on suicidal ideation a little bit more, but both collections share connections between the written-out expressions of internal dialogue. It's full of those endless conversations some of us have with ourselves about every little thing, and it doesn't shy away from less-than-positive ones or try to appeal to general statements that don't give away how fear, stress, anxiety, and society REALLY make us think things we may not want to repeat. I definitely recommend both collections, especially as companions with one another side-by-side. I'll leave my thoughts about them here for now, because I get that when you share work this insightful hearing what other people think of it can be the opposite of what you want. What's important to know is that CW really is a great poet, and it really is so refreshing to read work about these topics and moments that don't play the games that mainstreamed published work tends to.
"The positivity bot inside me The police officer inside me Both need to die I don’t really know anything My memory is a rusty wheel Of a shopping cart Always in use, not in its prime Bad for business So there is a silver lining"
[CW // death, suicide mention]