spool

gazing toward comfort
tagged, slipshod
uncontrollably deceptively
                       blank
 
            the feeling
simple                         cutting past defenses
words                         heart
            gripping
 
i have known unravelings and disorder
i have learned decay
 
tender                         unable to move
 
we embrace the overwhelming
                      and melt into oblivion
 
familiar contours of important truths
           stuck in hindsight
 
observe regret                        decisions
self-destruct further                break enough
                       bear the burden
 
we’ve made our own mirror
we see ourselves and allow crudity
 
                       detail
                       undiluted
 
complexity in common
           you have strength seared in struggle
 
                       it matters

This is an erasure poem.

Source: Lindsay, Rachel. “Rachel Lindsay's Rx Proves Comics Are Perfect for Tackling Mental Illness.” Vulture, 4 Sept. 2018.

building

say you lack ambition to blossom
into story. troubled, bizarre, obsolete.
a version of the gradual
melt down. fantasies, yet--
 
never lose momentum.
learn more about divergence between
our world and us:        our history.
                                   their history.
 
we stop
                       parallel.
 
worlds approach. put together
the seamless (the most challenging).
 
radiate love uninterrupted.

This is an erasure poem.

Source: Riesman, Abraham. “How Maniac's Creators Approached Mental Illness.” Vulture, Vulture, 24 Sept. 2018.

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Rachel Tanner is an Alabamian writer whose work has recently appeared in Peach Mag, 8 Poems, The Rising Phoenix Review, and elsewhere. She tweets @rickit.