Surveillance catechism
Apr 11, 2024
Why do you feel the rocks watch you?
They are the silent witnesses.
Why do you feel the rocks watch you?
Are they not a crowd with a gaze?
Why do you feel the rocks watch you?
Eye to eye whether on the left or right.
Why do you feel the rocks watch you?
Hear their whispers — “You don’t deserve to stop.”
Why do you feel the rocks watch you?
The ancestors, the crowd, never approve.
An experiment with a new form — the catechism. I’d only ever come across that word in a religious context, but it is the art of using a repeated line throughout a poem.
As I repeated the question, it dug deeper and deeper into what was happening and started to take on a melancholy tone. Mirroring the sadness of Carry Etter’s elegy.
- After A Birthmother’s Catechism by Carry Etter
