Poem of the Week: 5.18.23

An original poem by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira

Untitled (“Telephony”)

by Ricky Novaes de Oliveira

My phone, with eyes 
   like unplugged outlets
      thinking in whispers
         shining in the dark
            fingers, slick and silent
               sliding on the glass
My phone, endless fire escape 
   of planned emergency
      whose secret gaze is invited
         of roomly zenith 
            furtive vice
               empyrean 
                  with retractable curtains	
My phone, it is the sweat of a magnet 
   blackholes watching, looking
      electricity touching touching touch
         unreined lion’s mane, purring
My phone eats fruit without spilling any juice
   uninterrupted pond at first ripple
      hungry, hungrier than me,
         I come alive when it's dying
            reaching for the spark,
               Lightning!—

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Thank you for reading the Poem of the Week!

Above is a poem that’s been shifting around for some time now. It’s inspired by Andre Bréton’s “Free Union,” a poem that ignites my creative spirit every time I read it (I recommend this deep dive on the poem and its context if you have the time and interest).

My poem started as a homework assignment, grew into a larger narrative poem, and has since been reverting back into its own thing lately in my mind. I’ve called the poem “Telephony” before to represent the theme of fake love felt through the inorganic apparatus of a smart phone—the intimacy mediated by screen taps; Cupid with a computer science degree and notifications for arrows. Like Bréton’s poem, mine is sexy and strange; there’s love there, but behind a few layers and loops. Language that gets stuck in its own unrolling.

Try this out for yourself! Here’s a *~writing prompt~* for your own surrealist love poem.

Write 10 lines that begin with “My _____ whose” or “My _____ with” and filling in the blank with an object, person, or idea (ex: democracy). Choose 3 or more of the lines you wrote to expand by inserting new lines that further describe the image you created in a straightforward or abstract way.

Feel free to comment your creations below!

Plugged in, Ricky