Atom's Tomb

"Of Course – I prayed – / And did God care?", catechizes Emily Dickinson in one of her many poems discussing a lack of divine manifestation in the physical world and the frustration that emerges as a result.... [ view full abstract ]

"Of Course – I prayed – / And did God care?", catechizes Emily Dickinson in one of her many poems discussing a lack of divine manifestation in the physical world and the frustration that emerges as a result. Eventually her dismay culminates in an exasperated yearning to have been left "in the Atom's Tomb," the body in its most unbuilt state. This presentation explores the idea of the body as unbuilt through a reading of a short collection of original poems born from the realm of the Atom's Tomb. Beginning with the aftermath of a shoulder surgery, the collection focuses on the moments we relinquish our bodies to the influence and control of others. Thematically, the presentation will discuss moments in which we realize our bodies no longer belong to us, what events can lead to those moments of recognition, and how we as individuals can unbuild our bodies in order to rebuild them in our own image. The collection focuses on agency, individuality, and control. With specific attention to the limitations of the physical body in relation to the infinite capabilities of human thought and emotion, these poems begin in the realm of the Atom's Tomb but work toward an understanding of how I could unbuild my body that no longer belonged to itself after traumatic surgery, rearrange the pieces, and rebuild this body--cell by cell, limb by limb, moment by moment--in my own image.