About the Poems - KM
About the Poems
by Kristi Maxwell The "Sarcophagus" poems were an experiment in both interaction and regeneration (or what would happen when a line tried to re-enter a poem in a different context); writing them, I practiced mishearing lines. A sarcophagus is technically an ancient coffin (reserved for royalty), but my use of it is inspired by the television series Stargate: SG-1, which features it as a device capable of healing or bringing one back to life, though repeated use has narcotic effects, so a gradual degeneration comes from the regeneration (I wanted to see what degeneration's role would be in the poem process--at what point things would fall apart). Whenever I get the opportunity to go out of the States, I make it a mission to return with at least twelve Kinder Surprise eggs. "Seasoned" was written when I had two left, (the Tucson heat was on the brink of unbearable, so I kept trying to conjure a memory of the coldest I'd recently been, which coincided with the Kinder purchase) but they were deformed from melting, hardening, melting, etc. I guess this poem is a kind of a lock of hair I stole from the Kinder Surprises. "The Poem in Which I Save Dan from Death by M & E" is dedicated to Michael Rerick and Eric Abbott. This poem and its companion poems (written by M & E) are indebted to drunken patio talk and a mutual love of challenges.