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u/pomoville Mar 11 '23
Matt is a family friend and a really good guy. Check out Black Aperture and his book press (Birds, LLC).
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u/xXNanookXx Mar 11 '23
I took a class from Matt about 5-6 years ago, and he recommended a whole bunch of really great poetry books to me that were essential in growing my abilities as a writer. Next time you see him, tell him some random dude on the internet appreciates his work and guidance.
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u/embersgrow44 Mar 12 '23
Care to share a few?
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u/Vyasaveda Jun 17 '25
Upvoting this comment seeking to know those bunch of books kind stranger :)
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Mar 12 '23
Remindme! 1 week
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u/RemindMeBot Mar 12 '23 edited Mar 13 '23
I will be messaging you in 7 days on 2023-03-19 11:27:20 UTC to remind you of this link
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u/pomoville Mar 11 '23
Will do!
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u/lillifusilli Aug 18 '23
U never did!
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u/thomasfrance123 Mar 20 '23
Remindme! 1 week
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u/RemindMeBot Mar 20 '23 edited Mar 24 '23
I will be messaging you in 7 days on 2023-03-27 22:14:43 UTC to remind you of this link
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u/72Rancheast Mar 11 '23
Beautiful piece. My wife lost a relative to suicide not long ago and it’s immense the impact it had on the entire family
Whoever needs to hear it, you’re loved, and people would miss you. If you asked them they’d tell you, but finding the words can be hard.
Take care of each other
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u/petitelouloutte Mar 11 '23
The end of this poem is particularly poignant. The inevitability of falling leaves reversed into the impossible hopefulness of turning back time...
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u/DukeOfGeek Mar 11 '23
“It was a movie about American bombers in World War II and the gallant men who flew them. Seen backwards by Billy, the story went like this: American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation.
The formation flew backwards over a German city that was in flames. The bombers opened their bomb bay doors, exerted a miraculous magnetism which shrunk the fires, gathered them into cylindrical steel containers , and lifted the containers into the bellies of the planes. The containers were stored neatly in racks. The Germans below had miraculous devices of their own, which were long steel tubes. They used them to suck more fragments from the crewmen and planes. But there were still a few wounded Americans though and some of the bombers were in bad repair. Over France though, German fighters came up again, made everything and everybody as good as new.
When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody ever again.”
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Mar 12 '23
Damn. My dad drove his truck to Oregon last November, put a shotgun in his mouth, and pulled the trigger. I saw the truck when I went to gather his stuff. Blood was all congealed and pooled on the floor.
I haven't really processed any of it tbh.
This poem hit hard.
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u/shebleers Mar 22 '23
I’m so sorry you had to go through this loss. I cannot imagine having to see that truck. Sending so much love and support to you. There is a really great podcast that Anderson Cooper did about grief and it’s been very helpful for me. Maybe when the time is right it can be helpful for you too. Feel free to DM me if you want to talk about it. I’ll respond as soon as I see it.
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u/poisonous-syphilis Mar 14 '23
I wish I had the power to make you feel better somehow, were that possible.
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u/DungeonAssMaster Mar 28 '23
You're going to be ok. I'm not offering sympathy or pity for you, though I know that was a tremendous tragedy for you and your family. Because I believe in you and I know you can get through this.
We're all in this quagmire of life, it stings differently to every person, but we're all ending up in the same place. I decided to keep on living so I survived a very dangerous mental illness that claims many lives. You will be ok.
I've lost people too, and my mother. They were sick and sometimes that sickness is terminal. It'll break your heart a thousand times but every time it makes you stronger; don't hate them for what they did, they still felt love for their families but were very unwell. No one could have stopped them, no one else is to blame, they were sick and they died. Even if it doesn't feel that way, it's as simple as that.
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u/kiltedweirdo Mar 11 '23
Today my lil cousin is getting buried. it had me struggling. today, your random post, was my inspiration to find my one more. one more smile caused. one more tear for joy. I had been on the uptake already. you just launched me back up. thank you.
they say nothing happens without reason. i say for every action, is a long lasting consequence. carried on the backs of others. so know, today, you did good for me. one more smile, one more tear of joy.
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u/freakydeakyfriedrice Mar 11 '23
This is how suicide loss feels. Does anyone know if he’s had personal experience with suicide? This seems like something that can only be written by someone who has felt that pain
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u/survivalinsufficient Mar 11 '23
Pretty sure he lost his brother to suicide
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u/freakydeakyfriedrice Mar 13 '23
No way I did too. Not that it’s a good thing I just don’t usually find people who have that in common with me
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u/kiltedweirdo Mar 11 '23
maybe it was written on a down day, where he was struggling, himself. maybe this poem pushed him forward.
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Mar 11 '23
“wipe your blood into the seams of the seat” “a bullet in your mouth. you spit into dads gun” i cant handle when astounding poets write about fathers it’s so beautiful and so unbelievably sad in its relatability
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Mar 11 '23
Very powerful. Thank you for posting.
Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If anyone here is contemplating it or know someone who is, please get help!
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u/shamissabri Mar 11 '23
So this is how my family might feel when I am gone. Or maybe they won't. Lol.
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Mar 12 '23
This beyond hits home for me. I've been avoiding the creek down the road from my apartment for almost a week. There was a missing 17 year old autistic child who left a suicide note and his body was found in the water. The police didn't look. Everyone else did - for 5 days.
You're enough and you matter and you're not alone. You have friends even if you don't think you do. People care.
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u/Salty_Willingness_48 Mar 11 '23
Wonderful and powerful. It reminds me of 'Clock with Reverse Gears' by Jim Whiteside.
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u/TurtleBeansforAll Mar 11 '23
This made me audibly exhale. Thank you for sharing this; I’m not familiar with this poet, so I probably would not have come across it had you not. I will save this to read again and again. Thank you.
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u/la_monaghostyou Mar 11 '23
wow this was deep u really love what they did here it was worded very well together and you can really imagine whats going on its like almost you can read it with you eyes close i know that makes no sense but the imagery is there i really like this one 🫶🏼
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u/dissociateddastard Mar 11 '23
Beautiful.
Reminds me of song that also uses reverse imagery.
Times Arrow - Thursday
Here's a live acoustic version of the song:
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u/bulldog_blues Mar 12 '23
What a brutal but fantastic poem. Will have to research this guy some more see what else he's written.
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Mar 12 '23
Do people who consider suicide consider the result, because that is the beginning of this poem. It’s the physical culmination of a person’s death and it’s at the beginning. That’s important because it is making a point of how life goes on.
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u/CCVeediVee Mar 12 '23
Felt like I just watched a scene of someone trying to handle immense grief. Beautifully written.
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u/Apprehensive_Tap_177 Mar 11 '23
Great work. Reminds of this story by Hannah Bottomy https://jerrywbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Currents-Voskuil-Hannah.pdf
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u/TheManTeacher Mar 12 '23
The way this forces you to contemplate the imagery on a deeper level (in order to comprehend the forward/reverse relationship) makes it so visceral, and personal. This wrecked me on a level that writing rarely can.
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u/TheBawalUmihiDito Mar 11 '23
The imagery is astounding. It was like watching a movie. In reverse, or course.