Sonnets Fragmented: The Poetics of Disability

Fragmented Vine

After D.J. Savarese, "Passive Plants”

[visual description] 
In the fragmented poems, words break mid-line
Flowing down the page as a tangled vine

In its 
     union 
     of substance 
        and spirit 
its leaves and
         tendrils
         become
              
entangledVoice
its soul exposing 
        what words 
              can be writ
even as it reaches
          toward light,
                    strangled 

      Yet the vine 
            resists, 
          its 
threadsVoice, Vine
 
              
unfurlingInvocation, Thresholds, Voice
  
        as its fragile
               surface 
           belies its roots
       its strength 
              emanating 
               from 
earthDisability: A New Genesis
, 
                    hurling 
          its parts outward 
               with its labors 
                     and fruits

       Encircling 
         natural 
formsThresholds, Disability: A New Genesis, Voice
 
        with strict 
               
tensionInvocation, Thresholds
 
         the strands 
            of history 
               progress and 
             regress
          yet in its constant 
              upward 
                 expansion 
           beyond their grasp, 
                 the vine 
                   
seeksInvocation, Voice, Stimming
 to 
                      
transgress Vine

        Even as 
           the 
worldInvocation, Thresholds, Disability: A New Genesis
               tugs                                  transcend
              as we ascend              
                    still 
              do we strive              transcend
            toward 
            
pathwaysVoice
 
             that 
transcendInvocation, Closing