Twelve Questions by Bhanu Kapil
Twelve Questions
Bhanu KapilWho are you and whom do you love?
What do you remember about the earth
How will you begin?
Describe a morning you woke without fear?
Tell me what you know about dismemberment
Where did you come from/How did you arrive
Who was responsible for the suffering of your mother?
What is the shape of your body?
How will you live now?
What are the consequences of silence?
How will you/have you prepared for your death?
What would you say if you could?
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SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers by Bhanu Kapil, published by Kelsey Street Press, 2001. (Available direct from Kelsey Street Press • Also on: Amazon • Bookshop)
DESCRIPTION
“The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers, Bhanu Kapil’s full-length collection of prose poems, is arranged using a series of twelve repeated questions, such as:
“How will you begin?”
“Describe a morning you woke without fear”
“Who was responsible for the suffering of your mother?”
The manuscript is set in diverse places—Punjab, Central America, England, Arizona—where the meditations on the “interrogations” considered by the narrator are described in surprising, sensual language that is segmented and seeking.
Only at the end of the twentieth century could a writer create this compelling combination of experience and imagination, education and tradition, sex and prayer. This magic and modern coming of age could not have been written at any other time, yet its references bring the reader places that are distinctly not 1990s America.” (Source)
ABOUT BHANU KAPIL
Bhanu Kapil was born in the United Kingdom and lives in the United States and the United Kingdom. She is the author of a number of full-length works of poetry/prose, including The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers (Kelsey Street Press, 2001), Incubation: a space for monsters (Leon Works, 2006), humanimal [a project for future children] (Kelsey Street Press, 2009), Schizophrene (Nightboat, 2011), Ban en Banlieue (Nightboat, 2015), and How to Wash a Heart (Liverpool University… (more)
Read more poems by Bhanu Kapil • Find books by this poet on Amazon • Bookshop • Or view my library
ENDNOTES
- Explore other works in pursuit of: time • desire • mortality • Or browse the index
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