“How does one discern meaning behind text? I took Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng’s poetic fragments, ‘other arenas in which to act,’ and fed it to my android phone. The predictive text input (SwiftKey) co-locates the poetry inside Quyên’s setting; it fills the gaps between the words that were left behind. The result is gospel, but possibly only for other poetry-writing (android) phones. The final poem, which I mined from the raw data, maintains the order of the words; the poem was edited for only grammar and length.”

 

 

 

                                                                                          ~ ~ ~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

modern living 5: 6–20

 

 

6 Modern kitchen is designed to help you enjoy the rest of your day away from the sun. 7 You can find a warm winter spring with a cold mouthwash. 8 The snow is the first time we had a chance to look at the end.

 

9 Suspend the other housemates where we lay the last time from bamboo beams. 10 I’m on the way to the airport to get back our past and the lost vehicle.

 

11 Draw connecting bottles to me. 12 Money will be there at the moment; ceilings will not be traversed.

 

13 Nurture monsters; they will have the best tomorrows.

 

14 People are giraffes on the beach. 15 With the sun on your palm and the rest of us in a lovely place now, I hope you feel better soon.

 

16 Love, not death, is more than just the messenger. 17 You can come back with the rest. 18 Sleep for the weekend; if you want me to pop over then let me chart these ribs, distend the belly.

 

19 Will the other housemates react to the harshness of this life? 20 I might really die in the morning sun as the dark draws near our door.

 

 

 

 

<<