Carry-on

Abstract

Carry-on is a chapbook, an archive of objects, a series of vignettes. It is autobiographical. It is awork of complete and utter fiction. It, like any honest poet, is full of contradictions and half-truths. More accurately, it is a mixed-media collection of poetry and prose housed within a fictional traveler’s suitcase and the various items it contains. Exploring the interplay between object and interpretation, Carry-on asks readers to examine the assumptions they make about strangers— fictional or otherwise—as they rifle through this traveler’s very literal baggage. By placing prose and poetry in direct conversation with physical objects, this project encourages readers to draw their own conclusions about this character based on what’s said, what’s shown, and what’s missing. Picture a pair of sunglasses with a poem about a fond beach-day memory engraved across their surface. A sweatshirt whose tag instructs you how to handle both the garment and its wearer with care. A poem about tension so thick you could cut it with the enclosed pair of scissors. Each object in conversation with the poem, each poem a part of the object itself—both components inextricably entwined.