[See Fig. 1 below to print and construct the poem.]
Fig. 1 An Unfolded Poem
(on one of its sides)
Sidenote: An Adjacent Description of Folding
4. is
this word is written between checkerboard creases
reminiscent of calligraphy worksheets in Chinese class, where
a single character is written repeatedly in boxy borders;
the result is almost Steinian:
“is” is “is” is “is”
3. box guidea piece of paper folded and unfurled:
folded until it makes a soundless accordion
first along its width
then along its length:
thirty-two by eight.
5. unfurl and foldlongitudinal creases dictate the lengthwise pleats
(although each unit along the eight is also divided into three with pencil marks)
the paper is crimped until it resembles window shutters
6. fold it againreshape the instrument through its latitudes:
the paper is folded again along the guides
1. ideai had been doom scrolling on my phone when
i came across a video of a magic ball made from scrap—
its motion is filmed on a smartphone
in front of someone’s dining room—
while i,
(most likely) prostate on the lounge,
was suddenly enraptured
7. pit stop: it should be crimped across after (6)i imagine dragon scales but scales of any creature would be probable and
inaccurate.
8. raise and meetpleats or ridges raised—
shark-fin shapes over calm water
or mountains pulled from the ground—
the act bends the spine
creating an arc or the letter C,
let the edges of the accordion meet
until it makes an ellipsoid earth-shape
(9.) glue it and wait
10. magiconce it is set,
let the little paper ball cave into itself
until it makes a new shape:
a mathematical form from algebra class—
a two-sided trumpet—
then fold it onto itself
again and again
from ball to fluted shape then ball to fluted shape
again and again
1.5 the word is simplemotion and form depict the meaning of the word
my English teacher once said,
“poetry is about how things are said”
11. Fig 1i cut along the line
and repeat from 3.
read the rows of “is” as they overlap—
encroaching over borders—
and the columns as they are squished in space
or expanded
i think of the modes of is-es
maybe those that
i hold on my phone
on
internet
stories—
people in Zoom boxes
with their cups of tea—
or
those is-es that
straight lines
struggle to depict
i fold across longitudes and latitudeshome is
14.630238, 121.004109
here is
-33.687340, 150.312842
a piece of paper isa shape-shifting
being
2. The Real Folding Guide: YouTubekeyword search: infinity, origami, ball
referenced result:
“Origami: MAGIC BALL – Yakomoga EASY origami tutorial”
uploaded by Easy Origami – Yakomoga on Jan. 26, 2019
A pdf version of Fig 1 can also be found here.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones