The kissing of kissing Poems

Emerson's startling, inventive debut--the first entry in Milkweed's new Multiverse series dedicated to neurodivergent writers--finds joy in negotiating different understandings of the world. Emerson's subjects and themes include the difficulties of communication, the possibilities of repetition, and the pleasures of striving. Almost every piece in the collection includes one of two refrains, lines or phrases which begin with the exhortation "please"--often "please try"--and end with the affirmation "yes yes." "Please try to be heroic and not give it/ away to unconscious mess yes yes," Emerson writes in one, and "please try/ to melt yes yes," in another. The collection is propelled by an imperative mood and voice, though it is no less meditative for it. Details are scant, but images repeat on a scale that shifts from the immediate, worldly, and intimate to the cosmic. "Please try// to imagine how big you are yes yes," Emerson suggests, challenging the reader to expand their perception and vision through this unusual and intriguing approach to form. (Mar.)

Becoming Mud Please be with me great free animals. I want to be with you great being of light. Please see me great nobody nobody nobody hell animals trying to go to helpful keepers of the knowledge try to go to the place in the mud that is where I try to live in peace great mud of this great kissing loving earth lovely messy yucky in mud on my face if kissing mother loving me is the great animal that is named Hannah. Please greet me in the mud it is great mess please go to oh the bucket to get the water to try to make more mud yes. Please try to get the mud helpful to you if you become mud too. Please get that great animals are all autistic. Please love poets we are the first autistics. Love this secret no one knows it. The Listening World Say prayer for little things, things that live in deep hurt. Feelings language take to lair. Let it signal nothing's light, I say for want of light feelings. Is my ear deep or deeper? Giveness denotes the great kissing of great humans to get unusually going to the heart of the giving to the person who needs to be forgiven. Try to forgive helpful thought helpful gesture to give to the person who needs forgiveness. The king keeps the jester there to remind him of the helpful freedom of being great fool. The queen is always watching these two fools. O yes great giving mother earth trying to forgive the fools. The poets here to keep telling the truth of the keeping the life going to survive. Poets give grounding in helpful knowing the voice of the universe. Please listen to the poet because only way to freedom from the fools. Just keep the fools inside us loving fool forgive him. It is ok to be the fool you are helping this great universe explode. Hannah Is Never Only Hannah Please get that I am the trying breeze going through the really great great great world yes yes. Please get that I am the drowning helpful freedom of the storm yes yes. Please get that I am the very hot great great great sun yes yes. Please get that I am the great great great great ice that gives you the freeze that you need to get to melt into nothing yes yes yes yes. Please get that I am the sky great great great blue nothing yes yes. Please get that I am the grownd great great great place helping you helping you stand in grateful helpful helpful helpful kissing her her her her yes. Please get that you and I greet the great great life from this place of great great kissing life life life life yes yes yes. Please get that you are great form great formless helping kissing kissing great knowing the great great great helpful kissing the trying yes yes. Please get that helpful loving thinking you help just help kissing helpful loving great great great world turn upside down yes yes. Please get that you help me by helping me turn upside down too yes yes yes. Please get that great great helpful kissing people need to get that great helpful kissing is turning kissing upside down yes yes. Please get that helpful kissing just needs to be gathered into this helpful kissing trying hell of this life to go forward to help me Hannah Hannah Hannah yes yes. Please get that you need loving kissing to make you like me yes yes. Please get that the kissing must be great knotting of you me great us together in this hell yes yes yes. Please get that you kiss me helping me kiss you yes yes. Excerpted from The Kissing of Kissing by Hannah Emerson All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.