this month’s book is another ekphrastic chapbook: foundwaves. this chapbook was born when i was introduced to the Cities and Memory sound map by a professor of mine.
i wrote the first poem in this book as an experiment during an in-class exercise. at the time, i’d recently been challenged to write a poem in the style of another poet, and i’d chosen
(who ironically later published three of the poems in this series). that led to this chapbook of meandering, playful forms in response to sounds from the map.praise
foundwaves is a moveable feast for the senses, a world-tripping travelogue resonating with the sounds of hope, despair and possibility.
—Rahne Alexander, author of Heretic to Housewife
nat raum is a writer of many multitudes, and this latest poetry chapbook can only be described as the following triptych:
foundwaves is a collection of poems that soften in your gaze like the immersion of mead notebook paper in a bowl of water.
foundwaves is a viewmaster into glimpses of beauty in the mundane, everyday life that litters suburbia like “the motorcycle / peppers its scraping / plastic”, nostalgia as “car-smelling ghost of a navy / blue jeep”, inertia as “a rat with wings / living its best life”, and more.
foundwaves is a zillion glittering shards of sand forming beachfloor; if you put your ear to the ground, you will hear the whole ocean.
—tommy wyatt blake, author of MIASMAMIST; space cowboy on a little, uh, space exploration?; and TAKE THIS QUIZ! 11 questions to see if you agree with courage as a metaphor
selected works
you can find selected pieces from this book published in the following places:
“italian dusk as directed by Catherine Hardwicke” in Renesme Literary’s BLUE FILTER issue
“post-utero instructions” in JAKE
“is that what this is?” and “pigeon toed” in cool rock repository
“alternate anticapitalist universe in which my lover and i move to tierra del fuego,” “dairy aisle in blue,” and “deciduous song” in manywor(l)ds issue 1
“what if you wanted to go to oaxaca but the sound map said panasonic SV-3700 DAT deck in 1994 toronto” in Full House Literary’s Summer 2023 Issue
foundwaves can be purchased from A Moonlit Café as part of their Nude Beasties1 bundle.
icymi, this book originally came out with Naked Cat Publishing last year, but we all know how that one ended.