Map of the Universe
Map of the Universe is a hyper-linked poem and also a video where I silently read to you.
It is about Andromeda, chained to her rock, wanting a hero to save her from a monster, breeding in her mind what he’ll need to save her: a horse with wings.
I “published” this poem over time on tumblr: each day releasing a phrase, scribbled or displayed in a video, interspersed with a 18th century painting of Perseus and Andromeda by Anton Mengs. My followers spent one month chained to a rock with Andromeda, waiting for Perseus (the destroyer).
I was thinking of how Chinese scrolls are like film reels following a narrative as they are unrolled. But with a scroll, unlike film, the viewer controls the narrative pace. Read this poem like that. Read as if you're listening to me read it...silently.
Scroll on tumblr. Or, if you prefer, start with the finished poem, and de-constellate it--here is the text as a cluster of hyperlinks.
Or listen to me read it silently, with all the components assembled in my video poem: