1 Poem by Rachel Stone & Hannah Srajer
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
you know how I get with men
when they’re being precious
like “everyone has been
my enemy” when
they’re willing
to be a low level
vibe though
fundamentally I’m
– don’t say
it – having fun
I have my own
life & I know
it’s on us to experience
loneliness to be part of
our loneliness –
but me?
I get
with loneliness
we are in love sometimes
me & loneliness
I like how it’s doing
five things at once
can be serious
as a dentist
I like how it’s
jewish, I like
how it’s mine
drunk off whisky
& willing to talk
on the train for hours
I like what it knows
about love
what it knows
about me
loneliness an angel
everyone’s a cretin
who doesn’t get it
& if you do
I’d be willing to let you
in.
A note about the collaboration:
This collaboration is the result of culling text from a single text conversation between me (Rachel Stone) and poet / organizer Hannah Srajer.
Hannah and I have texted every day for the past half decade, sharing our own poems as well as texts that have informed our writing. My language is shaped by hers; any poem I write is in response to hers, and we have developed a lexicon particular to our friendship and correspondence. We've been each other's first readers, and both have guided each other back to writing poetry. It feels like a natural step, then, for us to experiment with using each others’ actual language as a source text, resulting in a merged “I” who could be one or both of us.
Hannah Srajer is a poet and organizer from Chicago, now living in New Haven.
Rachel Stone is a researcher and poetry student from Chicago, now living in Brooklyn.
This collaboration is the result of culling text from a single text conversation between me (Rachel Stone) and poet / organizer Hannah Srajer.
Hannah and I have texted every day for the past half decade, sharing our own poems as well as texts that have informed our writing. My language is shaped by hers; any poem I write is in response to hers, and we have developed a lexicon particular to our friendship and correspondence. We've been each other's first readers, and both have guided each other back to writing poetry. It feels like a natural step, then, for us to experiment with using each others’ actual language as a source text, resulting in a merged “I” who could be one or both of us.
Hannah Srajer is a poet and organizer from Chicago, now living in New Haven.
Rachel Stone is a researcher and poetry student from Chicago, now living in Brooklyn.