poems.js

const poems = [
  {
    title: `the world is a sacred object`,
    author: `kelsey chen`,
    content: `
- the world
    - all of it
        - all that
        - is
            - exists
                - is moved
                    - is moving
                        - breathes
                            - has ever existed, including you
- is
    - is always
        - is irrevocably
- a sacred object
    - a sacred thing
        - something moving
            - something waiting to be moved
                - something awaiting dialogue
                    - called into communion
                        - a condensation of vital breath
                            - anima
                                - there
                                    - here
                                        - an immovably sacred object
                                            - an immovably sacred object, and nothing is to be done to it.
                                                - an immovably sacred object,
                                                - and nothing
                                                - is to be
                                                - done about it.
                                                    - done to it--
                                                    - to seize it
                                                        - to take it for yourself
                                                            - to try and keep it
                                                                - to try to grasp it
                                                    - is to lose it.
                                                        - is to lose yourself.`,
  },
  {
    title: `peach pits`,
    author: `kelsey chen`,
    content: `
- There is
- a peach tree
- outside
- my window
- that hovers
- without a neck.
    - without a neck. Gripping my own,
    - I watch it drift.
        - I watch it drift. Have you noticed how animals
        - cover
            - instinctively cover
        - their bodies?
            - the softest parts of their bodies?
                - the softest parts of their bodies,
                - the same way?
                    - the same way
                    - when in fear and in thought?
                        - when in fear and in thought?
                        - Is it because thinking is fearful?
                            - Is it because fearing is thoughtful?
- I noticed
    - I noticed myself noticing
        - I held softly my neck, watching myself notice
- not
- the rain
- but
- the blue.
    - the blue. The runway
    - was iced.
        - was iced: It took an hour to
        - defrost.
            - let go of its own body.
    - The salt
        - The salt turning asphalt
            - The salt turning sleet soft asphalt
    - an uncanny
        - an uncanny kind of
    - gem.
- Even in
- all this
- it
    - what is tensed across scale
        - what is tensed across scale is
        - beautiful
            - unutterably beautiful
        - like that. This thing
- was my favorite.
    - was my favorite to see.
        - was my favorite to see. The warm light against such an atmospheric cold.
- I wanted
    - On that runway, I wanted
- to run away.
    - to run away very badly.
        - to run away very badly; I didn't know that
        - things
            - two things
                - two things so starkly different
        - could be
        - soft together.
            - so soft together.
                - tender like that, with each other.
                    - tender like that, with each other. Knowing the dusk and not the chokehold.
- I thought I saw
- peach pits
    - two peach pits
        - two peach pits--tiny spiked hearts in the cold--
- rolling.
    - rolling across that runway.`,
  },
  {
    title: `boundless shapeshifters`,
    author: `spencer chang`,
    content: `
* Texts
    * Melodies
        * clear notes
            * clear notes, interdependent chords
                * clear notes, interdependent chords, harmonic tones
    * for
    * words
        * communes of
        * letters
            * curving letters
                * curving, elegant letters
                    * curving, elegant, giving letters
* are
* boundless shapeshifters,
    * boundless shapeshifters (technicolor chameleons),
        * boundless shapeshifters (technicolor chameleons, expanding universes),
            * boundless shapeshifters (technicolor chameleons, expanding universes, vibrant dancers),
* zealous freedom fighters,
    * zealous freedom fighters, champions of liberty,
        * zealous freedom fighters, champions of liberty, harbingers of divinity
* sacred
    * sacred (laden with gravitas)
        * sacred (laden with gravitas, revered by followers)
            * sacred (laden with gravitas, revered by followers, imparts visceral feeling)
* holders of space
    * holders of space and keepers of time
        * holders of space and keepers of time and protectors of life`,
  },
  {
    title: `knowing`,
    author: `jacky zhao`,
    content: `
- The man
  - The man at the bookstore
    - I went to the
    - bookstore
      - little rickety bookstore off of 5th Avenue
        - bookstore at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Adam Street I always went to when I was feeling
        - rather melancholic.
          - melancholic.
          - --- 
          - When my father first passed,
            - I don't think I ever truly knew
            - my father.
              - my father -- he was absent for most of my childhood. He would always go on
              - 'business trips' and
                - 'business trips'  with his work friends and coming home smelling like smoke and alcohol. Sometimes, he would
              - come often come home
              - days later than he said he would.
                -  days later than he said he would. Who knows what he actually did. 
              - He was never cruel, but the love that was supposed to be unconditionally present was unconditionally gone.
            - When he passed, I felt an overwhelming
            - sense of confusion.
              - sense of confusion. I remember they said he died of natural causes -- yet nothing had seemed to be wrong with him. In the rare hours he was back at home, he seemed healthy and almost fit at times, often going for early runs.
            - Mom didn't seem to care about his death, almost as if she was numb to the pain, already used to his absence. Really, it only took a few weeks for her to find someone else and
            - left me to fend for myself.
              - left me to fend for myself. To her, I was just a remnant of a past life she was ready to forget.
            - ---
          - I used to
          - hole up here during
            - curl up in the little bean bag corner by the window
            - when it rained.
              - when it rained. On days when it was especially wet,
              - the tabby
                - the orange tabby (the owner said his name was Flan but to be honest, I'm not sure I heard it right)
              - that lived in the bookstore always came up for snuggles.
              - I'd always look out the window, looking for that familiar speckly salt-and-pepper hair
              - walking by.
                - walking by. I don't know what I was hoping for -- to see him again? For him to finally face me and tell me
                - he was sorry
                  - "I'm sorry"
                    - "I'm sorry"? For him to apologize for
                    - being absent?
                      - being absent? For him to hold out his arms and tell me that he's going to do better and for him to bring our family back together?
                - ---
                - To this day, I still don't really know why I go back to this bookstore so much.
            - It was a nice place for the
          - workdays when I couldn't pull myself together enough to show up to my dead-end job.
        - Something about the poorly painted "Old Goat Bookstore" sign and the smell of old books just made me
        - feel comfortable.
          - feel at home. Maybe it was the smell of the study back when Mom and I used to still have the house we
          - lived in.
            - had. I remember that there was always that second-hand copy of The Midnight Library that I used to read as a kid. Or the copy of Le Petit Prince that always sat, dusty, on that desk of his. That was before we had to sell it because of the stupid housing market and all the debt. That world felt so long ago.
        - ---
        - Despite everything, the one thing my mind could focus on was what happened
    - yesterday. At the checkout, there was
    - a man
      - a lanky looking man in a trenchcoat
    - scanning the shelves.
      - scanning the shelves, as if looking for something among the book store giftcards and mugs.
    - He
- seemed
- interesting.
  - interesting. I don't mean this in a judgemental way, but more of a
  - "wow, he seems eccentric" kind of way.
    - way that told me he wasn't from around the area. I looked for a bit too long and the cashier told me to hurry up.
    - I studied
    - him
      - him --
      - all his wrinkles and scars on his face
        - the bags under his eyes carrying the weight of over half a century of weariness, the wrinkles a careful folding that seemed to count the years like a tree trunk has rings
      - -- 
    - as he paid for his
    - books.
      - books. Something stirred in me when I saw the name Antoine de Saint-Exupery on one.
    - There was something that was
    - off.
      - off -- maybe it was his long coat reached his boots or his curly salt-and-pepper hair being
      - slightly wet.
        - slightly wet. Or maybe it was just his face?
          - Or maybe it was just his face? There was the signature rosy-red of someone who was out in the cold for
          - far too long.
            - far too long. Something smelled vaguely of smoke that might have been from a cigar.
      - I pushed the door open to a little jingle from the door chime. I stood outside for a bit after to
      - recollect myself.
        - recollect myself. A familiar _ting-ling_ rang through the crisp winter air as the man exited the bookstore.
        - He stood there for a moment.
          - He stood there for a moment.
          - ---
          - I muttered something.
            - _"I always liked to read The Little Prince when I was younger."_ I muttered.
          - ---
          - He glanced over.
            - "Yeah? I used to read it a lot too."
              - "Yeah? I used to read it a lot too.
              - Actually, I stopped reading for a while, but I'm picking things up again.
              - My son loves this book."
                - My son loves this book.
                - Little bugger can't sleep without it."
                  - Little bugger can't sleep without it. He lost his old copy so I'm getting him another one."
        - ---
        - For a while, we both stood in the billowing wind.
          - For a while, we both stood in the billowing wind.
          - There was something about him that just invited me to keep talking.
            - ---
            - _"You know, my dad once told me a quote from Heraclitus._
              - _"You know, my dad once told me a quote from Heraclitus.
              - He said that 'No man steps in the same river twice. The second time around, both man and river are different than they were before.'_
              - _The books are the same, but we change between each reading."_
                - _The books are the same, but we change between each reading.
                - The world changes, too. Sometimes I like to think that he were here to re-read those books to me. Just so he could see that I've grown."_
        - ---
        - Finally, silence.
          - "There is no point trying to prove to the past how worthy you are now."
        - ---
        - I glanced over at his slender frame, realizing now that he looks a lot like my Dad.
        - He pulled out a cigar and lit it.
          - ---
          - "'There are patterns to life...
          - Rhythms."
            - Rhythms. It is so easy, while trapped in just one life, to imagine that times of sadness or tragedy or failure or fear are a result of that particular existence.' Matthew Haig.
            - Things may be difficult.
            - You may hold grudges against people and hate them for the cruelties they committed against you, but that does nothing to change your life."
              - You may hold grudges against people and hate them for the cruelties they committed against you, but that does nothing to change your life.
              - It may not be the life you wanted back then, but you are a different person now.
              - You've stepped out of the river for the second time."
                - You've stepped out of the river for the second time. This may not your ideal life but you can always choose it. No matter what your life is, choosing it changes everything. In choosing it, you give back to yourself the ability to enjoy the present and all of the joys that come with that."
        - ---
        - He exhaled a puff of smoke. I looked up at the
        - beautifully blue sky.
          - beautifully blue sky, now tinged slightly orange as the sun descended slowly.
          - I chose to believe that yesterday I had met some reincarnation of my father.
            - I chose to believe that yesterday was the day I stopped
            - hating the desert for its dryness and instead admired it for its ability to hold wells.
  - It was a sunny day after all.`,
  },
  {
    title: `death`,
    author: `andy tudhope`,
    content: `
- death
  - to end
    - returning
- is
  - was
    - will be
- only
  - truly
    - just
- an
  - the
    - one
- opposite
  - complement
    - reflection
- of
  - where the word can expand into bloody, bruised, beautiful
- birth.
  - beginning.
    - resurrection.
- life
  - love
    - god
      - forget the name
- is
  - is
    - is
      - and finally this is
- everlasting.
  - full.
    - real.
      - free.`,
  },
  {
    title: `grasp`,
    author: `jw`,
    content: `
- to 
- be a subject
  - be a patient
     - objectify
       - ledgerize
         - grasp
           - grasp is the precondition for 
           - abstraction
             - erasure`,
  },
  {
    title: `vibing`,
    author: `grin`,
    content: `
- vibing is
- authentic
 - being present
   - the opposite of self-conscious
     - responding to what's alive for you right now
       - the way kids are with each other
         - when
         - we interact non-symbolically
           - our frequencies resonate
             - when the shapes and colors inside me come out to play with the shapes and colors inside you`,
  },
  {
    title: `silence`,
    author: `heenal rajani`,
    content: `
- silence is
- golden
 - privilege
  - violence
   - the absence of violence
    - the space between
    - heartbeats
     - cries
      - the bombs that boom like enormous drums.
       - the bombs that boom like enormous drums.
       - white world watches;
       - it's people like
        - this could be
         - it's not because of
       - us.
       - a minute's silence.
        - silence is not an option.
        - giggling teens with rifles over their shoulders.
         - mangled torsos and babies being born.
          - business as usual and utter despair;
          - war is war.
           - war is war, but no one has cancelled the planting season.
           - sunflowers
            - golden fields
             - bleeding basket of bread
              - bleeding basket of bread,
              - washed down with molotov cocktails.
               - washed down with molotov cocktails
               - and silence.
                - and silence.
                - silence is hope
                 - silence is hope.
                 - hope springs eternal.`,
  },
  {
    title: `oscillations`,
    author: `matthew siu`,
    content: `
- oscillations
 - laughter and sadness
  - laughter and sadness.
  - success and failure
   - success and failure.
   - peace and crisis
- each cycle a
- journey.
 - trial.
  - transformation.`,
  },
  {
    title: `the way`,
    author: `aidan fitzsimons`,
    content: `
-the
-way
 -way the beginning
  -way the beginning of creation
   -way creation begins
    -way creation begins in every moment and paths move
     -way creation begins in every moment and paths move with momentum
      -way water loves forward around rocks
`,
  },
  {
    title: `Towards a New Internet`,
    author: `zach brown`,
    content: `
- Towards
 - Building for
  - Stories to inspire
   - Believing in 
- a New Internet.
 - community gardens over walled gardens.
  - online homes to seed and water without fear of being rugged, again.
   - interoperable and regenerative technology stacks.
    - more humane, de-faang-ed digital platforms.
     - money legos and media legos at our fingertips.
      - an exit from the panopticon of the Nudging State.
       - a Decentralized Web.`,
  },
  {
    title: `sacred codes`,
    author: `sixian lim `,
    content: `
- a language 
 - a language of texture
- in a hard place 
 - pressed into 
 - a hard place
  - a surface of delight, 
 - close to
 - the ground
   - the patch of earth shrouded in shadow,
    - the place where 
    - fuzz lays claim
     - threads of
     - thought
      - non-thought
       - threads
     - run their course 
      - run
       - run and yield, 
       - gesturing 
        - gesturing in
        - code
         - moss code.
 `,
  },
  {
    title: `[noun] is [adjective]`,
    author: `ian (the writer)`,
    content: `
- eternal life
 - each permutation
  - heaven
   - hell
    - my soul
     - form
- is
- now
 - radiant
  - dynamic
   - aloof
    - within reach
     - undefined`,
  },
  {
    title: `Growing Up`,
    author: `Phil`,
    content: `
- Growing up
 - Learning how to navigate life
  - Becoming your own person
- feels
- impossible
 - difficult
  - like a struggle
   - necessary
    - possible
     - like 
     - a gift
      - an act of radical kindness
       - moving closer to
       - reality
        - truth
         - love
          - dancing
           - grooving
            - accepting 
            - yourself
             - yourself as you 
             - are
              - may be
               - and have
               - yet to still grow`,
  },
  {
    title: `A Type of C-Y-O-A`,
    author: `n0madz`,
    content: `
The wizard
The witch
The apprentice
The knight
- The failure
The thief
The assassin
hears a knock at the door.
Looking out the window,
our protagonist
our antagonist
our villain
our last hope
- our fierce protector
our shapeshifter
sees
storm clouds
the tops of pitchforks
a horde of daemons
a carnival
- a dark, impenetrable mist
-quickly approaching from the ridge opposite. Muttering,
“fuck this,”
“hell yea,”
“dammit, they found me,”
he
she
they
xe
glanced at the pet
dragon
wolf
owl
black cat
- bear
that waited nearby, grabbed their cloak and
staff
sword
wand
bag of tricks
- longbow
-, and stormed out the backdoor without a single look back.
`,
  },
  {
    title: `word sculpture`,
    author: `huggingpuppy`,
    content: `
My
I craft my
As the rain falls, I chisel my
beautiful
gold-tinted
poem.
word sculpture.
`,
  },
  {
    title: `on warmth`,
    author: `raluca`,
    content: `
- in the midst of July
- I'd still 
- shut down.
 - shut down or 
 - shout out.

- make no mistake
- it's how I 
- learnt to care.
- plus,
- there's a risk to unlearning:
- uprooting.
 - uprooting from an otherwise stable ground.

- but 
- maybe open wounds
- heal better
 - heal better or maybe not at all
- and then I can 
- be seen 
 - be seen right through
- or at least the pain
- will soften. 
 - will soften my voice.
`,
  },
];