SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
like bird feathers, human hair and nails are made of a protein called
Keratin, much like the rings of a tree, it keeps a record,
remembers everything, you, dancing for me.
like a snapshot of a developing feather I still
remember everything,
how we’d put out a call to the public,
to map out the flooding, the pollution
the sweet words and fevers.
Method & Sources
“Hard Feelings/Loveless.” Songwriters Jack Antonoff & Lorde
“Where Do Birds Flock Together? Australians Are Mailing In Feathers to Help Find Out” by Livia Albeck-Ripka. New York Times, March 21, 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/21/climate/australia-feathers.html)
These two sources became interlinked in my mind: the article taught me that feathers record essential information regarding the bird’s life while Lorde sang to me about how forgetting feels impossible at first. To create the piece, I picked out phrases from the article and the song that were more active, to combat – and in some ways support – the passivity of feeling sad. The only rule I had for this exercise was to avoid using my favorite lines from the song.
Chrystalla Christodoulou is a senior at St. Edward’s University in Austin Tx, studying English Literature and Creative Writing. She is from Cyprus more than any other place.
Photo by Xander Ashwell