While the tang of resolution still hangs in the new year air…
Poet Rachel Kessler shows us how to let go.
She reports: “This poem was written during a Vis-à-Vis Society experiment. The Vis-à-Vis Society is a group of poet-scientists dedicated to the analysis of the everyday.”
59 Goodbyes
Goodbye serious
Goodbye writing overly serious poems
Goodbye taking everything so seriously
Goodbye making everything into a joke
Goodbye shame
Goodbye dog poop in the basement
Goodbye talking shit while doing naught
Goodbye plot
Goodbye pee in the wrong place
Goodbye credit card debt
Goodbye hip-hurting shoes
Goodbye cold feet
Goodbye shed dog hair drifting
Goodbye drinking wine too quickly
Goodbye dehydration
Goodbye hoarding thriftstore clothes
Goodbye feeling sad about being fat
Goodbye fitness fantasy
Goodbye falling asleep while driving
Goodbye too-tight pants
Goodbye taking it personally
Goodbye impulse control
Goodbye confessionalism
Goodbye yelling in the morning
Goodbye Romney
Goodbye worrying about silences
Goodbye explaining
Goodbye smiling reflexively
Goodbye waking up at 2:00 a.m.
Goodbye waking up at 4:00 a.m.
Goodbye fear of the internet
Goodbye cussing out technology
Goodbye rough draft
Goodbye subsequent draft
Goodbye messy desk
Goodbye disposable contacts worn for 5 months
Goodbye Sunday afternoon blues
Goodbye tired all the time
Goodbye talking about tired all the time
Goodbye busy
Goodbye busy business
Goodbye drama-dona
Goodbye telling stories with no point
Goodbye old bra
Goodbye mindless mastication
Goodbye panic attacks in art museums
Goodbye search for authentic self
Goodbye fashion identity crisis
Goodbye terrible, overpriced cheeseburgers
Goodbye composite French fries
Goodbye uncurated piles
Goodbye IKEA storage solutions
Goodbye giant to-do list
Goodbye broken turntable
Goodbye muddy sound
Goodbye never-worn sweater
Goodbye single sock heap
Goodbye pitying narrative
Goodbye
Goodbye
*
Rachel Kessler takes inspiration from everyday occurences. She is a founding member of the Typing Explosion and Vis-à-Vis Society. For more than a decade, these critically acclaimed groups have been writing collaborative poetry and presenting their work in the form of text-based art installations, interactive multi-media shows, and collaboratively written handmade books. Her collaborative poems have appeared in Tin House, TATE, Poetry Northwest, and USA Today. She recently launched her “Public Health Poems” interactive hand-washing installation in public restrooms throughout the city of Seattle.