MIDDLETON, Tricia
Obsidian Situations

What is the obsidian situation? An act of mourning, committed in a mood of cocky abjection, against indifference and hollow repetition. The element is wet: fountains, sweat, vapours, wine, puddles, tears tears tears, soggy towels and the Seine flowing beneath. The form is layered, carefully folded, then crumpled and held together with an ancient ribbon. The structure is Paris, spiderweb of fixed names and stray histories. The obsidian I deadpans her way through the pathos of small-r-romance in a century that wishes it were dead. She has questions for her coterie of XVIIIe siècle spirits and other bric-à-brac. 
Q: Is it art to be day-drunk in the Tuileries? 
A: C’est possible. 
Q: Can anything be done for the avalanche of petits objets rushing to their fates, the fate of being vitrined in the heart of the Imperium; glass-eyed and soiled in a basement; the fate of a man’s missing teeth, a floating bottle? 
A: Tous, adorés et méprisés, suivront la rivière jusqu'à la mere.
— Cynthia Mitchell

Published by Documents - Centre for Expanded Poetics, 2023
Poetry