James Diaz curates lyrical and visual origin stories of our bodies beyond what is familial and estranged.
The poems examine hands and songs, pain at the kitchen table. Each cut-out word is an attempt to pin
down the stories we tell ourselves: deep-rooted pain heavy and hefted, love as seasons, and pain that’s
natural and necessary for redemption. On the canvas of the page, Diaz utilizes the warm luster of
brown paper, punctured with holes as evidence of impermanence. In the foreground, a cutout photo
of a woman lies on a bed of cotton balls, hand on head with a young girl holding a suitcase planted on
her abdomen, while being observed by a cutout female body topped with a lightbulb for a head. The
textures and distances of these objects echo a Surrealistic narrative that evokes archetypes of mother,
animal, nature, and healing. Each poem challenges us to acknowledge the elements that shaped us and
encourages us to endure if one is to continue “yearning for hopeless white light.”
-Shareen K. Murayama, Author of Housebreak
James Diaz is an open vein, a parched mouth, a full heart. Their work speaks of pain and love—an aftertaste of exquisite silence, the kind where God resides. It’s not a surprise to see visual representations of the heat that swells beneath their skin. Within and without, hope extends its soft fingers through each of these collages. Without force, the observer understands the wholeness and openness of their intent. This collection is absolute treasure, screeching through the tresses of time. —Ingrid M. Calderon-Collins (author of Menses & An American Exorcism)
The poems examine hands and songs, pain at the kitchen table. Each cut-out word is an attempt to pin
down the stories we tell ourselves: deep-rooted pain heavy and hefted, love as seasons, and pain that’s
natural and necessary for redemption. On the canvas of the page, Diaz utilizes the warm luster of
brown paper, punctured with holes as evidence of impermanence. In the foreground, a cutout photo
of a woman lies on a bed of cotton balls, hand on head with a young girl holding a suitcase planted on
her abdomen, while being observed by a cutout female body topped with a lightbulb for a head. The
textures and distances of these objects echo a Surrealistic narrative that evokes archetypes of mother,
animal, nature, and healing. Each poem challenges us to acknowledge the elements that shaped us and
encourages us to endure if one is to continue “yearning for hopeless white light.”
-Shareen K. Murayama, Author of Housebreak
James Diaz is an open vein, a parched mouth, a full heart. Their work speaks of pain and love—an aftertaste of exquisite silence, the kind where God resides. It’s not a surprise to see visual representations of the heat that swells beneath their skin. Within and without, hope extends its soft fingers through each of these collages. Without force, the observer understands the wholeness and openness of their intent. This collection is absolute treasure, screeching through the tresses of time. —Ingrid M. Calderon-Collins (author of Menses & An American Exorcism)
