Ilona Yusuf
I wrote ‘listen’ after reading in depth about the complex set of motions that filter sound within the human ear, and looking at the patterns formed by waves of sound. Having set out to make artists’ books, a way of combining text and image, the work evolved to include a series of prints and small artworks to accompany the poem in the form of a unique book. Some of these are reproduced here.
Note: artists’ books can be unique, single editions, or limited editions ranging from ten or twenty five to two hundred.
i
the mechanics of hearing
hammer
anvil
stirrup
three bones
and a membrane
sandwiched midway along
a concealed tunnel
minuscule bones working
in the harmony
of sequential movement
strike the tympanum
-membrane stretched taut
across a hollow body
to receive a myriad
chromatic inflexions—
past the cone of light
in and out
back and forth
to and fro
the little hammer
pushes waves
past anvil and stirrup
past a forest of fibre swaying
liquid in the labyrinth
of chamber on spiral chamber
inland sea sounding
within a shell—
filtering translating
kaleidoscopes of sound
so that amidst cacophony
a single clear note
cuts through the air
filling it with pure sound
ii
the mechanics of silence
and then there is
erasure
a wilful act
to close the ear
to sounds it does not wish
to perceive or hear
to rub away voice
to stiffen the amaranthine flexing
of this assembly of moving parts
to dull the movement of
hammer
anvil
stirrup
against the tympanum
that it loses elasticity
that it idles untuned
that it unlearns
the shape of words
the reading of sound
the exercise of speech
that it rubs away voice
that it ossifies in silence
overwhelmed
listen i: the mechanics of hearing (smoke and graphite on Somerset paper)
All images courtesy of the author.
Ilona Yusuf is an artist, poet and Associate Editor (print) at The Aleph Review.