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21C HUMAN: Poetry and Essays
21C Human is a collection of poetry and essays detailing the millennial perspective in three parts.
“The epistemological problem television created was not that it gave us entertainment, but that all subject matter, no matter how serious, is presented as entertainment. In the 21C, social media has amplified this through the encouragement of performative self-exposure – now we can be the stars of our own channels, performing our lives for others as entertainers. First, we watched the circus, now we are the clowns.”
(excerpt from The Medium is the Master )
Part 1 reflects on western political culture, including how social media is affecting democracy, on climate anxiety, on our disillusionment with populist politicians, and many others.
But when work no longer pays
and we cannot buy our homes
our whole culture of possession
will crumble into the unknown
(excerpt from The False Messiah )
Part 2 delves into a woman’s experience of navigating constantly contradicting expectations in the public and private sphere, including verse about domestic and emotional labour, and essays including ‘Why I probably won’t get married’ and ‘Why I don’t want children’.
If more fathers acted like parents, more women would choose to be mothers.
(excerpt from Why I don’t want children )
Part 3 journeys through the depths of a pandemic-induced depression culminating in a turn towards existentialism and rebellion.
First came the exile, the sudden partition, depriving us of human touch
Second, the world became a distortion, still physically there, as a mirage
The spaces exist, but I cannot return. The external does not resemble itself
I’ve sunk into deep, ambiguous loss, slowly collapsing in on myself
(excerpt from The plague (month 14 of the pandemic) )
“The epistemological problem television created was not that it gave us entertainment, but that all subject matter, no matter how serious, is presented as entertainment. In the 21C, social media has amplified this through the encouragement of performative self-exposure – now we can be the stars of our own channels, performing our lives for others as entertainers. First, we watched the circus, now we are the clowns.”
(excerpt from The Medium is the Master )
Part 1 reflects on western political culture, including how social media is affecting democracy, on climate anxiety, on our disillusionment with populist politicians, and many others.
But when work no longer pays
and we cannot buy our homes
our whole culture of possession
will crumble into the unknown
(excerpt from The False Messiah )
Part 2 delves into a woman’s experience of navigating constantly contradicting expectations in the public and private sphere, including verse about domestic and emotional labour, and essays including ‘Why I probably won’t get married’ and ‘Why I don’t want children’.
If more fathers acted like parents, more women would choose to be mothers.
(excerpt from Why I don’t want children )
Part 3 journeys through the depths of a pandemic-induced depression culminating in a turn towards existentialism and rebellion.
First came the exile, the sudden partition, depriving us of human touch
Second, the world became a distortion, still physically there, as a mirage
The spaces exist, but I cannot return. The external does not resemble itself
I’ve sunk into deep, ambiguous loss, slowly collapsing in on myself
(excerpt from The plague (month 14 of the pandemic) )
146 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2023
6 people want to read
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