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The Final Abdication of Elisa Lam
I. Elisa Lam Deposition by Sean Kilpatrick
II. Invisible Light Agency by M Kitchell
"In February 2013, the body of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student, was found inside one of the water supply tanks on the hotel roof. Lam went missing January 31, and her decomposed body was discovered on February 19 by a maintenance worker in one of the rooftop water tanks of Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel, after guests had complained about low water pressure and water that 'tasted funny'. Authorities later ruled Lam's death as an accidental drowning. Video surveillance footage taken from inside an elevator showed Lam acting strangely, pressing multiple elevator buttons, hiding in the corner of the elevator, and waving her arms wildly, causing widespread speculation about the cause of her death."
II. Invisible Light Agency by M Kitchell
"In February 2013, the body of Elisa Lam, a 21-year-old Canadian student, was found inside one of the water supply tanks on the hotel roof. Lam went missing January 31, and her decomposed body was discovered on February 19 by a maintenance worker in one of the rooftop water tanks of Los Angeles' Cecil Hotel, after guests had complained about low water pressure and water that 'tasted funny'. Authorities later ruled Lam's death as an accidental drowning. Video surveillance footage taken from inside an elevator showed Lam acting strangely, pressing multiple elevator buttons, hiding in the corner of the elevator, and waving her arms wildly, causing widespread speculation about the cause of her death."
28 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 1, 2014
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 14, 2015
Their chapbooks have a limited a limited quantity, this one is no longer in print but there are free PDF downloads, just click on: Out of Print titles
I've been reading, but not blogging, but don't worry, it's not dead. Although, despite that I haven't been blogging much, Lilliputian Press has been pretty dead. It's not easy managing two blogs. It's also not easy reviewing chapbooks or poetry. So here's Sean Kilpatrick and M. Kitchell. I'm familiar with Kitchell, but not Sean Kilpatrick, I believe I saw his name somewhere, but never even seen his work. He's not talked about much? he should be talked about more.
This is sort of a chapbook duology. It's all poetry written about the death of Elisa Lam. You can read all about Elisa Lam on the wiki page. I honestly feel like they haven't searched hard enough and they're hiding something. Like come on? How is that an accident?
Sean Kilpatrick's poetry seems to speak from either the killer's perspective if she was murdered or her thoughts before she died. The words do sort of have a "watching from above," feel to it. Or maybe they are just his general thoughts and feelings wrapped up in poetic form (I read it again to put some quotes in this.) I will say that his half was my favorite, it felt like the creepy whispering in the fog, the serial killer intents. I'm talking about paranormal horror movie stuff, I hope this doesn't get misinterpreted. I don't know, but this part fits the unsettling circumstances of her death. Mysterious, unknown, and sends chills up your spine. Oh yeah, his part is called "Elisa Lam Deposition."
"Have I not laid kingdoms at
your feet? Are their screams
not plenty?
I’ll shove a palace in my hat
before you skip a tune."
"I was auditioned alive.
The truth is you spared me?
I disintegrate on cue."
The second half is "Invisible Light Agency," which is M. Kitchell's part. This one is a bit more direct and focuses more on Kitchell's reaction towards her death. And I'm not really sure why, but I feel like people are a little too fascinated with her death. Is it because they want to know why or how? Because it is true, her death is very similar to a horror movie. My thoughts towards her, all I can think of is, this innocent woman's life, who does have a lot of troubles, ended and no one seems to know or care to search harder and find out who murdered her.
If people say that the video is tampered with, then there is definitely something behind it. And nobody working in the hotel noticed the elevator acting weird and asked her anything? Was it just really early and no one was around? This is one of the reasons why I don't go to an elevator by myself if there is a guy in there. M. Kitchell's part is the "why?" of this chapbook. There are some stanzas that are references to evidence around her murder, one of them I just found out about: "FECTO CUNT HER SUMA / (PERFECT OBEDIENT CUNT)" It is Latin for that. I wasn't sure what that meant and I looked it up and apparently it was the words of a piece of graffiti in the water tank. I don't how people are finding pictures of that though. You know what? That's probably proof that she was murdered, because who would write that other than a sadistic serial killer? I just wanted to add that. Unless that was there before, but who would go into a water tank to do grafitti? This hotel that she was in was also where the Black Dahlia Murder happened and various other cases of murdered woman. Like seriously, I'm getting slightly pissed off that this keeps happening and no one has found the killers. He also writes a bit of a poetic or lyrical essay? Okay, poetic prose, questioning her end.
" The question is what’s important.
When the elevator door shuts the camera has
already forgotten the body & movement of
Elisa Lam. The hover of the entity. The dance
performed with and to the void. If I could
shut my eyes to stop watching I would see the
details that I’ve already forgotten. Whispering,
SHE PUT HER HANDS ON BOTH THE
WALLS, I’m lost inside the gesture, as if to
reach for form in blindness contra the passivity
entrusted against absence. Spread out the lines
of text. The suddenness of an elevator door. The
flicker: black wall / white hallway (repeat).
Hymn to complacency."
"“the resisting body is
the subject of performance”
(& when the body is absent
it is gesture that speaks)
& the echoes
down corridors, hallways"
Rating: 4.5/5
I've been reading, but not blogging, but don't worry, it's not dead. Although, despite that I haven't been blogging much, Lilliputian Press has been pretty dead. It's not easy managing two blogs. It's also not easy reviewing chapbooks or poetry. So here's Sean Kilpatrick and M. Kitchell. I'm familiar with Kitchell, but not Sean Kilpatrick, I believe I saw his name somewhere, but never even seen his work. He's not talked about much? he should be talked about more.
This is sort of a chapbook duology. It's all poetry written about the death of Elisa Lam. You can read all about Elisa Lam on the wiki page. I honestly feel like they haven't searched hard enough and they're hiding something. Like come on? How is that an accident?
Sean Kilpatrick's poetry seems to speak from either the killer's perspective if she was murdered or her thoughts before she died. The words do sort of have a "watching from above," feel to it. Or maybe they are just his general thoughts and feelings wrapped up in poetic form (I read it again to put some quotes in this.) I will say that his half was my favorite, it felt like the creepy whispering in the fog, the serial killer intents. I'm talking about paranormal horror movie stuff, I hope this doesn't get misinterpreted. I don't know, but this part fits the unsettling circumstances of her death. Mysterious, unknown, and sends chills up your spine. Oh yeah, his part is called "Elisa Lam Deposition."
"Have I not laid kingdoms at
your feet? Are their screams
not plenty?
I’ll shove a palace in my hat
before you skip a tune."
"I was auditioned alive.
The truth is you spared me?
I disintegrate on cue."
The second half is "Invisible Light Agency," which is M. Kitchell's part. This one is a bit more direct and focuses more on Kitchell's reaction towards her death. And I'm not really sure why, but I feel like people are a little too fascinated with her death. Is it because they want to know why or how? Because it is true, her death is very similar to a horror movie. My thoughts towards her, all I can think of is, this innocent woman's life, who does have a lot of troubles, ended and no one seems to know or care to search harder and find out who murdered her.
If people say that the video is tampered with, then there is definitely something behind it. And nobody working in the hotel noticed the elevator acting weird and asked her anything? Was it just really early and no one was around? This is one of the reasons why I don't go to an elevator by myself if there is a guy in there. M. Kitchell's part is the "why?" of this chapbook. There are some stanzas that are references to evidence around her murder, one of them I just found out about: "FECTO CUNT HER SUMA / (PERFECT OBEDIENT CUNT)" It is Latin for that. I wasn't sure what that meant and I looked it up and apparently it was the words of a piece of graffiti in the water tank. I don't how people are finding pictures of that though. You know what? That's probably proof that she was murdered, because who would write that other than a sadistic serial killer? I just wanted to add that. Unless that was there before, but who would go into a water tank to do grafitti? This hotel that she was in was also where the Black Dahlia Murder happened and various other cases of murdered woman. Like seriously, I'm getting slightly pissed off that this keeps happening and no one has found the killers. He also writes a bit of a poetic or lyrical essay? Okay, poetic prose, questioning her end.
" The question is what’s important.
When the elevator door shuts the camera has
already forgotten the body & movement of
Elisa Lam. The hover of the entity. The dance
performed with and to the void. If I could
shut my eyes to stop watching I would see the
details that I’ve already forgotten. Whispering,
SHE PUT HER HANDS ON BOTH THE
WALLS, I’m lost inside the gesture, as if to
reach for form in blindness contra the passivity
entrusted against absence. Spread out the lines
of text. The suddenness of an elevator door. The
flicker: black wall / white hallway (repeat).
Hymn to complacency."
"“the resisting body is
the subject of performance”
(& when the body is absent
it is gesture that speaks)
& the echoes
down corridors, hallways"
Rating: 4.5/5
read-in-2019
June 20, 2019Doom recitations towards the enigma.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews