Poem That Never Ends

by Silvina López Medin

Sparked by the only two letters —out of over a hundred—that López Medin’s mother saved from her own mother in Paraguay, POEM THAT NEVER ENDS weaves together poems and family photos to explore the fragmentation of time, memory, and mother-child relationships. Fragments, family hearing impairments, ripped-up letters, and living and writing between languages point to the inescapable holes in language, troubling the notion of a finite utterance. Layering elements of painting, cinema, and the elusive three dimensions of theater into the weave, Poem That Never Ends traces a sequence of mothers—López Medin’s mother, her mother’s mother, herself as a mother—in a porous, restless gesture toward what’s never fully grasped.

Genres: Poetry

Unknown Binding

Published April 27, 2021

Reviews

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best poetry books I’ve read. If you’ve never read a poetry book or only read them as separate pieces, maybe try this one. Every piece lends itself to the next, there is a stitching between each line, a repetition of threads in black and white, in ink and in splinters. There are walls and membranes and perforations between mother and mother, family and self, memory and writing, what is heard and what is seen. Photos are critically integrated as well as references to artists and other books, I can only explain by saying the book feels like it found its true form.

[Dora Prieto · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of poetry incorporating images and fragments in a diaristic tone, and bolded words that speak to hearing loss. It deals with the subject matter of three generations of mothers of the author's family in an oblique way which resonates; I think the poet’s interest is more about the intent, the inquiry, rather than uncovering truths. I think this is a beautiful way to approach an archive. Throughout, a lexicon of sewing stitches together the fragments. 10/10 recommend!

[Rebecca Valley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book about motherhood and the way that memories are lost inside people. Formally interesting, with so many wonderful pictures. More thoughts to come on www.readdrizzle.blog.