I wrote these image poems as part of a collaborative project based on Bright Eyes’ new album, DOWN IN THE WEEDS, WHERE THE WORLD ONCE WAS. For the best experience, you can pair the words with the music video: “Mariana Trench” directed by Art Camp, and made at Art Camp. The animation is composed of 2,200 hand-illustrated ink paintings based on original 3D animations and archival footage.
1
A girl with wild hair sits in a pile of leaves throwing berries into her mouth. She makes her way through the woods, her green dress gathers twigs, dirt, flowers. Hummingbirds keep pace at her shoulders. As she approaches the ceremony, she is wearing the forest. Eventually her human form disappears and the dress dances itself and then dissolves back into its component parts.
2
A sad man hiding under his bedcovers notices a butterfly flying above his head. At first he ignores it, but the butterfly is persistent. The butterfly cajoles the man out of bed, and he proceeds to follow the butterfly outside, down a road, through a mountain, along a stream, in his pajamas, until they reach the ceremony.
3
A lounging family of tigers hops out of a TV, gradually destroying a suburban living room, making themselves at home.
4
One of the first humans reaches into a deep deep hole and pulls out a modern looking human with considerable effort and suspense. The modern person joins the ceremony.
5
A woman writes in a notebook that flies out of her hands. She tries to catch it, but it has already turned back into a tree.
6
Two old trees share a knowing laugh as the ceremony continues beneath them. (The era of humans is finally over.)
7
An old craftsman takes apart brick by brick a massive structure that he built with his own two hands, which then, in ruins, holds the ceremony.
8
A joyful family of mushrooms hopping downstairs to a dinner table of micro-organisms, saying grace.
9
A bear in a bathtub, her baby cubs play in the sink, the bathroom has only three walls and looks out into a thick forest.
10
Two boys mimic the running and leaping of a gazelle in a rainstorm.
11
A pack of wolves running through a row of outdoor cafe tables.
12
A thousand barking La Jolla seals shuffle around an empty highway.
13
The pyramids of Giza, the Parthenon, Alhambra, Taj Mahal, Abu Dhabi skyscraper, Eifel Tower, side by side ruins
14
A mother, father, and child running through a field of flowers, each freezing to become a flower or a tree.
15
A little girl takes a deep breath and blows on dandelion, scattering its wisps to the winds.
16
A jeweled crown becomes a Matisse circle of dancers.
17
Two brothers are split apart when the land bridge of the Bering Strait sinks into a vast ocean, thousands of years taking place in seconds.