The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: The Light We Cannot See by Anne Casey

This selection, chosen by Guest Curator Kirsten Kowalewski, is from The Light We Cannot See by Anne Casey, released by Salmon Poetry in 2021.

i
i
id
ide
idea
ideate
ideology
ideologue
ideal

ii
in my native
tongue, i
is topless: it’s lost
its head—a lopped
chıcken or dog
-matıc, runnıng
mındless, wıld


iii
in my                                                                                                 
native tongue,                                                                                                 
i is                                                                                                                              
sometimes topped with a fada [i.e. ‘long’] soundíng a sílent
scr[eee]am—as ín bean sí [banshee: ‘woman spírít’] emíttíng hígh pítched shríeks

iv
is what i think is needed in our [sk]in-deep
society—a transfusion of truth wouldn’t go amiss
in place of this iphone ipad ipod iwatch itv
in[s]ane existence where the i:eyes have it...
blïnking döts ïn the sky, ïn the walls,
on the ceïlïng, vïa satellïte & sïrï or alex[ï]
& strangers can link to conversations
you’ve had in the [quasi¿] privacy of your
very own mani[in]fested ïclouded home

ic [sic]
is what i’d intimate is missing in this in[v]erted
semi-[un]conscious, icecap-melting, species-oblit[era]ting
p[last]ic-proliferating, media-misap[prop]riating, ideate-[in]filtrating
p[rot]ectïonïst state where independent id is ımpaıred,
gaia’s spirit is shríekíng & ic: to care intensively is
the impasse between i-centric conservation &
an[nıhıl]ation

Originally from the west of Ireland and living in Sydney, Anne Casey is author of five poetry collections. A journalist and legal author for 30 years, her work is widely published internationally, ranking in The Irish Times‘ Most Read. Anne has won literary awards in Ireland, Australia, the UK, Canada, Hong Kong and the USA, most recently American Writers Review 2021 and the Henry Lawson Prize 2022. She is the recipient of an Australian Government scholarship and a bursary for her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney where she researches and teaches.

Kirsten Kowalewski is the editor for online horror fiction review resource Monster Librarian. She has an MLS and a specialist certificate in school library media from Indiana University, has worked as a children’s librarian and elementary school media specialist, and is a lifelong reader.