Erasure: This is a process in which a writer extracts words, in the exact order as they appear in a text, ‘erasing’ the rest, to create a poem. I chose Susan Sontag’s On Photography. I opened Sontag’s book at a random page, spotted the word ‘Paris’ and began.
For Paris
i
disparate events
conducted
with detachment
flimsy variant
weapon
automated
ready to spring
simple as pulling the trigger
ii
seeing as they never see themselves
possessed
soft murder
a sad frightened time
roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour
iii
in Paris
dead relatives and friends
absence
evoked by photographs
the lover’s
politician’s
snapshots of children
lay claim
to history
iv
news of
horrors
event
unreal
unbearable
familiar
atrocity
cut sharply
deeply
swallowed
v
spies, coroners
borders arbitrary
inexhaustible
rooted in
muteness
makes us
feel
poignant longings
for redemption
the body of the world
showered with light