Return to Sender
This artist's book questions the permanence of death and whether or not it truly ends experiences and dialogue between individuals and their loved ones. In the form of letters, the book is built from handmade recycled paper with dead plants from my family home and embellished with wildflower seeds. Using letterpress, short stories are printed into the letters describing memories that continue to persist in thought but can no longer be created anew.
she envelopes her senses with ghosts—
slightly burnt coffee and fabric softener,
dust and cheap bar soap,
soil and cooking oil.
she falls asleep with the blanket,
a portion against her nose.
a small girl traces
skin clings to
the veins of her
the elderly
grandmother’s matured
like life isn’t ready
hands, entranced.
to let go yet.
a pause?
continuation.
an end?
beginnings.
a hit of a drum,
another anticipated.
the beat of a heart,
the next foreseen.
the exhale of a breath,
the inhale expected.
and when it doesn’t come?