A poetry collection about conspiring to do right within the constraints of inherited structures, Systems Thinking with Flowers critiques unearned authority in its many guises. In two sections, the book chronicles the complex emotional gymnastics required for existence in male-dominated and colonialist environments, such as professional sports, museums, and other institutions.
The first section zeroes in on Major League Baseball, referencing specific players and teams as the poems consider the ways in which the spectator is implicated by the stadium environment. Constant advertising is a given (the eighth inning is brought to you by Kars for Kids), but fans can do the trick of seeing it and seeing past it.
While the second section of the collection wanders away from sports, the poems find the same capitalist and racist logics undergirding settings such as gas stations, art museums, and the workplace. “Fatigued with proving my merit nightly,” the speaker in this book longs for a reprieve that does not come. “My gritty leather death event goes all kaput.” Under such circumstances, any activity outside the cash economy may build a new world bit by bit.
Systems Thinking is a human resources concept that honors the complexity of human behavior by suggesting that workplace challenges should be addressed holistically. It is the opposite of whack-a-mole. And while you’re at it, get some fresh flowers. Enjoy your life. You’re worth it.
Chosen by Rae Armantrout, Systems Thinking with Flowers was the winner of the 2019 Fonograf Editions Open Genre Book Prize. Volume Foreword by Rae Armantrout.
