ABCderians
a cineplex. Palestine, + a prompt
Today I am sharing two ABCderians that I love, the essay, “Self-Portrait as a 1970s Cineplex Movie Theater” by Steve Fellner and the poem “A-Z Palestine” by Mosab Abu Toha.
An ABCderian is when an aspect of the text is arranged alphabetically. In Fellner’s case, it is a list of movies. In Abu Toha’s each stanza is labeled with a letter of the alphabet and the word that refers to the letter is nestled in the poem.
Fellner tells his life story through small snapshots based on movies he watched. The films serve as a jumping-off point into personal reflection and analysis of relationships; most of the time, the films are rather tertiary. He reveals himself bit by bit, in tiny glimpses and scenes that by the end have built a life that the reader feels like they understand. The entries are funny, knowing, and sad. I like to read it slowly and stop after each letter to think about what I learned about him in each section.
Abu Toha’s love letter/lament to Palestine is breathtaking and heartbreaking. I read it with my students aloud and someone’s voice always breaks and the room gets quiet as we read about a grandmother fleeing with oranges that she drops, a child who mistakes clouds for bombs, and the key saved for a door that no longer exists. Important to note that this was written in 2022, long before the current war.
My prompt to us:
Can we write an aspect of our story through movies (or books, poems, music, a mixture)?
Or can we find words that collectively tell a story about a place and write around them, hiding them safely in the text?
I’ve done this a few times, just taking notes - not completing anything polished, and the exercise has yielded long-forgotten images and impressions.
Hope your week is wonderful,
xo,
Amy