forever new grammar
Gabrielle Paré
July 2021
forever new grammar is a weaving of references from the writings of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the music of Beverly-Glenn Copeland and a fascination with the topology of language. This word-and-image poem is an appeal for a new space for communication and fellowship, made possible by the slipping and bending of old containers.
forever new grammar was commissioned by Safe Space Collective and printed in Zine 1 of the publication series “Safe Space.”
Ty! what was that cheap metaphor?
drop the dusty lines
and the closed brackets,
the (angels) jostling
in their airless spaces
for shallow prizes
no, give me disappearing margins
and fugitive marks —
sovereign soldiers
staking out a spacious news,
where the old this-and-that can mellow
unfamiliar and generous
...safer that way,
inside our new grammar, new and Ever New again.