Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Fine Arts
Major
Creative Writing
Date of Defense
11-19-2020
Graduate Advisor
Shane Seely
Committee
Shane Seely
Andrea Scarpino
Steven Schreiner
Abstract
The poems in my thesis collection, The Apartments, explore a longing conversation between the self and its environment, simply attempting to say something. While many of the poems struggle with despairing subjects of loss, alienation, entanglement, and outside forces, glimpses of hope and love peer through and install a sense of optimism. As apartment buildings, each poem in the collection serves as its own compartment, working on its own to make something whole. My poetry investigates this concept of placement and belonging while desiring to succeed to find it; however, it fears the idea of failure. Many of the poems dabble in some sense of form, but they branch away from conventional techniques in efforts to say something new and fresh. They focus inward on smaller instances to develop and transcend clearer understandings of a nuanced world that can be bleak and unforgiving at times.
Recommended Citation
Molen, Luke, "The Apartments" (2020). Theses. 379.
https://irl.umsl.edu/thesis/379