Dialogue:
Eric Abalajon and Nweke Bernard Okechukwu
Eric Abalajon on Nweke Bernard Okechukwu’s “Stateless”
Is war incomprehensible because it remains abstract? Especially ones from a distance, both in spatial and temporal terms. Witnesses may grieve for the dead, or at least the statistics, but this also forecloses the question to what extent is the living really fortunate. Survival is coded by language, and what comes out is not necessarily the language spoken by survivors. Readers may only listen to testimonies, which means so much but also so little. Poetry after all is an estimation, an attempt, to defend the humanity of others, or one's self. Nweke Benard Okechukwu here provides details against the barbarity of the abstract, of the forgotten.
Nweke Bernard Okechukwu on Eric Abalajon’s “Union Busting”
Eric Abalajon’s Union Busting is too practical to be consumed in written words only, through captivating artistic embellishment.
The brevity, too, marks its endearing aesthetics; where every line runs on, and divulges global everyday viewpoints of acclimatization, especially about finding fresh ground for greener pastures.
The association, and ups and downs following the moves are unambiguously and unequivocally buried in the line: “for general labor places, you need a union.”
Of course, working all weekdays long could not only be hectic, but breeds monotony of labor. And, opting for a shift is relatively akin to leveraging a pregnant horse with the burdensomeness on her back.
Even at that, the tendency for subtle animosity among colleagues in the workplace still grows wings. This, Eric metaphorically states: “those cocky lead hands” and goes on to say: “a lot of bullshit will evaporate with unions around.”
Eric nostalgically, through the poet persona, paints his bulging and persistent challenges in the new environment. This analogy is x-rayed between the new place and home which he might have thought of as discrepancies, though unyielding eventually.
Hence; “the problem is, if the union is similar back home, practical syndicates
they still side with management anyway
no difference”
By and large, this poem goes a long way to draw the tiny line between change and determinism to dovetail altogether to last or be short-lived which the subsequent lines conclude: “well, this is just temporary, we are already here
That’s true.”
For each issue, ballast asks pairs of poets to read each other’s work and respond in some way. We hope these dialogues will sound the resonances contained within the issue as well as serve to foster a sense of interconnection and community among our authors.
If you’ve been published in a previous issue of ballast and would like to participate in a dialogue, please reach out to our editors at ballastjournal@gmail.com.