Emma Rhodes
Biography
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Emma Rhodes is from Strathmore, Alberta and currently resides in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Rhodes completed a Bachelor of Arts at St. Thomas University with Honours in English Language and Literature with a Concentration in Creative Writing, and a Major in Great Books in 2020. She has worked as a Social Media and Publicity Intern for Goose Lane Editions, and has also worked for moorehype Publicity, The Miramachi Reader and The Fiddlehead. Rhodes is currently an ESL teacher for QKids, and an avid makeup enthusiast. Her poems “My Queer” and “When Was the Last Time I Thanked my Mother” won the Castro Prize for Poetry in 2021.
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Poem: "Resilience? 1"
Japan takes broken
pottery. Puts
it back together with
melted gold.
Renders
the pottery
more
beautiful
than before.
Amy’s boyfriend smashes
her
window
before leaving.
Then returning
with gold
chocolate coins.
Melt in-your-hands-anyway
and Amy
brightens.
patched up
with dollarless coins.
gold
foil.
Looks,
Upon first glance,
to be
beautiful,
once again.
Smash the thing
once,
twice,
render it
more
beautiful
than before.
Break the thing
once,
twice,
you will love it
more.
Published by Flourish Fest 2020.
Republished here with the author’s permission.
pottery. Puts
it back together with
melted gold.
Renders
the pottery
more
beautiful
than before.
Amy’s boyfriend smashes
her
window
before leaving.
Then returning
with gold
chocolate coins.
Melt in-your-hands-anyway
and Amy
brightens.
patched up
with dollarless coins.
gold
foil.
Looks,
Upon first glance,
to be
beautiful,
once again.
Smash the thing
once,
twice,
render it
more
beautiful
than before.
Break the thing
once,
twice,
you will love it
more.
Published by Flourish Fest 2020.
Republished here with the author’s permission.
Critical Analysis: Mock Kintsugi (Content Warning for Discussion of Abuse)
Caelin Sullivan (Managing Editor 2020-2021)
Rhodes opens her poem “Resilience? I” with a description of Kintsugi, a Japanese pottery technique: “Kintsugi repair is a traditional craft technique for repairing broken ceramics using urishu, a plant-based adhesive lacquer resin decorated with gold or silver” (Kuelemans 16). Rhodes’ poetic form is unique, as she utilizes the entire page to add visual meaning to the written word. The opening stanza is more structured, occupying the same space on the page. This visual makes sense with the content of the stanza, as the lines “Puts/ it back together with/ melted gold” (Rhodes 2-4), describe a tempered and controlled process of working with delicate pottery.
The following stanza is more spread out, but evenly spaced, as though the reader is slowly descending a staircase:
Renders
the pottery
more
beautiful
than before. (5-9)
The next stanza being positioned on the opposite side of the page increases the contrast to the rest of the poem so far. Rhodes’ use of enjambment also works brilliantly in this section. The line “Amy’s boyfriend smashes” (10) as a stand-alone line can be freely interpreted. This line is longer than all of the lines in the prior, which draws in the reader’s attention. However, the addition of the line “her” (11) creates the sentence “Amy’s boyfriend smashes her”, implying that he is abusive, and has broken her spirit. The enjambment then adds an additional meaning, as the following line “window” (12) creates “Amy’s boyfriend smashes her window”. This has an added implication that this relationship is one in which physical violence takes place, as well as emotional abuse. The final portion of this sentence is fragmented by a paragraph break and creates an added emphasis on the words “before leaving” (13). The fragmenting of this sentence emphasizes Amy’s brokenness, and how the boyfriend is leaving her while she is hurt and vulnerable.
The following stanza’s placement in the middle of the page physically emphasizes the way that it ties the previous stanzas together. As the boyfriend breaks Amy’s window and returns with chocolate gold coins to try and patch up the hurt and damage he has caused, he is performing a mock Kintsugi. However, Rhodes follows this up with another section of the poem that is positioned slightly further to the right side of the page, aligning it more with brokenness. It begins with the phrase “Melt-in-your-hands-anyway” (17). The hyphens between each word forces the reader to slow and take in the choppiness of the structure of the poem, as well as the words themselves. The gold that Amy’s boyfriend tries to patch her up with, unlike in Kintsugi, is not lasting. It is a fleeting, temporary joy. Yet, Amy brightens (18-19).
Amy takes this small token as a place holder for her boyfriend’s care, as she is “patched up” (20) by the coins. However, as the narrator points out, these coins are “dollarless” (21). Unlike in Kintsugi where pottery is patched with real gold or silver, these coins have no inherent value, only the value that one places on them. The narrator then says:
Looks,
Upon first glance,
to be
beautiful,
once again. (24-28)
Though the relationship between Amy and her boyfriend appears on the surface level to be fixed, he has actually not put in the effort to make things right. There is no indication that he has actually apologized or has any intent to deal with his anger issues and change as a person. Kintsugi takes craft and skill. Time and dedication. Amy’s boyfriend has not properly patched things up.
The final two stanzas of the poem are incredibly powerful and stick in the brain due to the rhyming ends. For the ending, the reader is brought all the way back over to the left-hand side of the page, where the poem began. This is a nice visual way of tying the end of poem back to the beginning. While “Smash the thing” is an obvious reference to the broken pottery discussed in the opening stanza, in this case it also applies to Amy. She is regarded as a “thing” by her boyfriend who smashes her window, in effect smashing her. The narrator says to smash the thing “once,/ twice,” implying that this is not the first instance that Amy’s boyfriend has pulled such a stunt, but that this a repeated pattern of abuse. The addition of the lines:
render it
more
beautiful
than before. (32-35)
are a direct call back to the similar lines in the opening stanza, but now that the reader has the context of Amy and her boyfriend, this leaves the impression that Amy’s boyfriend thinks she needs him, and that they are better together than apart. Finally, Rhodes wraps up the poem with the repetition of “once,/ twice,” (37-38) drawing attention to the abusive patterns of this relationship, and finishes with the lines “you will love it/ more.” (39-40). This hammers home the art of Kintsugi, and how though it is often used as a metaphor for many different aspects of life, is not an applicable model to relationships, because human beings are not pottery. However, like pottery, they can only stand to be hurt so many times before they break.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Keulemans, Guy. “The Geo-cultural Conditions of Kintsugi.” The Journal of Modern Craft 9.1 (2016): 15-34. worldcat.org. Web 11 May 2021.
Rhodes, Emma. “Resilience? 1.” Flourish Fest Zine 2020. Print.
Rhodes opens her poem “Resilience? I” with a description of Kintsugi, a Japanese pottery technique: “Kintsugi repair is a traditional craft technique for repairing broken ceramics using urishu, a plant-based adhesive lacquer resin decorated with gold or silver” (Kuelemans 16). Rhodes’ poetic form is unique, as she utilizes the entire page to add visual meaning to the written word. The opening stanza is more structured, occupying the same space on the page. This visual makes sense with the content of the stanza, as the lines “Puts/ it back together with/ melted gold” (Rhodes 2-4), describe a tempered and controlled process of working with delicate pottery.
The following stanza is more spread out, but evenly spaced, as though the reader is slowly descending a staircase:
Renders
the pottery
more
beautiful
than before. (5-9)
The next stanza being positioned on the opposite side of the page increases the contrast to the rest of the poem so far. Rhodes’ use of enjambment also works brilliantly in this section. The line “Amy’s boyfriend smashes” (10) as a stand-alone line can be freely interpreted. This line is longer than all of the lines in the prior, which draws in the reader’s attention. However, the addition of the line “her” (11) creates the sentence “Amy’s boyfriend smashes her”, implying that he is abusive, and has broken her spirit. The enjambment then adds an additional meaning, as the following line “window” (12) creates “Amy’s boyfriend smashes her window”. This has an added implication that this relationship is one in which physical violence takes place, as well as emotional abuse. The final portion of this sentence is fragmented by a paragraph break and creates an added emphasis on the words “before leaving” (13). The fragmenting of this sentence emphasizes Amy’s brokenness, and how the boyfriend is leaving her while she is hurt and vulnerable.
The following stanza’s placement in the middle of the page physically emphasizes the way that it ties the previous stanzas together. As the boyfriend breaks Amy’s window and returns with chocolate gold coins to try and patch up the hurt and damage he has caused, he is performing a mock Kintsugi. However, Rhodes follows this up with another section of the poem that is positioned slightly further to the right side of the page, aligning it more with brokenness. It begins with the phrase “Melt-in-your-hands-anyway” (17). The hyphens between each word forces the reader to slow and take in the choppiness of the structure of the poem, as well as the words themselves. The gold that Amy’s boyfriend tries to patch her up with, unlike in Kintsugi, is not lasting. It is a fleeting, temporary joy. Yet, Amy brightens (18-19).
Amy takes this small token as a place holder for her boyfriend’s care, as she is “patched up” (20) by the coins. However, as the narrator points out, these coins are “dollarless” (21). Unlike in Kintsugi where pottery is patched with real gold or silver, these coins have no inherent value, only the value that one places on them. The narrator then says:
Looks,
Upon first glance,
to be
beautiful,
once again. (24-28)
Though the relationship between Amy and her boyfriend appears on the surface level to be fixed, he has actually not put in the effort to make things right. There is no indication that he has actually apologized or has any intent to deal with his anger issues and change as a person. Kintsugi takes craft and skill. Time and dedication. Amy’s boyfriend has not properly patched things up.
The final two stanzas of the poem are incredibly powerful and stick in the brain due to the rhyming ends. For the ending, the reader is brought all the way back over to the left-hand side of the page, where the poem began. This is a nice visual way of tying the end of poem back to the beginning. While “Smash the thing” is an obvious reference to the broken pottery discussed in the opening stanza, in this case it also applies to Amy. She is regarded as a “thing” by her boyfriend who smashes her window, in effect smashing her. The narrator says to smash the thing “once,/ twice,” implying that this is not the first instance that Amy’s boyfriend has pulled such a stunt, but that this a repeated pattern of abuse. The addition of the lines:
render it
more
beautiful
than before. (32-35)
are a direct call back to the similar lines in the opening stanza, but now that the reader has the context of Amy and her boyfriend, this leaves the impression that Amy’s boyfriend thinks she needs him, and that they are better together than apart. Finally, Rhodes wraps up the poem with the repetition of “once,/ twice,” (37-38) drawing attention to the abusive patterns of this relationship, and finishes with the lines “you will love it/ more.” (39-40). This hammers home the art of Kintsugi, and how though it is often used as a metaphor for many different aspects of life, is not an applicable model to relationships, because human beings are not pottery. However, like pottery, they can only stand to be hurt so many times before they break.
Works Cited (for analysis):
Keulemans, Guy. “The Geo-cultural Conditions of Kintsugi.” The Journal of Modern Craft 9.1 (2016): 15-34. worldcat.org. Web 11 May 2021.
Rhodes, Emma. “Resilience? 1.” Flourish Fest Zine 2020. Print.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Poetry:
Rhodes, Emma. “A Series of Photographs Found in a Drawer in My Old Bedroom at My Parent’s House.” Feels Zine: Kinship 11 (2020) pp. 72. Print.
---. “COVID-19, March 2020.” A COVID-19 Anthology. 845 Press, 2020. thetemzreview.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “It Smells Like.” League of Canadian Poets. poets.ca Web 10 May 2021.
---. “John Locke in Practice.” Antilag Mag 9 (2021): 21-23. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “November Today Tomorrow or Yesterday.” Antilag Mag 9 (2021): 21-24. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Razor Burn: A Saga.” Marsh Blue Violet: Queer Poetry from New Brunswick. periodicities: a journal of poetry and poetics, edited by R.M Vaughan, 18 June 2020, periodicityjournal.blogspot.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Reliant.” Sonder Midwest. Sonder Midwest, 2018. Print.
---. “Resilience? 1.” Flourish Fest Zine 2020. Print.
---. “Resilience? II.” Riddle Fence 38 (2021). Print.
---. “Resilience, Really.” Riddle Fence 38 (2021). Print.
---. “Squirrels.” elm + ampersand Podcast, 3 Apr 2020. facebook.com. Web 10 May 2021.
Academic:
---. “Andrew Sisk’s Alden Nowlan Tribute.” Goose Lane Blog, gooselane.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “A Memoir in Poetry: You Won’t Always Be This Sad By Sheree Fitch.” The Miramachi Reader, 24 Aug 2020. miramichireader.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Crow Gulch 101.” Goose Lane Blog, gooselane.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Dear Addie: An Interview with the Author of Dear Twin.” The Town Crier, 13 Jan 2020. towncrier.puritan-magazine.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Everyone at This Party by Tanja Bartel.” The Miramachi Reader, 18 Jun 2020. miramichireader.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Interview with Guglielmo D’Izzia. The Town Crier, 21 May 2020. towncrier.puritan-magazine.com. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “In the Beggarly Style of Imitation by Jean Marc Ah-Sen.” The Miramachi Reader, 20 May 2020. miramichireader.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Little Blue Encyclopedia: An Interview with Hazel Jane Plante.” Plenitude Magazine, 17 Nov 2019. plenitudemagazine.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “On the Radar: Soft Power by Stewart Cole.” EVENT Magazine, 30 Oct 2019. eventmagazine.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “Toward the North: Stories by Chinese Canadian Writers, Edited by Hua Laura Wu, Xueqing Xu, And Corrine Bieman Davies.” The Miramachi Reader, 30 Jul 2020. miramichireader.ca. Web 10 May 2021.
---. “#820 Calgary and a World Awry.” The Ormsby Review, 7 May 2020. ormsbyreview.com. Web 10 May 2021.
Secondary Sources
St. Thomas University. “Creative Writing Prize Winners Announced.” 2021. stu.ca. Web May 10 2021.
