DECAMPMENT

This post is a first for Saxifrage Press and Poem of the Week, and hopefully not the last of its kind.  With the recent release of Josh Mossotti’s animated short film “Decampment” (based on the poem with the same title by Travis Mossotti that originally appeared in the winter 2010 issue of the Southern Humanities Review), I thought it appropriate to share the film with others interested in the literary arts. Please take some time (14 min) to watch and support this unique blend of poetry into animation.  Here, you will find links to the film’s official website (where it is available in both SD and HD) as well as a link to watch it on You Tube. 

After you’ve watched, please follow the link to the Decampment Facebook page and consider writing a review or just simply liking the page.  Nearly three years of combined artistic efforts has gone into the making of this one-of-a-kind film.  Enjoy!

            ~ Philip Levine, Not This Pig (Wesleyan 1968)

            Not too much needs to be said about this poem that you couldn’t find articulated better by someone else, somewhere else.  I love the hostility in this poem, a kind of genuine anger in the speaker’s tone that keeps me coming back again and again.  It never gets old.  It seems fresh and visceral each time I read it. 

            ~TM

~ Mark Jarman, Unholy Sonnets (Story Line Press, 2000)

          I remember reading this while I was writing a fit of sonnets (46 in one semester, only two of which survived), and admiring Jarman’s grace.  The above is one that just seemed perfect for this time of year.

          ~ TM

~ Olena Kalytiak Davis, And Her Soul Out of Nothing (Wisconsin Press Bittingham Prize 1997)

          I just needed to put something up.  It doesn’t feel right letting blight overcome such a wonderful source of poetry.

          ~ TM

~ Julia Kasdorf, Eve's Striptease (Pitt Press 1998)

          This poem was such a surprise.  She moves deceptively and wonderfully toward the last image, which never fails to make me both shudder and smile.  Good stuff.

          ~TM