← Back to the archive
Visual interpretation of "What can you do now to prepare?": The real test will come; When you haven't studied,

No. 027

October 26, 2024·15 lines·1 min read

What can you do now to prepare?

Than you've ever climbed before.

The real test will come When you haven't studied, When you're standing naked in the snow, When your legs are tired, and the hill is steeper Than you've ever climbed before. The test will come When you haven't slept for days, When you look around, and the friends and family who once surrounded you have vanished into nothingness. The test will come When peace of mind eludes you. What can you do now to prepare For that inevitable day?

Stay in the room a little longer.

Checking who has held this poem...

Part of your record in the archive.

Sign in if you want your name to stay with the record.

Keep this one close.

Saved on this device. Part of your shelf.

Send the line onward, save the story image, or pass the poem to someone who needs it.

Share on XPinterest image

 

Sign in if you want shares and story actions to carry your name in the archive record.

If this poem stayed with you, the next one will find you.

A quieter way to stay close to the work. One poem at a time.

New poems and explorations

Delivered by Substack.

Hear the poem in one breath.

A studio reading for the archive, voiced with care and restraint.

Studio reading
What can you do now to prepare?0:00 / 0:34

Watch the poem move.

Some pieces also live in motion. This film belongs to the same poem, not as a replacement for the page, but as another way into it.

Archive entry 78·36s·9 likes·0 comments

Film by @rosiezopfi

Read the original post on Instagram5 likes on Instagram3 comments
Part of a living collection since September 2024.

A way further in

Not the final meaning. Just a closer read, a better question, and a few nearby poems worth opening next.

Start with the concrete details: the room, the body, the parent, the door. They are carrying the feeling for you.

Opening line

Where the door opens.

The real test will come

Center line

Where the temperature changes.

When you haven't slept for days,

Leaving line

The line to carry out with you.

For that inevitable day?

If you came here carrying something

If your inner world still has your family in it, these poems know that language.

MemoryFamily

These poems meet the reader where memory and upbringing still shape the present tense.

Stay in the archive a little longer.

If this one stayed with you, keep it. Then either leave a note, keep moving through the archive, or ask the Studio where to go next.

Notes for Collection No. 27

A guestbook for the poem itself. Leave a response, an image prompt, or an image link if it belongs in the same room.

The real test will come

A good note starts where the poem stayed with you.

Loading notes...

Every note becomes part of the room's memory.

Say what stayed with you, what it opened up, or what line you are carrying out of the room.

Sign in if you want the room to remember your name.

The reading room

Loading notes...