Obsolete Hill

The poems in Obsolete Hill explore the idea of the Japanese word 廃虚 (haikyo): modern-day ruins, literally translated as “obsolete hill.” Haikyo in Japan are largely ruins left behind from the burst of the 80s economic boom. These ruins are left largely untouched, inviting an exploration of how brief our lives--and the remnants of our lives here--are. The poems in this collection explore the idea of ruins not only in a literal sense, but also in the sense of self-identity, burnout, and disability in an age that deems worth through productivity and functionality. Obsolete Hill explores questions like: what does it mean to be a ruin? How do we find our worth outside of our functionality? How do we cope with the briefness of life, and how quickly the things we work for fall into ruin? Where do we find God, even in the midst of ruins?