2
ekke,1Ekke (Afrikaans, dialect form of ek) I
a softening of ego
each k
an I for either one of us
a butterfly-effect nudge
of history apart, and
it could have been ego2Ego (Afrikaans) ego
<<ee-χo>>
dorsal to uvular
/
then there’s Ich3Ich (German) I
a halfway itch
in the roof of the mouth
/that space
between I and ego
not as warm as the χ
not as deep in source
the orientation of the tongue
against the occidentation of airflow
a fish-scaled throat
to fend off rounded consonants
searching for an uvular I
bifid into a dialect of r
tapped? or untapped?
2
Oxidation
trailing from ekke through echo to ego.4Ekke (Afrikaans, dialect form of ek) I
Ego (Afrikaans) ego
Flex fricative,
narrowing air in the scratch of production,
muscular language laminate
doubling ego back through eggo to ekke’s5Eggo (Afrikaans) echo
ovular catharsis. Breathe
out, out, out,
let go of the abdomen in red or green lust.
Iron’s rust to silver’s green spire / aspiration
of verdant lungs wheezing themselves
to self
2.1
two sentry
and
the pressure of f
the bod
m
as certa
Oχ! l
on either s
a thou
m
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
echo
nger upon fist
ly vibrations of language
ddle toes retracted
n sounds leave the larynx
ke Ouch! as in6Oχ / آخ (Farsi) ouch
ache
de of the
n the
rror
2.2
2.2.1
Fricatives started as a dialogue between the two poets Khashayar Mohammadi and Klara du Plessis, a discussion of the importance and significance of the voiceless velar fricative “x” in linguistics, “g” in Afrikaans and “خ” in Farsi. The poetic dialogue revolves around the use, misuse, and signification of said fricative in different aspects of language.
Winner of the 2019 Pat Lowther Memorial Award, Klara du Plessis’s (her) debut collection, Ekke, was released from Palimpsest Press. Her second book is Hell Light Flesh, 2020. Klara is a poet, critic, and literary curator and resides in Montreal.
Khashayar Mohammadi (he/his) is a queer, Iranian-born, Toronto-based poet, writer, translator and photographer. He is the author of poetry chapbooks Moe’s Skin (ZED press, 2018), Dear Kestrel (knife | fork | book, 2019), and Solitude is an Acrobatic Act (above/ground press, 2020). His debut poetry collection, Me, You, Then Snow, was published by Gordon Hill Press in spring of 2021.
2×4^2 © Collusion Books, 2021. ISBN 978-1-7772244-9-3 (digital).
All rights reserved by the named contributors. Editing, design, and layout by Andy Verboom.
Animations based on work by the Seeing Speech project at the University of Edinburgh.
Collusion Books operates in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kmak’i, the traditional, unceded, and unsold territory of the Mi’kmaq.
