Otter Fetish (it’s not what you think)

otterFetishi think i’ve always ‘had a thing’ for found object art. but my perception is: in the absence of a really good angle, it’s only gluing (welding, tying…) random objects to other random objects.

what constitutes a really good angle is a subjective perception, like a lot of assessments about art.
granted, but i happened upon an angle that gave me a really good feeling.

it started as i was perusing a book on Zuni fetishes (read: ritual object possessing spiritual powers). i thought ‘why not make one?’ i was sure it would be a novel present for a good friend.

the following Sunday, i journeyed on foot to the flea market. in the adjacent empty lot, i paused to give thanks to the spirits and offer them a libation (coffee, black). the day was productive. the most important elements came to me for free or for under a buck. i came to perceive that as a sign.

this is an Otter fetish. my birthday celebrant friend had some recent experiences with Otter. Otter is playful and flexible and is associated with divine feminine and lunar energies. how wonderful to have Otter as a spirit guide!

i felt safe in adopting a playful and open attitude in my Otter fetish adventure. had i been constructing a Wolf or Snake fetish, i might have been more solemn and tactful…

teenage poetry

stacks of teenage poetry erupt into flame
leaping through the air i grasp at
shards of paper with still legible fragments
feed them back into the blaze
the world will never know them twice
this is my fantasy
in truth:
they sit in stacks of composition journals
dusty in my closet under yearbooks of that era
in a pile of shirts aimed for donation boxes
it is a secret heap of shame
i blush at my adolescent grandiosity
knowing it is still present but better-guised
i think of rifling through the sheaths of paper
scouring for useable bits
seeds for better works
it never makes my to-do list
should i perish tomorrow
it will be like dying in ugly underwear

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