Xylem Release

On Friday, March 29 2013 while strolling down State Street, full of grilled cheese and veggies from Mark’s Carts, the commotion and bustle of the Work Gallery captured me. Low and behold, the perfect post-dinner snack for the mind’s eye lay before me in the form of the Xylem Release party.  Select writers were chosen to perform their pieces during this release, personal works that I only dare to scribe.

The most striking piece was a poem written by Seth B. Wolin. I do not know Seth B. Wolin. And yet, his piece spoke volumes to me. He spoke of the simultaneous individuality and anonymity of the masses, as well as the simultaneous cultural preservation and gentrification balance that most cannot seem to hit correctly. He spoke without excess drama and perfect smoothness.

Wolin explains his poem to be about a man he encountered in New York City, one that he would never meet again.  I truly respect the lack of narcissism in this piece, the ode to observation, and the understanding of the cultural struggle that is so prominent and often escapes those who are not overtly foreign.  He perfectly taps into the thought process I constantly experience on the subway in NYC, running into

strangers and wondering what their story is, and how they ended up here. The poem reads:

Figure on the Five Train
5’9” fresh-faced

transplant from Ukraine.
Where is your father?

Here, there is no province.
Only concrete asphalt red win
sky – starless, bounded monolith of

sky.

Not like home. And yet, neither
are you.

Short, precise, and powerful. Just the way I like em.
“Xylem Literary Magazine is an independent, student-run literary magazine at the University of Michigan that annually publishes original undergraduate student writing and art, including poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, artwork and photography. The journal exclusively features the creative work of University of Michigan undergraduates, and all aspects of the journal’s publicity, production, and publication are student-run.”