Reflected Fractures by Ren Kato
"Watch out, there are holes in the ground and lions in the lounge room
Blood taints your glass of water, teeth swimming in your tomato soup
Cataclysm of those nocturnal eyes, might be going blind
You won’t be online tonight"
~ Lounge Room Surrealism
Reflected Fractures (2021) is Ren Katō's debut self-published poetry collection. Of Japanese and Vietnamese descent, Katō was born in Japan and raised in Australia. Throughout the collection, he explores themes of romance, alienation and loneliness in modern society through surreal and lyrical poems.
In the first half of the collection, the speaker expresses anxiety about technology and our online existence; particularly our addiction to our phones and screens, and the uncertainty and isolation this causes in the name of "connection." He is concerned that people are escaping from the real world by disappearing into their phones, which cause more harm than good. The "fractures" in the collection's title can be seen as our own internal fractures: a splitting of our sense of self. There is plenty of existential dread, as seen in "Human:"
"You wonder
what you would do
if there was nothing left to stream"
A few references to Nam June Paik, a pioneer video artist, caught my eye. Paik has been noted as coining the phrase "electronic super highway," and his work and thought can be seen as precursors to the internet and our information age. His art from the 1960s-70s explores our relationship with technology, and Katō takes this to its dystopian conclusion.
With their urban, noir settings, imagery and characters, the poems are almost Bladerunner-esque. There are angels brawling outside strip clubs, characters drinking wine and smoking cigarettes in dive bars being served by android bartenders, or otherwise skipping town and driving down endless highways. They are drifters and loners, seeking love or connection. In "Quiet City:"
"The goddess of love drinks alone
in the smoking area outside,
reading Sylvia Plath’s
Mad Girl’s Love Song
on her phone…"
Interestingly, Katō's poetry is also available to read on Instagram (@ren_kato_poetry), where the simple imagery, rhyme schemes and storytelling are accessible, easy to understand and speak to a large audience. His poems often have evocative double-barrelled names like, "Quiet City," "Lunar Surface," "Noxious Haze," "Modern Letters" or otherwise one word titles like "Mirror," "Concrete," "Endless," "Human." Here, his audience - who perhaps have similar feelings and anxieties around modern life - can use the online world as a space for connection.
While some poems are less developed than others, occasionally there are some truly breathtaking moments, as in this stanza from "Lunar Surface:"
"She and I went to sleep
Woke up on the lunar surface
I have no idea what we inhaled
into our lungs"
The simple stanzas and imagery also perhaps draw from more ancient forms of poetry such as the haiku. And it's evident that in the second half of the collection, the pieces start to move towards a different notion of escape; of retreating from modern civilisation for refuge in nature and art, as seen in "EDO:"
“As soon as I recover,
I plan to leave this civilisation and travel back in time
to Edo period Japan
where I will be a travelling poet
Maybe I’ll meet Yosa Buson and my ancestors”
Yosa Buson was a famous travelling poet and painter of Edo period Japan, known as one of the haiku masters. Another earlier travelling poet who also gets a mention is Li Bai, who I feel is closer to the core of this collection. Li Bai was a Chinese poet who lived in the first century. His work is known for it's clear imagery and conversational tone, as well as its romantic view of life. He frequently celebrated the joys of wine drinking, and wrote of friendship, solitude, the passing of time and joys of nature. Popular legend says that he drowned when, drunk in a boat, he tried to catch the moon's reflection in the water. Notably, the cover image for Katō’s collection is a distorted moon, reflected in a body of water.
Ultimately, the best advice for navigating this modern digital age comes in "Living Room," one of my favourite pieces in the collection:
"Block those fools you see on your feed. Drink wine during summer nights, and talk about the past. There is no story here, just random occurrences. Stay informed. Change what you can. Analyse architecture. Read poetry. Spy on the spies."
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You can purchase a copy of Reflected Fractures here.
Emily Riches is a writer and editor from Mullumbimby, currently living on Gadigal land (Sydney). She founded Aniko Press to bring passionate writers and curious readers together, discover new voices and create a space for creative community. You can say hi at emily@anikopress.com.