Negative Space

by B.R. Yeager

In darker ages, demons were thought to represent force devoid of life. They had not yet become anthropomorphized—they were akin to the weather, or a flood or a rockslide. Demons represented systems that could not be read utilizing the knowledge of the era. And in that way they persist. Are the words I speak inside or outside my self? We are vessels perpetually afflicted by alienation and contamination. Our bodies become contaminated by hormones in our food and drinking supplies. Our bodies gradually fill with microplastics. The components comprised of “us” are, with increasing frequency, comprised of materials that originate from outside ourselves. Therefore, it is ludicrous to ignore the degree to which even our physical selves are “outside.” Here, we have no trouble accepting that external forces are altering the essence of our identities. Yet notions that our thoughts, concepts, ideas exist and produce effects beyond our corporal vessels are outright dismissed.