Note: Page numbers from the print version are indicated in brackets and should not be considered part of the text of the work.
[page 67] ‘(pre)possessed’ is a sequence of six erasure poems created using found text. The work explores the concept of hidden messages as a form of possession, where apparently unbiased newspaper cove-rage and banal magazine columns contain the seeds of other—darker—ideas exposed through erasure. Riffing on the urban legend of satanic messages buried in song lyrics using ‘backmasking’ and the practice of subliminal advertising, ‘(pre)possessed’ demonstrates how creative erasure can ‘uncover’ the demonic apparently hiding in plain sight. The found text used in the work was drawn randomly from a collection of British print media gathered over five months.
thoughts are poison
lives suspiciously haunted
daunting
a life that brings hundreds of messages
some vow to kill
everybody judges you
the grim truth is
violence comes from you
weak infected lunatic
lost
don’t talk about it
say nothing
fear fear their fury
breaking
erratic and unexpected
the dark heart of you is a revelation [page 68]
your enemy is you
the aggressive inward-looking one now allowed inside you
is relentless dysfunction
ii.
wings to tail
angelic above a broken world
visceral hideous fierce
far away and vulnerable
you want to fight
ardent and devout
you felt a sign of divine luck
a God-fearing hope
the stirring of a first twitch of resistance
but to battle is always more
dangerous
start the rite
old games
one chance
draw against the hidden
against disaster
iv.
a charm
sometimes pliability and cunning inveigle
seep in
voices foist their plan on us
hold us back [page 69]
we the imposed on
the people who don’t get to make our own decisions
lived in
processed through
meaning left looted and full of holes
we risk living through flashes old records of thought
we remember so little
v.
an aberration
over taking all
causing mental damage
for all will experience hopelessness
the homely and innocent
tricked and made corrupt
a crooked ordeal
the fate of the girl who started telling:
a dark story emotional troubled
a final trial
vi.
hiding in dreams
seemingly soulless
cryptic
no escape
possessed
body and soul
left to make peace with pain
terror has finally come to an end
the conviction
of closure [page 70]
Sources
Barden, Leonard. “Carlsen Jumps into Sixth-Round Lead at Wijk as He Hunts Rating Record.” The Guardian, Sport Supplement, 22 Jan. 2022, p. 2.
Bradshaw, Peter. “Mr Smith Goes to Washington.” The Guardian, Saturday Supplement, 22 Jan. 2022, p. 45.
“Brother of Victim Hails Conviction.” The i, 16 Apr. 2022, p. 35.
Bull, Andy. “Defiant Counterattack Shows This Team Are Worth Waking Up For.” The Guardian, 22 Jan. 2022, p. 15.
Chrisafis, Angeline. “‘That’s a Wrap: French Plastic Packaging Ban for Fruit and Veg Begins.” The Guardian, 31 Dec. 2021, p. 38.
Dent, Grace. “Hot Restaurants Do Not Want To Be Merely Hot.” The Guardian, Feast Supplement, 20 Nov. 2021, pp. 22–23.
Freedland, Jonathan. “The Dark Menace of Trump Is Back, Snapping at Biden’s Heels.” The Guardian, Journal Supplement, 8 Jan. 2022, pp. 1–2.
Kirkley, Paul “This Sporting Life: Interview with Dan Walker.” Waitrose Magazine, 3 Mar. 2022, pp. 10–13.
Kote, William J. “Postcard from Boston.” The i, 16 Apr. 2022, p. 34.
Pidd, Helen. “Only a Quarter of Those Who Wrote Integrated Rail Plan Rely on North of England’s Sub-Par Services.” The Guardian, 31 Dec. 2021, p. 17.
Roddy, Rachel. “Tales from an Italian Kitchen.” The Guardian, Feast Supplement, 20 Nov. 2021, pp. 20–21.
Runciman, David. “Shouting and Scheming: My Journey into the Mind of Dominic Cummings.” The Guardian, Saturday Supplement, 16 Jan. 2022, pp. 21–24.
“What’s on Television.” The Guardian, What’s On Supplement, 18–21 Dec. 2021, p. 2.
Wyver, Kate. “Hearty.” The Guardian, Saturday Supplement, 22 Jan. 2022, p. 45.
Sonia Overall is a writer, psychogeographer, and academic living in East Kent, UK. Her published work includes novels, poetry, short stories, academic articles, and features, many of which explore place, the nonhuman, aspects of the weird, and experimental forms. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in Streetcake, Neon, Lune, Shearsman Magazine, and Seaside Gothic; her books include the poetry chapbook The Art of Walking, walking-writing manual walk write (repeat), pilgrimage memoir Heavy Time, and her latest novel, Eden. Sonia is currently a Reader at Canterbury Christ Church University, where she runs the MA Creative & Critical Writing.
MLA citation (print):
Overall, Sonia. "(pre) possessed: an erasure sequence." Supernatural Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Art, Media, and Culture, vol. 9, no. 1, 2023, pp. 67-70.