CHRONIC

Chronic pain is something that, even for a writer, defies description. How can you describe something that numbs the mind and seeps into every aspect of your daily life? This zine is my attempt to give voice to my experience with chronic pain through the form of "documentary poetry," a poetic technique which uses everything from insurance forms to Google searches to create a narrative of fragments. When I started writing about chronic pain using documentary poetry, I found that something usually very difficult for me to write about suddenly began to flow, and knew I had to make something out of it. 

CHRONIC is divided up into three sections and ends with 100 AFFIRMATIONS, a final chapter of 100 things I learned or found positive about my experience with chronic illness to combat the narrative that as chronically ill people we deserve only pity. CHRONIC is a lament to pain, grief, and the failures of the American medical system, but it is also a love letter to my body and a narrative in my own voice. 

When you buy, you will get a PDF of the full text and it should open in either your browser or Adobe Acrobat Reader. Please let me know via social media if any technological problems arise, or if you want to share any thoughts about the zine. You can reach me on Instagram @emmawithglasses or at my website emmawithglasses.com.