C. Chaplin

you want to just forget about it?

leave it hanging

in the wind

between our chests

somewhere below

in all of its intricacy

(tended to attentively it could still grow up toward the light)

something like Leslie’s basement ivy crawling out of a hole in the bathroom floor

you can only see the sun set from the living room in the winter in the summer you have to cross the street when it gets cold the sun moves north in Enfield anyway

on top of the hill we do this oscillating everyday

filling the water can trying not to forget

about the plant by the door I didn’t mean for you to take it I didn’t leave it there

I put it there.

this time I’ll close one eye - begin with an awareness of heel as hinge initiate from the point of imbalance separate through resistance reiterate; attenuated attraction

< I’ll follow you forever if you keep pointing even if we can’t see anything but sky evening when my fingernails are dirty that always makes it harder for me to breath like the beige acrylic hat holding my shoulders up by my ears

today my classmate said that “dancing is egalitarian in its ordinary form” not always man grounding flying woman

when on point who gets to point out at what point do you get the point and who follows . . .

you see where we are going here even if it is hard to get perspective to decipher when it shifted doubly sense the distance through the shift in scale ___

things are far away now mere smudges wiped on pale horizons ~ cirrostratus and mounds stay close and we can stay the same size tell me yesterday to bring water quickly

zoom in

you have hairs in your ears I hadn’t noticed when we were on the phone fine golden baby hamster I wanted to put my ear in your ear but I couldn’t find the words to ask It would have been easier to put my mouth in yours or my hand

ear in ear takes consent and coordination, both parties need to be in concert.

on The Human Condition at 205 Hudson St. 2-18-17

Arendt writes about the origin of the polis being in the freedom of speech and action, separate from the private realm of the household, where survival requires specific responsibilities, around which arises a social structure. The social structure of the polis, what becomes the space of the political, does not include these local concerns of the home. As the political body develops people start to look to it to address the issues of the household. However since the political was established as outside of the domestic realm, based on liberty of expression, it does not have the capacity to properly address the needs of the home and family, whether chosen or biological. As the political realm grows into the governmental there starts to arise a demand for that body politic to take care of the needs of the household. Since it was established outside of this private realm the government does not have those concerns built in.

on the C train 1-27-18

they are settling the warehouses were barely set up they’ll pay too much because it looks urban we took it off, put it on there are just only so many cities it’s not gonna start here it’s gonna start somewhere else we don’t live well maybe China if you own it and it falls apart that’s basically your money down the drain it’s the first time we are going to live in a place that’s all new for both of us we’d like the give her a garden before the end of the year but it’s not like all her friends have gardens to run around in you can take drops but you can still feel the cushion of the insole the tops were out you could feel the breeze parkour life there’s more than enough room for you to be humping my back pack right now

at the pizza place on Canal St. 5-3-18

I’m gonna kill my oppressor for some water I need a goddamn shower they’re already charging me for the water and shit

C. Chapin is a dance artist and writer, evaluating transactional forces within collective and collaborative dynamics, negotiating terms of resources, their distribution, mutual causality and care. Co-founder of C.H.A.M.P.S. (formerly Complimenta Inc.), an artist run center in Enfield, NY, where they currently live and work. Hunter College MFA candidate and curatorial fellow. Participant in LANDING 2.0, MSA^ (Mountain School of Art), B.A.from Bard College. Chapin has presented work in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Oslo, and Portland, Maine.