Repeat After Me: A Poem by Franny Choi

A line from Franny Choi’s poem, “Unlove Poem.”

According to scientists, echoes are sound reflections that our brains expect to hear. We’ve learned to ignore both early and late reflections; those of the present moment are the most urgent ones we should concentrate on detecting.

But how is this related to this week’s poem, “Unlove Poem,” by Franny Choi? And what does repetition have to do with being a woman?

Specific words in this poem are repeated one after one—and almost immediately. If you’re interested in reading the poem, here’s the link. It gives the poem a predictability, a natural cadence and rhythm…

But the rhythm, as the title suggests, is more focused on how repetitions can be risky and dangerous. Choi writes grandmother often, and not to just imply her heritage, but to focus on the generational traumas and abuses that women have been put through. It’s not jaunty, but also not entirely macabre. It points out the flaws of the system and says, “look at how we have undone people of our own society.”

A Song of Chaos

Most of Franny’s writings are like that though—they are undoings. In another poem, which you can view Franny reading in the video below, she says, “Remember, they love their blood / even when they retch at the smell of it.” She takes an unexpected turn and leans into that turn, almost to say, look at me and my defiance! Look at how I don’t write for computers or humans, but myself!

Predictability in poetry often suggests an unpredictability. A song of chaos is produced. In “Unlove Poem,” you see how a speaker’s heritage and history, passed down from generations of women, define the speaker. Maybe the trauma peppers through. But it doesn’t just define the speaker.

It defines the society of the speaker.

Let’s Practice: Repetition

What is your song of chaos? What haunts you and has become a thing of your obsession? Write a poem repeating one to three words of your choice about your obsession—and how it is an undoing you are attempting to understand. Don’t be afraid to lean into it.

Happy writing!