Ariel Martz-Oberlander

I don’t even ever think of you

where is the mother who will teach me how to lie down and die // where the mother who is up at night where // where // the mother who is against my hunger // where the mother with an accent in english // with an understanding look // who has made choices // a ride to the hospital // a stocked fridge // a trick for getting stains out // where // the mother who can teach me how to cut my wrists // with experience // where the mother who knows how to end pain // apologize // the many uses of baking soda // where is the mother who will teach me how to recognize love // old world recipes? // how to bleed and stop // how to know when to run // how to bully // where is the mother who can teach me how to die // safely // how to let the part that wants to die // where the mother to live for // where is the mother I was promised // who I can call // where the mother with arms // with a kitchenaid // with fangs // where is the mother // who is home

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Ariel Martz-Oberlander is a poet and playwright with a focus on disability/Mad arts and the creation of trauma-informed rehearsal and creation methodologies. Her work highlights include Nest, a show for one audience member at a time about climate grief; Time Machine, with Radix Theatre, a show on a yacht about our post-climate apocalypse future together; Hysteria, a multi-award-winning original comedy about consent and technology; On Behalf, a film/theatre hybrid exploring displacement from the land in diaspora and displacement from the body after trauma; and The Narrow Bridge, a multimedia afterlife story, at Chutzpah Festival.