My shoulders curve like elbows in a nutshell encasement
I searched hard all over the internet, but I just couldn’t find another Dark Souls poem that could stand up the work of Jess Jenkins. So I’m posting another of her poems today.
This poem was written specifically about Dark Souls, but it could really apply to any video game. It’s about the strangely poignant experience of controlling a projection of yourself. Of exploring a fantastical world with nothing but finger flicks and button presses. Of sitting in mundanity and watching yourself (or at least a version of yourself) do something amazing. As someone who plays video games, thinking about this poem kinda blew my mind (in a good way).
Here’s My shoulders curve like elbows in a nutshell encasement by Jess Jenkins from Cartridge Lit:
My shoulders curve like elbows in a nutshell encasement, hammered in cuneiform
marks for small bones, set deep in rendered tallow and overlain with vellum.
Mind these small movements, a yoga with the injection mold plastic in my palm.
My avatar, she’s fitter, breathes fire has a denim,
Moony blue glow, I’m myopic in the moony blue of a monitor casting plasm
murk on my standard and predictable living room.











