The Carnival

Episode Notes

This week’s poem and episode explore a student’s experience of feeling overwhelmed nearing back-to-school season.

August is a complicated month—still summer, yet unofficially labelled the ‘get ready’ month, not unlike the end of December approaching New Year’s Resolutions. As a distraction, our narrator visits their town’s annual end-of-summer festival, where they learn that they can’t “overwhelm their overwhelm” with stimulation.

Sometimes, though the best preparation is soaking up every last ounce of summer, we forget that this includes rest (the same way an extra few hours of sleep before an exam will often be more beneficial than a few more hours of late-night studying).

Here's an excerpt of the poem (the full written & visually formatted versions can now be found & read at mikbrew.substack.com!):

We’ll wander around our house thinking about preparing while really, unable to think.

We’ll stand in our shower trying to scrub & rinse away overwhelm by scribbling those three words across the flexible fibreglass in the milky soap-ink of shampoo, conditioner, hot water & cold: back to school.

Listen to this week's episode to hear the full poem! If you’d like to share your moment or memory on the podcast, please head to tinyurl.com/bravingthewaves.