West Trade Review: "The Aftermath of Trauma and Questioning of Experience in Janine Joseph’s Decade of the Brain" by Holly Cian

by Holly Cian

January 17, 2023

Holly Cian holds a B.A. in creative writing from the College of Charleston and an M.A. in literature from Western Carolina University, where her thesis focused on ecofeminism and labor in Appalachian literature. Her poems have been published in Pinesong, the Great Smokies Review, Sixfold, and in the anthology Witness: Appalachia to Hatteras. She lives in Asheville, N.C.

Decade of the Brain by Janine Joseph; Alice James Books; 100 pages; $18.95

Janine Joseph ‘s Decade of the Brain reacts to the contemporary approach to illness as a claim, rather than as an acknowledgement of reality; the evocation of memory loss and of dis-remembering throughout the collection creates a disjointed feel that mirrors symptoms sometimes associated with trauma or brain injury. Joseph has written these poems from her perspective and based on personal experience; she was rear ended in a major automobile accident in 2008 and suffered traumatic brain injury as a result of the accident. The poems range from clinical descriptions of diagnostic scans of the brain or spine to scenes of vertigo and confusion as each memory presents all possible sides of a given situation. Through this process, the poet takes the reader through layers of memory and experience, recalling and reliving, and this instills the work with the complexity of great poetry.

The poems elicit a tension that is concrete to the reader, and Joseph adeptly conveys a sense of being unable to move, or being unable to be heard, as well as a sense of being defined, documented, and watched in the aftermath of trauma. Often, the speaker’s body rebels, or the body refuses to follow the actions the brain gives it. In poems like “Erasure,” for instance, the language of a clinician is juxtaposed to the thoughts of the patient, and this movement from voice to voice and the clarity with which the poet treats each voice is one of the great strengths of the collection. Joseph provides pure and lucid language; in her subject matter, and the often sparring voices recreate the tension and confusion she felt.

Another great strength of the collection is its many layers of corresponding themes. These poems are not only about illness and pain in the aftermath of a traffic accident, but also explore the many ways groups of people can be ignored, unheard, or viewed with suspicion. In “The Specialists,” the speaker recalls “subjective complaints of memory loss,” thus highlighting the origin of these complaints - the patient’s own experience, an experience which is invisible from the realities of those around her. Again, Joseph expertly conveys jarring medical descriptions that contrast with the language of the more lyrical poems. Like a few other pieces in the collection, this poem is written in the style of a medical record. In poems like this, the speaker can explain her symptoms, but a medical professional must determine that they are true. Joseph effectively instills a sense of frustration and desperation in the reader that is palpable. She writes of an experience, thought, or memory, and then questions it. Psychologically, the reader is taken through these ups and downs in memories with her.

Many of the poems can be lovely in their disorientation. The poet writes in “Vulnerability Roadshow," that “in every examination room, it is the same mystery: where I am, / I do not know.” Lines like these recreate what the speaker of the poem feels. As a result, the reader, at times, does not know where they are in these poems. The poet removes any sense of control on the reader's part that also reflects the speaker’s loss of control over her memory and sense of identity.

To heighten this disorientation, Joseph’s syntax adds to this rush of uncertainty. Her sentences at times run on without punctuation, she may weave conversation around a shared movement, and her lines at times evoke a cascade of water, as though the words are falling and building on to each other. The poems employ all senses as one reads, and this is one of the most positive attributes of the collection. We feel, not only see, the speaker with her head in her hands, battling headaches, fatigue, and nausea. As a result, the poems often feel like the moments of the world descending on someone in a vulnerable place.

The poet’s attention to juxtaposed scenes effectively immerses the reader in the subject matter leading one to remember and dis-remember alongside each line, and thus acutely each piece evokes the tension the speaker experiences as one who is alone, often an outsider, as they attempt to deal with what is perceived to be an invisible illness. For instance, the collection adheres to a specific timeline as the speaker experiences a set time period after the accident, and this structure allows the reader to witness memories as they return. In “Abecedurian,” Joseph refers to a time when she felt she was another person, to the time before “the Janine I was was rammed into the / Janine I am now.” Joseph slips lines like these into each piece, emphasizing that moments like these change our lives. This is one of many examples of how the poems in Decade of the Brain are so universal, and why the experience of reading the work is something that stays with the reader for a long time. Great poems are those that create a physical reaction in a reader, and whose lines are remembered for hours, days, and years later. These poems definitely hit that mark.

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The Aftermath of Trauma and Questioning of Experience in Janine Joseph’s Decade of the Brain

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