Helpful.

Abstract

With an intense focus on poetic form, Helpful., a collection of poems, tackles subjects ranging from adolescent caretaking to adult self-realization. Helpful. contains a long sonnet crown, a variety of golden shovels and a form invented by Mayes, the Golden Glosa, which hybridizes the glosa form and the golden shovel to create a structure that honors the words of another poet while also providing a constraint optimal for storytelling. The collection’s narrative arc is one of self-discovery. The speaker through the manuscript’s four sections attempts to reconcile the effects of caretaking on their life and make advancements towards a self-concept that is self-serving—loving, but ultimately unhelpful.