/exhibition++
1. NYU Gallatin 2022/poetry++
/essays++
/music++
/exhibiton++/exhibition++
“I Tried To Save Myself” is a collaborative exhibiton among the members of the Recess 2021-2022 Fellowship cohort taking place in August 2022.
Amir D. Akram’s contribution to the project is an interactive music video set paired with an bedroom recording station. These two options enable participant’s to either work with artist to create small film clips that will be assembled into a music video or create small audio snippets of songs.
Please RSVP at the link here in order to participate in the exhibit.
/poetry++/poetry++
1. Lost Shelter
Written
Summer 2020
Cover Art by
Amir Dawud Akram
Summer 2020
Cover Art by
Amir Dawud Akram
These white walls have held me
for some time.
They’ve pacified me
with their pristine, matte veneer.
But, I know they rot.
The gilded age of adolescence
is passing: underneath
is something ugly,
far away is something scary
and beside me is “this”.
Failure is what “this” is
on the outside.
The valleys of despair rest between
me and the next plain.
I pray for salvation
And accept my insane.
I walk with “this”,
the beast that is myself.
This demon, not glued to my back
but engraved into my mind.
Shades like a larkspur’s hue
many times obstruct my view.
To walk through high water
I must hold onto my head,
stand straight, and look forward.
2. Validation
Written
Winter 2016
Cover Art by
Amir Dawud Akram
Winter 2016
Cover Art by
Amir Dawud Akram
When a tree falls and no one's around,
does it really make a sound?
If a heart breaks and no tears are shed,
has it even really bled?
Validation is not creation.
For wounds unseen truly sting,
and voices that are quiet
may be able to sing.
Silence is not just absence,
its presence rages like wildfire.
Invading the mind,
slowing down time.
Winds may blow,
though you don't hear a chime.
Wealth may belong to the man
who hasn't even a dime.
3. Lens
Cover Art by Amir Dawud Akram
Written December 1st, 2015
Life is like the lens of a camera,
when one thing is focused on,
all existence around it may blur
The eye does much the same,
you bring something very close,
and all other things can no longer
truly be seen.
Nonetheless,
the mind is always in control.
For one cannot achieve this level of focus
if the mind does not permit it.
Just as you control the camera,
you control life.