The Optogram of the Mind Is a Carnation

The Optogram of the Mind is a Carnation is a book length poem-memoir reflecting on Portuguese colonization of African countries and its place within the imperial and colonial forces that have shaped global history for the past 500 years. Drawing on the writings of Amílcar Cabral and others, as well as interviews with family members about life under Salazar’s dictatorship, it weaves together scholarly sources, familial narratives, and memories, exploring nationalistic myths, Portugal’s violent colonial history, and the author’s experiences growing up in the aftermath of the Carnation Revolution.

'This book bears deep look’s all but immediate immersion in deep song. All, but. Not delay, but dawning of withdrawal as song pulls out, but not away, into its other histories. Song can’t get away when you’re in it, drawn with it, deeper into bloom, which is bouquet—dianthic, panthemic, agronomic, revolutionary. There, says Amílcar Cabral, the people are the mountains, “breaking / the physical well of internment,” digging vision’s sound and upper regress, showing how to fight in love. With love, Isabel resounds their resolution.' – Fred Moten