before I allowed myself to

This image shows a blackout poetry piece created on page 136 of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. The text is predominantly obscured by a large drawing of an owl in graphite pencil, black pen, and yellow colored pencil. Select words and phrases have been left legible, underlined in pen, and highlighted with yellow marker, creating and emphasizing a new poetic message against the drawn-over background.

By Lisa Sankowski

before I allowed myself to

enter into
knowledge
to
desire intelligence
, I had a

fear

that I should lose
all self-command

Once com-
menced, I might be
the monster

for ever.

excited
earnest
melancholy, mad
capable

entirely myself.

left to my own

solitude