Audio Poem of the Day I Walked in the House
Jan 8, 2026
Catherine Wagner, a talented poet, shares her insights on the intricate relationship between physical spaces and our personal experiences. She frames entering a house as a transactional exchange, exploring its implications. Wagner reflects on themes of injury and repair, recounting her own experiences with pain and recovery. She provocatively questions the desire to become an object in a world defined by exchange, evoking rich imagery and deep emotional undercurrents. Her thoughts dive into the essence of identity and the complexities of human interaction.
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Paying To Walk Into A House
- Catherine Wagner describes walking into a house with precise, almost mechanical motions across flat wood floors.
- She links physical movement to payments and repairs she made so her body could inhabit that space.
Housing As Systemic Exchange
- Wagner frames housing and bodily repair as part of broader systems of exchange that render experience translucent.
- The world becomes 'viewed as exchange,' where structures and bodies vibrate like a sea nettle afloat.
Broken Arm, Fixed Window
- She recounts breaking her arm against a window and paying to have the injury and the window fixed and improved.
- Wagner imagines the alternative of leaving the window smashed and remaining stuck among crystalline cold.