My Eyeballs Are Exhausted — 25 Poems, by Gabe Hascall

Poetry, chapbook, 32 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

My Eyeballs Are Exhausted – 25 Poems is the result of an intensified five days of writing and imagining. The collection is meant to convey the fragile nature of reality as we’re sitting here perceiving it, and the endless fashion in which we’re trying our best not to get burned by the hot poker being swung at us by whatever it is that’s ultimately deciding everything.

Rhythm and harmony are treated with focus and care. Rhymes are intentional, but sporadic, and they sound sweeter for it. There should be no message to glean. The poems might make sense for a second, but they are not meant to be understood. This work attempts to illuminate everything at once, without fully knowing what anything means.

Gabe Hascall is a musician and poet from Austin, TX, and the lead singer and co-founder of Slowreader, an indie rock band with a devoted, cult following and a distinctive, enduring sound. He has been writing song lyrics for many years, and these poems mark the beginning of a new phase of standalone poetic work. Gabe lives in Austin with his wife and two daughters, and is currently working on a new Slowreader album while continuing to explore the intersections of music, poetry, and lived experience in his writing.