The Art of Self-Destruction

This poetic autoethnography delves into the author’s past self-destructiveness, encompassing addiction, self-harm, and suicidal ideation and attempts. Most poems were written in close proximity to the events, as she was engaging in destructive substance use, other self-harm behaviors, and was immersed in self-hatred. The author also draws on popular poetry and poetic inquiry to enhance the rigor of her own poems and reflexively ground her experiences in those of others. She calls the poetic autoethnography an art of self-destruction because it is a specific kind of (he)artful performance to live a life of self-destruction.