Eli Clare, The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion (2007)
Content warning:
Child abuse, sexual abuse, sexual content, hate speech, discrimination and bigotry, torture (in “Bedrock”), pregnancy loss (in “The Stories Mama Tells”), hospitalization (in “Psych Ward in Three Voices”)
Synopsis
The Marrow's Telling: Words in Motion is a collection of poetry and prose fifteen years in the making. Author Eli Clare blends critical analysis and compassionate storytelling with pieces written in the 1990s and 2000s, while often recounting experiences from much earlier. Throughout the over 40 pieces, he embraces contractions and repetition, creating a collection that parallels the ways in which bodies carry with them the weight of identity, history, and experience. Themes of disability, race, gender transgression and transition, family violence, and sexuality work to paint a picture of life, hardship, and hope.
Essay
Embedded in Clare’s poignant accounts of his life are the influences of his time growing up in Oregon. From remembering the smells of an Oregon summer in “Vows” to descriptions of living in Portland in “In the City,” this state’s influence on his work is ever present. The poems and prose collected over fifteen years of writing paint a sophisticated, intense, and compelling Oregonian perspective that truly does “gather and weigh the echoes in the same way our bodies do” (Preface). Place, in particular the place one is raised, has unequivocal ties to the perspectives and experiences that shape and transform a life, making it a fascinating way to read Clare’s work. Notable are the differences between his time spent in Port Orford (a town of less than 1,200) and time spent in Portland (Oregon’s largest city). He describes living in Portland and “walk[ing] the streets as if they were logging roads,” comparing how “In the backwoods [he] shot seagulls at the county dump.…And here [he] gawk[s]” (“In the City”). The differences, while pronounced, are able to coexist in truly interesting ways, carrying the weight of old and new, familiar and unfamiliar, and ever-changing rules together all at once.
This coexistence extends to the timeline as well, with the collection spanning topics both historical and modern. Reflections on Oregon’s histories of colonization in “Battle Rock” and “The Terrorist God” are interspersed with stories of growing up queer and disabled in a rural coastal town. In many ways, each piece can be seen as a small part of his larger activism, allowing the reader a small glimpse into a perspective they may have little exposure to. In his own words, Clare states: “As an activist poet, I want this book to be a door held wide open. Read it like a demonstration, a riot, a late night spray-painting action” (Preface). “Battle Rock,” for instance, puts past and present in conversation with one another, alternating between accounts of colonists arriving in America in 1851 and the Fourth of July celebration that would occur in the same place over 100 years later. In so doing, it encourages readers to sit with devastating histories and vital need for change. With writing that allows readers to experience the pieces actively and emotionally (not unlike the responses that might result from a demonstration or a riot), Clare masterfully articulates the part of Oregon’s history he carries within himself and encourages readers to consider the same.
Undeniably, each piece carries a distinct emotional weight. They are, however, able to do so with grace and intention. Sensitive topics are highlighted, rather than avoided, allowing the words to be deeply authentic and genuine. His descriptions are frequently painful and uncomfortable, though never disheartening. While they are at times difficult to get through, that is the point of the stories as they are told, and when done with intentionality (as Clare does), it enhances the writing and storytelling. Eli Clare is able to translate difficulty and hardship into meaningful reflections on what it means to be queer, disabled, white, an Oregonian, and, critically, a person. The body and mind carry with them so much that is easy to brush off or ignore. The Marrow's Telling seeks instead to interrogate, reflect, and embolden readers to do the same.
Author Bio
Eli Clare was born in Coos Bay in 1963 and grew up in Port Orford, Oregon. He now lives in Vermont where, between writing and travelling, he can be found reading, camping, riding his recumbent trike, and otherwise adventuring. Known best for his activism in support of disability justice and LGBTQ+ rights, he was one of the first scholars to popularize the bodymind concept and has received a multitude of awards related to his work for the rights of queer communities. Eli’s passion for social justice can be seen in all modalities of his work as he keynotes conferences, facilitates anti-ableism training, and helps build community for queer and disabled people. He is white, disabled, and genderqueer, writing works that explore these identities and some of the experiences of the communities who share them.
Further Reading
Eli Clare, Unfurl (2025)
Eli Clare, Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure (2017)
Eli Clare, Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness, and Liberation (1999)