'Kerf' are the sawdust, particles or pieces irrevocably extracted from
wood by the blades of cutting implements. Failure to calculate blade
thickness when cutting wood can throw off project measurements
exponentially. Thin-kerf blades are most accurate for fine woodworking,
but they can warp and need careful maintenance. Thick-kerf blades are
labour saving but are brute and lack finesse. The poems of Kerf write
through themes of woodworking, craft and labour, but these poems also
analogise 'kerf' as social and cultural remnants and as examples of
disjecta membra. Embedded in and around these themes, the poems in Kerf
also explore the author's own, as well as others', experiences of autism
and neurodivergence, particularly as manifested in feelings of isolation
and in experiences of violence and rejection, but also from the angles
of positive and negative obsessions, focus and distraction.
