Here is a recording of Chard deNiord reading the poem “Where and How Blood Was Made”—the inspiration for the book. The word pairings are printed in small caps, one at a time, beginning with the drawing of the first female nude. Also, here is his written reflection on the poem:
I wrote “Where and How Blood Was Made” as my final project for an interdisciplinary faculty seminar I
participated in at Providence College in the spring of 2012, titled “Blood.” As the son of a thoracic and
cardiovascular surgeon who witnessed plenty of blood as a teenager while observing several of my father’s
operations, I had always wanted to write about blood but felt too overwhelmed by the emotional intensity and
range of the subject to begin. The above seminar encompassed a broad, eclectic curriculum that examined the
legacy and phenomenon of blood from theological, philosophical, mythological, scientific, artistic, historical, and
literary perspectives that helped me find my own mythological starting point: “In a sea beneath the sea without
a name.” The rest flowed from this one image.
Note: The two lines from the poem that are traced on the cover of the book, are “…never mind the eons/that turned into seconds in retrospect.”
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