“Language Systems” is a single piece from the project codenamed Daffod*ls, where I explore the last few waking moments each night with a recorder and extract the linguistic systems burgeoning from a subconscious dream-speech in order to create a poem. These pieces are then edited lightly, removing the large gaps for breath, and often even snoring, to create a longer, more cohesive poem written from the first, or sometimes even second, levels of sleep. While exploring this project, do remember that, as it is mentioned a couple of times in the poems themselves, some of these lines were spoken directly when I was already asleep and came to midway through the sentence, a process only attainable by consistent and constant repetition of such intensive processes of mining for sub- and unconscious linguistic systems.

—Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi

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Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi (they/them) is a queer, Iranian-born, Toronto-based poet, writer, and translator. They were shortlisted for the 2021 Austin Clarke poetry prize and 2022’s Arc Poem of the year award and they are the winner of the 2021 Vallum Poetry Prize. They are the author of four poetry chapbooks and three translated poetry chapbooks. Their debut poetry collection, Me, You, Then Snow, is out with Gordon Hill Press. Their second book, WJD, is out in a double volume with the translation of Saeed Tavanaee’s The OceanDweller from Gordon Hill Press, fall 2022. Their collaborative poetry manuscript, G, with Klara du Plessis was released with Palimpsest Press, fall 2023.