As we get older, we often wonder: why do I know more about what people do than who they are?

Two years ago, Alex & I came across the poem "Couples" by Mark Halliday while on a road trip to Mt. Marcy. The poem stuck with us during a chapter in life where we have found ourselves burned out, chronically stressed and robbed of any creative energy. On the gloomiest of days, we couldn’t help but ask: Is there any meaningful way to opt out of a society obsessed with achievement, productivity and economic worth?

We wanted to invite our playful and creative sides from out of the shadows to help us reckon with these questions. This PV (poetry video) is our small attempt to honor the creative spirit within us all. For anyone who has found themselves in similar lines of inquiry: we see you, and are swimming upstream right alongside you ✨🐠🐠✨

Find our PV and the original text to Mark Halliday’s poem below:

Couples

BY MARK HALLIDAY

All the young couples in their compact cars.
He’s funny and she’s sensible.
The car is going to need some transmission work
soon, but they’ll get by all right—
Aunt Louise slips them a hundred dollars
every chance she gets and besides,
both of them working—
Susan does day-care part-time
and Jim finally got full-time work
at Design Future Associates
after those tough nine months as an apprentice.
Or he’s in law school
doing amazingly well, he acts so casual
but really he’s always pounding the books,
and Susan works full-time
for a markets research firm, she’s
amazingly sharp about consumer trends
and what between her salary and Aunt Louise
Jim can afford to really concentrate on
his studies. Or he’s a journalist
and so is she, and they keep very up
on the news especially state politics.
Plus she does an amazing veal marsala
and he jogs two miles five mornings a week—
and in June they’ll be off to Italy again,
or Mexico; Susan’s photographs are
really tasteful, not touristy, she always
reads up on the culture before their trip.
Jim slips in a wacky shot every once in a while
and everybody laughs, that’s old Jim.

......................................

They’ll get by all right. They have
every one of Linda Ronstadt’s albums, and
they’re amazingly happy together.