Paper Airplane Poet by Sheri Singerling (Audio)

The episode spotlights Sheri Singerling’s short story “Paper Airplane Poet,” a direct companion to her novel Blessed is the Rot, the opening volume of the Bit Trilogy. Set in a bifurcated city where non‑Euclidean distortions spawn a deadly affliction, the narrative follows Tilly as she witnesses her father’s mercy killing and confronts a reality that mutates flesh into nightmarish forms. Singerling, a laboratory manager‑scientist living in Germany, blends hard‑science imagery with gothic horror, creating a world where physics itself becomes a weapon.

The story uses the concept of “rot” as a paradoxical salvation: when the non‑Euclidean corruption is purged, the afflicted achieve true death and peace. Mercy killings, performed weekly in the lower districts, are portrayed as grim but necessary rites. Citizens counter the spreading chaos through daily Euclidean rituals—drawing circles, reciting A = πr²—to reinforce reality’s geometry. This blend of religious ceremony and scientific formula underscores the city’s desperate attempt to hold onto order, highlighting how institutional belief can become a lifeline against incomprehensible entropy.

Tilly’s personal arc illustrates the human cost of surviving in a stratified metropolis. Orphaned by affliction, she endures relentless harassment, grueling labor, and the paradox of beauty becoming a liability in the lower city. The narrative contrasts the bleak, ward‑filled alleys with the sun‑lit upper‑city park, where she briefly tastes freedom before being reminded of her obligations. For business readers, the tale serves as a cautionary allegory about systemic decay, the importance of ritualized processes, and the value of resilient leadership when confronting forces that defy conventional logic.