Vulnerability Variable Poetic Inquiry (VVPI) (In Practice) - Broken Stem, Falling Faith

Abstract Title: A (P)Article in Vulnerability Variable Poetic Inquiry: Broken Stem, Falling Faith Abstract This (P)Article offers a practice-led application of Vulnerability Variable Poetic Inquiry (VVPI), a meta-methodology that uses original poetry, autoethnography, and phenomenology to investigate the relationship between universal truths and deeply personal experience in the context of mental illness, addiction, and recovery. Building on the VVPI framework and its three-part epistemological and ontological architecture, this piece scaffolds original poems with analytic commentary to demonstrate how “vulnerability as method” can generate, structure, and interpret qualitative data. Through an iterative movement between poetic fragments, reflexive analysis, and methodological reflection, the (P)Article models how researchers can operationalize VVPI in their own projects, from data production and coding to the composition of research texts. Intended as a companion to the VVPI methodological preprint, this work is designed for qualitative researchers, autoethnographers, and arts-based scholars seeking a concrete example of the framework in action and a template for incorporating vulnerability-centered poetics into their own inquiries. VVPI synthesizes existing methodologies—metaphorical inquiry, thematic poetic cluster analysis, phenomenology, and autoethnography—into a novel meta-methodology grounded in four interdependent frameworks: VVP (Vulnerability Variable Poetics) - The meta-methodology: a push-pressure-pull dynamic bridging universal and personal truth Quod Tres Veritates - The epistemological theory: three truths (Being Observed, Interconnectedness, bridging the Gap) Key Words: Vulnerability Variable Poetics, poetic inquiry, autoethnography, phenomenology, metaphorical inquiry Corresponding e-mail address: Browna56 (At) Oregonstate (Dot) edu