This article considers objects alluded to in Louise Michel’s exile correspondence from her years in New Caledonia. Throughout these letters, one finds references to the few material possessions owned by the deported Communarde. These evoke the conditions of precarity under which Michel is writing. In addition to tracking the fate of these meager and disparate objects – many of which enable Michel to maintain her identity as a writer – the correspondence reveals the radical minimalism of the militant poetess. This quality is at the heart of the influential relationships Michel cultivates with fellow prisoners, as she shares writings and belongings alike. Henry Bauër, natural son of Alexandre Dumas, is among those to whom she writes. Victor Hugo also receives her missives, poetry, and a number of natural objects emblematic of Louise Michel’s singular view of material reality. These fragmentary texts bear witness to a life pursued in defiance of surveillance and political violence.