Photo by Athena Merry
It started when I wrote a story about mermaids. Then I wanted to do even more - I started writing everyday about fairies, dreams coming to life, any sort of escape from reality that also involved me and my notebook. It's been like that ever since I can remember conjuring a thought. poetry intrigued me, movies implored me to tell my own stories, my own friends and experiences became empty canvases to create and create and create again. My likeness for fantastical storylines stayed ignited but manifested in a plethora of new ways as the years have trickled on.
Words act as smoke signals - sending messages and stories to anyone who listens; but only if you do so with intention and very carefully. Emily Dickinson wrote, "Tell all the Truth but tell it slant--" and I know that the underlying notions of truth are between the stanzas of our everyday, through the stories we tell, the feelings we so fearfully ignore. Gradually, through each day, with the world at our very fingertips, art and love serve as mere catalysts for poetic expression and the slanting truth.
And I love that.
I'm always looking for new ways to express myself and human feeling through words and art!! It makes all of this mean something.
I've released two chapbooks previous to I'm Still Awake. Baby Teeth came out in May of 2022, with limited edition copies. I hand made each with coffee stained envelopes and handwritten notes. Is It Over Yet? came out last December with Bottlecap Press and can be purchased here: https://bottlecap.press/products/over