Today is like an April day in Berlin, with rain and thunder and sun and then rain again. But in the morning, the air already smelled like autumn. I have been quite out of sorts with back pain and other stuff, but still trying to write, trying to create something. Here are a few things that have kept me company:
I heard this song for the first time today and fell down a YouTube rabbit hole trying to find a version that spoke the most to me. This video is a little grainy and a little bumpy, but just close your eyes and listen to her voice.
A wonderful quote. And while you are at it, read Victoria’s book!
Ethel Zine is one of the most wonderful presses out there and I am really honoured to have a poem in one of their beautiful, hand stitched zines. Please check them out.
Elizabeth M Castillo is a British-Mauritian poet, writer, workshop teacher, and a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. She lives in Paris with her family and two cats, where she runs a variety of different businesses, writes a variety of different things, in a variety of different languages, and under a variety of pen names. In her writing Elizabeth explores the different countries and cultures she grew up with, as well as themes of race & ethnicity, motherhood, womanhood, language, love, loss and grief, and a touch of magical realism. Her writing has been featured in publications and anthologies in the UK, US, Australia, Mexico and the Middle East. Her bilingual, debut collection “Cajoncito: Poems on Love, Loss, y Otras Locuras” is for sale on Amazon, and her debut chapbook “Not Quite an Ocean” is out now with Nine Pens Press. You can connect with her on Twitter and IG as @EMCWritesPoetry, or on her website http://www.elizabethmcastillo.net.
What does your memory smell like?
Depends on which memory. The best ones, the ones I hold onto, that I visit gladly- salt, coconut oil, passion fruit and lychees, clean sweat, sweet vanilla tea…
What do you want your future to taste like?
Freshly baked lavender biscuits, honey straight from the comb, stovetop hot chocolate, cool water on a scorching day. Like Brazilian vowel sounds and Argentinean Spanish. Like rest.
Favourite line of a poem right now?
I genuinely can’t think of one… isn’t that terrible?! I suppose Kim Addonizio’s “because why not if you think nothing & no one can / listen I love you joy is coming” has been kicking around my head the past few days…
My own? “Your ears twitch and you shudder / neck craning to see / what you and I / must learn the hard way : / the deadliest thing in here / is me.”
The poet/the poems that give you life?
Lucille Clifton makes life make sense- woman’s life and the constant tide of grief and solitude that comes with it. Mary Ford Neal’s poems are a punch to the gut long before you ever see it coming (Husband, this will be hard to hear is a prime example). Warsan Shire writes her poetry like fiction- she transports you into her mother’s kitchen, into her lover’s backseat, into the childhood bedroom she shared with her sister. You fight her battles and carry her burdens with her as you move between countries and coming of age experiences. And Noor Hindi is just the gold standard really… every poem I read of hers makes me feel like we should all just quit and go home because there’s nothing left on the earth to be said!
What is your why?
My why with poetry is that there are still poems pouring out of me. My why with other writing is that the stories need to be told. My why with teaching craft and promoting other writers is that I love to teach, and we all need someone in our corner. And my why with most other things in life is usually “why not?”
My 3 writing moods:
Crafting new texts, submitting work to journals: A clear writing desk / Lemon water and something crunchy / Manu Chao, Caetano Veloso, Tems
For reworking and editing: a cosy spot on the sofa / rooibos tea with honey and oat milk / Ludovico Einaudi, Philippe Glass, Shoshana Michel
For planning, curating, and marketing my work: in bed clean and soft after a warm bath / stovetop hot chocolate and nutmeg / ITV’s Poirot playing in the background
Thing I enjoy the most: second round of edits on a poem knowing it’s a banger, or performing my poetry live.
Thing I enjoy the least: submitting my work. It sucks the life out of me and my poetry!
Thing I want to improve: attempt more form poems. The pantoum and villanelle still elude me!
poembypoem 