Poetry// The Closet Poets’ Interlude
“This book is dedicated-
To the one loving someone harder than they love themselves. To the one who is lost within the walls of their own heart. To the one who’s reflection is a mere image of the person you’re with. This was written for you, we hope you find your voice in these pages. Please know that you are capable of loving yourself first, and always.”
So here goes nothing, well it's a whole lot more than nothing since this is pretty much me revealing myself in the most naked (metaphorically speaking) way possible to the world. I have been writing as an outlet since I was about 11 or 12 years old, and contrary to belief I am an introverted person with extroverted tendencies...yes that sounds crazy but that's just me. What does this have to do with my book you may ask yourself...well the title of the book is -
The Closet Poets' Interlude
I have this weird obsession with Drake songs that are simply interludes, it's like he's setting up for something so much greater than we could imagine, kinda like the calm before the storm, and I have always thought of myself as a closet poet, I'm way better with words than actually speaking to people. When I was little and I would get super mad about something at home, I'd write that person a letter, mail it to my address, stalk the mail box praying my parents wouldn't get it in the mail and then rip it up when I received it back...weird right, I know but when I was 11 that seemed to be the most reasonable thing I could think of without getting grounded for saying how I really felt. I'm proud to report that I don't do that anymore, I just send extremely wordy/lengthy text now.
Honestly I simply wanted to published this book in the hopes that by me creating and sharing my truth
I can help someone else express how they are feeling when they can't find the words to do it themselves,
and that was the number one goal with this project...I just want you to know that you aren't alone in this.
I do have a co author as well, it was going to be a solo project and then one morning I woke up with the oddest urge to write her and be all like
"hey I know we barely know each other but I think you're dope and your writing style is like the shit...let's write a book together and tell all of the darkest parts of ourselves to the world"
she said yes, and we put together somewhat of a manuscript, a badass concept of a book cover, a got a publisher.
On August 18th we had the pleasure of finally meeting each other for the first time...YUP you heard me right - FOR THE FIRST.
Was I really crazy enough to invite someone into my life that I met on the internet months before on facebook, damn straight I was. Here's the thing about poetry, most poets are literally turning their diary into a work of art, it contains their deepest and darkest moments, their happiest memories and their lowest times, and the fact that we trusted each other enough to share those with one another, and she trusted me enough to convince her that the world needed needed to hear our voices - well it was like I had known her all of my life. We decided to have a book signing with all of my close friends out here in Albuquerque at one of my favorite coffee and crepes shop in town called Breve - if you are ever in the area go ahead and order yourself a Vietnamese iced coffee and a crepe you wont regret. The turn out was better than I could have ever imagined, we even had people we didn't know coming up to us asking to buy a signed copy of our book. And to keep the night going strong we got matching tattoos of the Glyphs on our book to commemorate the occasion...It was pretty badass.
A behind look at the closet poets'
Alisha May -
My name is Alisha May. I am the other half of The Closet Poets. Paola and I met in an online photography group and formed a connection. When she asked me to collaborate with her, I was nervous, but knew this was something I needed to do for myself. If only one person resonates with anything we've written, it will be enough. At 29, I am still trying to figure life out, one day at a time. I'm a single mom to two amazing little people and working on teaching them to express themselves.
Paola nicole -
