Writing poetry, to me, is about profound interiority. It is about wading into the saltwater of your own body, capillaries bursting, eyes brimming, unmoored. It is about operating at the boundary of risk and comfort, deliciously afraid of finding or sharing too much. This collection is the fruit of that inner probing. It is a tangled mass of everything that has made me angry or giddy or low or impossibly happy to be alive – mine is the language of extremes.
Whilst this collection was coalescing, I sat with my friend Laetitia in her red Subaru van on a stormy Wednesday in Southern California (holding brown paper bags full of burrata and anchovies, and some eucalyptus to string up in the shower). We were speaking about community-building and I realised how much writing helps me feel visible – both to others and to myself. When I write I feel like I am practising how to soften difficult things and then externalising them. It’s like I am uncovering who I am at a cellular level, growing closer to the people around me through that intimate, personal adventure.
Poetry in particular has this chaotic magic to it, and I’ve always loved its layers and its sense of flow. Writing poetry and writing songs is different: with poetry I find myself examining and reimagining reality; I fixate on pushing at the metal shell of what is really there, and there is an element of irrationality and fantasy. I write songs to contain and therefore process the world, I write poetry to explore its potential.
It has taken me almost twenty-three years to share my poetry beyond a few trusted friends. Somehow it seems impossibly more revealing than sharing songs. I feel like I assume a different form when I approach a poem. Something in me just wants to cut straight into the nerve of things. To access rawness. And then just add it to the pile of loose sheets in my backpack. But here I am, having finally built up the courage to be out in the world as a poet. This is my first book, 'The Magic Border'.
Coming September 2023: https://www.arloparksofficial.com/the-magic-border
Directed Joel Barney & Ali Raymond Produced by Sonder Films & Beatnik Creative
