Peace
Some people find peace on a beach
With their feet and failures sunk deep
In the sands of temporary relief
Beneath the sea of things we can't see
Some fly to Greece to get away for a week
Some call a shrink just to speak
Some prefer bondage and kinks
Cuffed to fantasy and false feelings of Free
I like to think I'm unique
Since my version of peace
Can only be found
When I'm feeling weak
I can only find peace in the pieces
Winds of the storm fill my sails
The moments when I lose it all
Is when I find myself
When did you first discover your love for writing and music?
When I was about 6 or 7, my dad had this extensive CD collection and a crazy sound system with a CD changer. I'd just sit in front of the stereo for hours putting in random CD's, letting them play and reading the insert booklets that came with them. Sade, Usher, TLC, Michael Jackson, Prince, Bob Marley, Biggie. He had everything and I listened to it all. As far as writing goes, it wasn't until my senior year in high school when I realized I loved it. I randomly started watching "Def Poetry Jam" clips on YouTube and the rest was history. It began as silly little poems about cereal and dinosaurs, but when I got "Honorable Mention" for a poetry contest all my classmates felt I should've won, I got serious. Now my writing has taken me places I never would've imagined.
As a writer, how do you find your flow state?
My flow state usually finds me. Whenever I go searching for it, I rarely ever find it. It usually just happens. It could be the way a girl smiled at me the night before or a conversation with my mom that catapults me into an open sky of ideas and creativity. Yoga and basketball also help me quiet the noise of life and allow me to listen to what my heart is trying to say. Oh yea, and when I'm on stage. Performing and sharing energy with a crowd is the ultimate flow state for me. That's where I feel most at home.
When stumped by a ‘creative block’, how do you revive your creative energy?
I just let life happen and try not to force anything. When I was moving into my last apartment, I had this couch I really wanted to keep but for some reason, we just couldn't get it to fit through the door. I tried every angle and even ended up scratching a wall, but at the end of it all, the whole aesthetic and design of my place felt and looked way better without it. I say that to say maybe sometimes you just have to get rid of the metaphorical couch and reimagine the original vision you had in your head. Blocks happen but as long as you ride it out, you'll be back to creating sooner than later.
What is the best piece of advice you've recently received?
"Don't ever forget who you are."
What do you hope to convey in your work?
That love is real. That anything is possible. That pain isn't permanent. That we all go through it. That no matter how alone you feel, you're never the only one. You'll be ok.
What motivates you to create?
My dad. He passed away when I was 9 but he was just so cool and loved music and art. I know he'd be my biggest fan if he were still here. I also love knowing that someone somewhere may read or hear my work and be inspired to make something or simply just push through the day. I also think I make cool shit so I'm motivated to see how much cooler it can get lol
Diary
I don't have a diary
but if I did
I would run out of pages
writing the ways that
You inspire Me
++++++
The feeling of heartbreak is as distant as the memory of my first steps. I know for a fact I fell but I couldn't tell you what the ground felt like. I've been able to balance for awhile now. The hurt I once felt has been replaced by a pesky annoyance. Like a fly in my ear; your existence buzzes just as soon as I get comfortable. I swing at the thought of you, try to sway it away, but energy cannot be destroyed. It's a shame that the word Love only exists as one person in my life. Romantically at least. I know my mom loves me, my brothers too. I've also had Lovers. Sure. But that Love that you fall in? Only once. And that's annoying. Because I know it's out there. I say I haven't found it again, but maybe it's found me. Maybe it was right there across the table, trying to get to know me, but I was too focused on the fly. Trying to kill something that's already dead. I don't know what this feeling is anymore, I just know it's there.
Lingering, forever fighting for my attention.
Images by Coiya Malone
