Reflection

This poem come from a manuscript called I Came Here to Make Myself Real. The poems from this manuscript were written over an expanse of time that includes the before, during, and after, of deciding to try to have children with my partner. It was a time of anticipation, anxiety, excitement, joy, and uncertainty. The speakers in the book explore various states of connection and dissociation from their internal and external landscapes. Being a poet who is obsessed with the body, movement, and perception (a former dancer), and being a queer person, a woman, and a mother, I wanted the speakers of my poems to voice their perceptions from all of these positionalities. I wanted them to move within themselves and cross vast distances and grieve intangible losses. I also aim to play with questions of perception, reliability, and emotional truths. I am trying to build worlds in my poems, and once I get into the worlds I build, I want to be surprised.