By Tyler Davis
A softball question, how long have you been writing for?
Clichely, my entire life. Technically, five years. As in, putting pen to paper and making the thoughts in my head sound intelligent and beautiful. I did slam poetry for a while, but the community in my hometown dwindled with the pandemic, as so many things did.
What are the most common tropes/themes/metaphors that show up in your writing?
Usually I’m writing to or about god, questioning him mostly. I find it funny to imagine his answers, to create the type of person he is. It’s like a weird, messed up form of religion. Otherwise I’m trying to understand love, or at least the way that I experience it. Lately I’ve been leaning toward cannibalism as a metaphor for overwhelming love, which it’s interesting that I’ve only just discovered this considering how overwhelming all the emotions I feel are.
Why do you view cannibalism as a metaphor for love?
I mean, isn’t it? If you have a better way to explain the all-consuming, mind altering, life ruining, experience that is falling madly, deeply, irrevocably in love with someone, I’d love to hear it. But seriously, I often think of cuteness aggression. Y’know, the desire to squeeze something that you love so much until it stops being cute and you can move on with your life? Something like that, except I bite your finger off.
You often don’t capitalize ‘god’ or pronouns referring to god in your poetry. Is that a stylistic choice or something more personal?
The god's honest truth is that I don’t capitalize anything. That’s the stylistic choice. And I don’t even really have a good reason for it. I write all my pieces before I type them, and I write in all lowercase unless necessary, usually for emphasis. Then, I type almost exactly what’s written, barring any changes in word choice or sentence structure. I guess you could say it’s a style choice, but I honestly just don’t care enough. Plus, it looks nicer that way. Capital letters are aggressive sometimes.
You know how you haven’t written anything in multiple months? What’s up with that? Brain no work?
You try writing through your second semester of junior year, taking six classes, internship, and multiple on-campus jobs, only one of which actually pays you on a regular basis. Then you can come talk to me about ‘brain no work.’
Sounds like brain no work to me.
…yes, brain no work.
Do you consider yourself a good writer?
I think that people are touched by what I say, and find meaning in my words. I don’t know that I write with the intention of being perceived as good, so much as I write to understand what I feel and then sometimes that resonates with others, which I do enjoy hearing about.
Do you write with the intention to be perceived?
On some level, yes. I am perceiving myself through a process of introspection and analyzing the various and numerous issues. Then, I send my writing out into the world – multiple times, for months on end – all of my own free will, all so that a million people will see me and maybe, just maybe, one or two will resonate.
Do you think it’s a little narcissistic to write an interview with you as both journalist and subject?
Maybe, but so is all poetry. This is just poetry reimagined baby.
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