Shayla Lawson

The Rihanna of Poetry

Dear Shayla,
 
What do you do to #BeatTheBlues, to rise from the depths of darkness and keep going with all your might? 

I don’t know that I go to many dark places anymore. I get sad sometimes, but I take solace in the fact I’ve managed to make a small life for myself where I get to be an artist. Perhaps writing is the thing that soothes me.
 
What has been the most exciting project you’ve been involved in recently? 

I’m working on a new collection of essays due out in 2020--Live Tonight, Ms. Diana Ross. The essays are all written in homage to the black-and-white photograph of Diana Ross wearing a slip and ‘enjoying a rib.’ Writing the essays is kind of like sitting down over pad thai or tea and having conversations with my favorite girlfriends. It brings me a lot of joy.

​How do you deal with any sort of useless noise? 

I’ve never had much of a taste for pettiness, so I think that helps. I don’t dwell too much on the two-dimensional, although I’ll definitely guffaw at the occasional meme.
 
What are some of the publications you subscribe to or read constantly? 

Garage (especially the new Deana Lawson/ Rihanna feature) and i-D.

Photo: courtesy of the artist
Would you like to share with us one of your most favorite recent poems for our feature, “For the Love of Poetry"?

Probably not helpful, but the thing I’ve been mulling over and sharing has been the Lisa Jones essay, “She Came With the Rodeo,” which is poetic in its lyricism but not a poem, per say.
 
There’s also this poem by Keith Wilson I selected for Connotation Press recently that I spend a lot of time thinking about…
 

* * *
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        LA COLUMBINA—THE OMNI-IMPOTENT ONE

​​Whenever I see a girl brandish
plums in spring : I imagine she steals
them I love to
think of a woman / as a thief I love to think
of how she steels for what she needs Scribes :
reserves her tastes all winter Cuts nectar
of future- /spoils in ink I love to think of how
ink eats :: the girl devouring
her bounty under a tree-
\ like sonnet S he purloins the composition
of its veiny bowels Scourges the stiff pit
on the hull of her mouth Lifts
its node between her lips like an exquisite
expedition She knows
she will not defraud time \-’s intrepid
harvest She watches the persimmons
no one buys at market How their gnarled
sweet /-like knuckles recall the gamboled
blossoms of their once \-red bounty Crooked
as they are : they still
brace each other between breezes

​

* * *


What current event has had the biggest impact on you and what was your reaction? 

I recently moved from Portland, OR to Brooklyn, NY—which is kind of the reverse-migration, I know. I lived in Brooklyn 11 years ago and I’m excited to be back. I’ve always loved the feel of this city. I am a bit out of my depth, though. Since you always need a little insider knowledge to understand where the creatives are and what they’re doing, I have a serious case of FOMO. Open to suggestions if you have things you think the new girl should do...
 
Can you share with us a rejection story that helped you gather all your strength and keep pushing forward? 

Ti Ador(n)o is a collection of poems I completed but have not yet found the right home. in 2017, the collection placed as a runner-up in the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, judged by Vievee Francis. It meant a lot to me because I’ve received at least 20 full-manuscript rejections for the book and have also been rejected from Cave Canem 5 times—Prize winners are often past CC Fellows. The book still hasn’t landed yet, but the unexpected response from paired with the deference I feel for Francis imbued me with hope.
 
How do you define beauty? 

If I like looking at you.
 
As a writer, what can’t you live without? 

Really comfortable sheets.
 
What is the most beautiful word you would like to use more? 

Tacitly.
 ​

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