Kelly Luce’s Comments
I dont often write poetry, but when I do its usually a love poem. Such is the case with this group. Another Night Drive is the earliest poem among these, written in 2006 after Id moved to a cabin in the Santa Cruz mountains to focus on writing and to get my shit together as a young person. Corny as it sounds, I see the poem as a celebration of myself, my independence, and the first car I ever owned.
I wrote Walking with Jun to make sense of a friend who makes sound installations. I noticed that he was always snapping his fingers or clapping, testing the surrounding space for interesting sonic effects. He explained that music is art in time; one listening experience is never exactly the same as the next. Embracing the ephemeralin art, in relationships, in natureis not an easy task, and, re-reading this poem, I think it was written as a celebration of not just human connection, but of ephemeral experience in general.
North Rim Love Song is the only thing Ive written that felt like it came from outside myself, as if I were channeling it. I was visiting the Grand Canyon, couldnt get a past relationship out of my mind, and the natural beauty of the canyon magnified my thoughts. The opening line came into my head and the lines just kept coming. I didnt have a pen, so I turned my camera to video mode and muttered the words so I could write them down later. The last couplet was the only bit that came after, during revision, and Im still not happy with it. (Oh, the guy from the past relationshipIm going to marry him this summer.)
Enterprise is a story about meeting someone of enormous magnetism in a strange, new place. Its about a physical journey and the way small details suddenly take on significance when youre in that heightened state of discovery.
Outside Joshua Tree is, again, strongly informed by a location. Believe me: theres a place in the desert where magic happens.
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