Can you go through the step-by-step process of writing this poem from the moment the idea was first conceived in your brain until final form? This poem was a bit of a struggle to write because I had to finish the collection on a hopeful note. But the thing is, when my psychosis happened, there was no hope at the time. I suffered from hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia that led to a hospitalization.
In the first draft of this poem, I wrote the poem in a narrow column and as fast as I could jog my memory of specific images. Religious and nature images came to mind because, to me, in that moment in my life, I thought that something apocalyptic was brewing. There was a thunderstorm that severed me from thinking beyond myself. I was also living by myself in a residence hall with barely any interaction with people.
In the second draft, I had included the line, “the earth is the most mysterious love song of them all,” to show a glimmer of hope. When my advisor at the Vermont College of Fine Arts read the poem, he made a minor edit and changed song to language. I thought that was more poetic and gripping than song because nowhere in the poem or the collection did I mention music.
If I had to do another revision of my poem or perhaps of the collection, I would’ve added more of a musical theme. Because that also played a huge factor. I am a very cerebral type of person and so, when I have my headphones in, I am lost in a thought or daydream. In the final draft of this poem, my advisor and I agreed that the stanzas should have a layering effect like a staircase. It builds and builds to the conclusion where the earth and the speaker are synonymous with mystery.
Where were you when you started to actually write the poem? And please describe the place in great detail. I was quarantined at home due to the pandemic in my bedroom (Below). I had started my first semester at the Vermont College of Fine Arts remotely and learned the art of self-editing as well as constructive criticism. I call my bedroom my sanctuary; it is a place where I relax, practice my music, write, read cards for myself, work on a personal lap desk, do my make-up… the list goes on! My bedroom, I believe, is a personification of me.
There are fake plants everywhere (because I don’t have a green thumb), local and renowned artwork on the walls like those of Mary Cassatt, Chelsea Smith, and Becca Basic. I have a dark tapestry of the moon cycle behind my bedframe. A triptych of roses on another wall. Books everywhere—and I mean everywhere. I have an unfinished dollhouse from my dad that I refuse for anyone to finish. A piano, ukulele, and guitar underneath the rose triptych. I also have a little garden on my window with postcards from writer and creative friends, feathers, crystals, and succulents. The energy is definitely a wild feminine one that never grows old to me.
What month and year did you start writing this poem? I started writing this poem in January of this year. But to be honest, it has always been percolating inside of me. Ever since I had left college to focus on my health, I knew that I wanted to talk about my mental illness in response to the struggles of becoming an adult. Capitalism tells you that your worth is based on your productivity and how much you check off your task lists. However, I’ve learned that if you don’t slow down, if you simply stick to a to-do list of things you need to accomplish, you will lose your authenticity and passion. I think that’s primarily why people are burning out at a younger age.
I finished this poem about a month later. I wasn’t in a rush, but it just seemed close to finished when I sent it to my advisor to review.
Copyright by Taylor Gianfrancisco
How many drafts of this poem did you write before going to the final? I went through three drafts of this poem before finalizing it. The first draft was just getting the story of the experience out; the second draft was reviewing what lines work and didn’t. The final draft involved changing the formatting of the poem to reflect the final staircase effect of this poem.
Were there any lines in any of your rough drafts of this poem that were not in the final version? Not lines, per se, but a phrase that I had mentioned in a previous question. I had originally written “the earth is the most mysterious love song of them all.” I wanted to hint at a quote that I had written earlier in 2010 when I first started college that all my friends had reacted to, it was so deep. But it also was not a fully cooked quote. I had taken a world religions class at my college and I was baffled at the idea of how religion and love intersect to govern people in their own lives. The full quote was, “Love is the most mysterious religion of them all.” What I was trying to hint at was the depths of how we let love govern our lives, not only if we’re religious, but spiritually and socially dependent on others.
In the final revision, the line was changed to “the earth is the most mysterious love language of them all.” I think that this line cuts much deeper because it makes the reader contemplate how we love one another. How we love the earth, the animals, the people that live here with us. I think that this implied interconnectedness makes the collection round out well because I was afraid that the collection would be too somber or depressing without a line like that to conclude it.
What do you want readers of this poem to take from this poem? I want readers of this poem to consider how we love. This poem is called “A Delirium of Flowers” because, in my backyard, during the summer months here in Florida, I have crepe myrtles and bougainvillea bloom like crazy. I was taking photos of these flowers blooming and thinking about how I loved. I considered that when I love something, it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens and grows over time. It just appears sometimes with intensity and passion like a bougainvillea or a rose garden in full bloom.
Credit and Copyright by Taylor Gianfrancisco
Everything has its season. Everything grows on its own terms. I want readers to understand from this poem that it’s all about the perception and attitude of growth we adopt that really shows us where and how much we will bloom.
Credit and Copyright by Taylor Gianfrancisco
Which part of the poem was the most emotional of you to write and why? I think that the most emotional part of this poem was when I intentionally made a white space between “reality” and “now.” I don’t think people realize the intentionality of white spaces in poems; this white space indicates the shift from this state of mind, the real world, to a different, more imagined, one. It almost broke my heart when I made that white space; to show that divorce on paper, when I haven’t even bothered to talk about this traumatic event from my past to people, felt so deeply personal. I still have trouble seeing that white space. It just feels so uncomfortable and deeply personal.
Has this poem been published before? And if so where? No, this whole collection actually has not been published anywhere. I think it’s fascinating that Ghost City Press chose to publish the entirety of this collection without any previous publications of poems within.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1063031217/a-delirium-of-flowers-a-poetry-micro?ref=shop_home_active_2
All Backstory of the Poem LIVE LINKS can be found at the very end of the below feature:
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/02/will-justice-drakes-intercession-is-251.html
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