Moon Beams #28 - Steven Reigns

On writing about love, poet Steven Reigns spoke to how funny it would be to even consider exhausting the topic, given the vast span of experiences one can have in love, and the unique approaches every artist brings to expressing love’s sparks, fullness, loss, and everything in between in episode #28 of “Moon Beams.”

“Musicians haven’t stopped, ‘Oh, I’m good, the world has enough love songs,’” Steven said, “because there are so many dynamics to it, and people are always trying to get it just right.

“And there will be that love song, and you will feel like, ‘Oh, they have really captured this experience of love,’ but there are many experiences, and I think we get better and better at defining and identifying that experience.”

Per usual with any good conversation I have inside or outside this series, our chat explored lots of different places and artists, from Mary Ruefle to Natalie Goldberg, as well as the awesomeness of the title of Steven’s first collection, Your Dead Body is My Welcome Mat.

As the title implies, sharp feelings went into the piece, and Steven shared how different seasons of an artist’s journey can grow out of particular feelings, but that true development has come his way through being open to growth and new perspectives.

“I felt like if I let go of my anger, or if the issues of my anger were resolved, would I have fuel?” said Steven. “And it wasn’t the case, and it was a good lesson that anger is just a one-note motivator, and I think it’s better to have diverse reasons of motivation.”

Steven’s fourth and newest collection, Outliving Michael, is available now at Moon Tide Press.

I had a blast connecting with Steven, appreciate his time and energy, and applaud the continued generosity and leadership he shows to the poetry community.