How Does One Begin May?

Genuinely, a question: how does one begin the month of May?

I have been through 19 Mays in my life, and I doubt I could remember even half of them. The most recent Mays I've been through have been have been stagnated with the stress of university and the impending doom of exams. And how did I survive through them? I'd rather not say, and it certainly does not involve alcohol of any sort.

Because I don't drink, the way I manage my mental health during these very turbulent times is holding onto the promise of good things coming soon. What is there to look forward to, you may ask, and I'm glad that you did.

This is a perfect segue to tell you that I have more poems coming soon. One, Purely Liminal Magazine accepted another one of my poems for their second issue, saccharine. This one is called the revelation of you, and it has been a work-in-progress for the longest time. I'm quite sure that the first sentence was formulated sometime in, perhaps, September. I was only pushed to finish the poem for this issue, and I'm so glad that they accepted it.

On a very surprising note, this is how i think of you is out on Mosaic Lit. You may be wondering why this is surprising - and the answer is because that I saw my acceptance email in my spam, and I don't often check my spam. So this is a first on a few levels. And I've been pushing to give this poem a place to call home for the longest time. It's a simple poem, and I've tried to imitate the neo-noir vibe of the city in rain. It's kinda romantic, but the idea is to paint a picture in words. For it to be published, I'm guessing that people like it.

Another surprising thing that happened this first week in May is that introducing me is going to be publishing in the university's magazine, Craccum! This is really exciting because I can finally 'hold' one of my poems in an actual established magazine. And I think it matches well with the theme of pride. It is important to embrace one's identity, in every shape and form. My poem introducing me is a reflection on that newfound identity that could have been repressed, or lingering in the back of one's mind. It is a reunion of two parts of the self that have been so distant for so long, and now they are unified in the body. Writing this poem was challenging and rewarding at the same time because I have been wanting to write a poem that reflects on that longing to truly become myself. At the end of this poem, ending it with the word 'one' is impactful for me because I have often used numbers as a symbol of either solitude or unity. But now even that symbolism is blurred - it began in solitude and evolved into unity. I cannot wait for this poem to be out!

Additionally, Symposia will be releasing soon with my poem summer. I'm not too sure if I've talked about this poem before, but why not say it again? summer is the embodiment of everything I hate about the season. I hate how it's hot, I hate how it's humid - I hate it, I hate it, I hate it! So just to subvert one's expectation on a seasonal piece, I poured all my hatred into a disgusting image of me walking to the train station as I normally do. But what's so different about my walk to the train station? The sights, the smells, and the feels. The sun is yellow, but hey, so is piss (this line of reasoning was the main thesis and inspiration behind the whole thing.) But in saying this, I'm truly delighted to have this piece releasing soon. And hey, I might even recite this piece out loud in Wellington!

In all this, I'm just happy to report that May may not look so bad after all. That is, if we ignore the academic stresses that I am subjected to. And speaking of academic stresses, I really should get on that article on gravitational microlensing.

Check out my updated list of published works here.