Contributor Spotlight: Darcy Smith

“All 8,294,400 Pixels Point in the Same Direction” and “Sea of Origami Birds” by Darcy Smith appeared in Issue 22 and can be read here.

We’d love to hear more about your “Pixel” poem.

All 8,294,400 Pixels Point in the Same Direction was a fun poem to write. There’s a wild spirit there that I imagine many of us can relate to. I enjoyed the research involved. So many pixels. So much conformity. Fascinating.  

What was the most difficult part of writing this poem?

Reining in the poem while letting the poem expand as far as possible. Since All 8,294,400 Pixels Point in the Same Direction is a concrete poem, getting the shape right was an interesting challenge.

Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.

Ilya Kaminsky’s Deaf Republic. Stunning work.

If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?

Great question. I would opt for a dinner party with a whole bunch of poets. Guest list, in no particular order: Ilya Kaminsky, Danez Smith, Franny Choi, Kaveh Akbar, Dorianne Laux, Jane Hirshfield,  Nick Flynn, Ocean Vuong, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Rachel Zucker, Claudia Rankine, Patricia Smith. That’s a dozen fascinating people. Wouldn’t it be grand? 

What are you working on now? What’s next?

My book length poetry manuscript, Bloodstones & River Skin needs a home. I just started sending it out. We’ll see where it lands.

Our thanks to Darcy for taking the time to answer a few questions and share her work. Read Darcy’s poems “All 8,294,400 Pixels Point in the Same Direction” and “Sea of Origami Birds” here:  https://www.sequestrum.org/two-poems-by-darcy-smith.

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Darcy Smith works as a sign language interpreter. Her poems have appeared in Boyne Berries, Up The River, Chronogram, MER, GTK, Sadie Girl Press, Universal Table, Arsenic Lobster, Between the Lines, RAR, The Poetry Distillery, and ArtAscent. Darcy is a Buddhist and a kickboxer. Her current obsession is executing a six punch three kick combination with perfect form.