*<\/strong><\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Do I start during my pre-to-late teens, when the relationships both my parents were in weren\u2019t based on what I would call a robust feeling of love but resignation to responsibility and desire for security? Or do I begin in my early twenties, when I set my mind on being a writer and then devoured the works of Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Milan Kundera, and Friedrich Nietzsche? Do I detail how I felt intoxicated by the ideas and narratives they presented and how it had deleterious effects on my romantic relationships, my perceptions of what love is, what it could be and its relationship those seeking to pursue a life centered around the Belles Lettres?<\/p>\n Do I open in my late twenties, when the accumulated pain from that world view was pushing me to read psychology and counselling books so I could have a new view of love? That doesn\u2019t seem appropriate either as it took a while for that to really seep in. Perhaps I should commence from more or less the past year, when those vacillations between the adolescent and mature world views finally stopped because I can say that I have a mature understanding of the term based upon reading and experience? I don\u2019t know\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager As for the poem, a couple of my friends expressed similar sentiments so I get it. But I think at this point in my life that it\u2019s important to really understand the workings behind such an attraction and unraveling as it helps people to process the experience and guard from it\u2019s recurrence. I\u2019ve known far too many people that have found themselves suddenly single and broken mentally and emotionally and seem unable to move on. It was just a coping mechanism.<\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Sheen Anyway, we\u2019d first met when I\u2019d started to fall under the spell of those writers that I talked about before. Yet despite this she elicited in me a willingness to be vulnerable \u2013 a quality I\u2019ve struggled to embody as it makes me feel uncomfortable \u2013 and we shared what I felt to be a profound intimacy. I\u2019m normally very intense and high energy, but when I was with her she calmed me down and I felt at ease. It wasn\u2019t just that we had some similar issues in our upbringing, but where all of my other lovers have sought to make me their project \u2013 a lawyer, a professor, a therapist, a politician \u2013 but she just accepted me as an aspiring artist on a journey.<\/p>\n Which is ironic as after graduating from FAU and I sought adventures like those I\u2019d read about in On The Road, Off The Map, The Thief\u2019s Journal, Journey to the End of the Night, You Can\u2019t Win, Tropic of Cancer, Sexus and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. I traveled abroad in Europe for a long while and in the mean time she moved several hours by car to pursue a new career.<\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Through some form of Facebook magic (Thanks Zuckerberg!) she popped up on my \u201cPeople You May Know\u201d feed. I liked one of her photos and we started talking again that evening, making plans to see each other two days later.<\/p>\n In the lead up to seeing her I was more nervous than a drug mule at a pat-down check point at the border. Over and after lunch all was great between us and the day after next, as I did not do so in person, I confessed my shame over my behavior on the phone and told her that she\u2019d grew into the woman that I always thought she would \u2013 which was true.<\/p>\n She said something to me that cut me to the core. She said that the way I treated her years ago made her believe that she was \u201cjust another girl\u201d to me. I told her there and then she was wrong, but didn\u2019t go into the details about it that I have here. Instead I wrote those two poems with hopes of getting to know her again.<\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager \u201cRomantic love offers not just the excitement of the moment but the possibility for dramatic change in the self. It is in fact an agent of change\u2026 Romantic love takes on meaning and provides a subjective sense of liberation only insofar as it creates a flexibility in personality that allows a break-through of internal psychological barriers and taboos\u2026 It creates a flux in personality, the possibility for change, and the impetus to begin new phases of life and undertake new endeavors. As such, it can be seen as a paradigm for any significant realignment of personality and values.\u201d<\/p>\n But I\u2019m also aware enough of my thoughts now to recognize that an element of this attraction is my idealizing of our past, wanting to make amends and, most importantly, that her interpretation of what we shared has a very different emotional inflection than my own.<\/p>\n Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen Ariel Voyager Ariel Sheen I began interviewing artists and writers from or based in South Florida about two years ago as I felt that there weren\u2019t enough outlets to showcase and promote creatives and their projects that I felt were worthy of a larger audience. The idea was, in part, that through our conversations those works could take on … Continue reading “Interview with Ariel Voyager”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[87,8,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative","category-creative-writing","category-interview"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8e7kf-sm","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1758"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1767,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arielsheen.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/arielsheen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fb_148722_10150837581964962_871586146_n.jpeg?resize=840%2C558&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
\nSo when were you first introduced to poetry?<\/p>\n
\nI guess you could say at birth. My namesake comes from the British poet Percy Shelley. There\u2019s a biography of Shelley by the same name that my father had read while in England studying with L. Ron Hubbard. Shelley signed the bottom of his correspondence Ariel, a character from Shakespeare\u2019s play The Tempest because he so resonated with that character.<\/p>\n
\nPoet from birth then, eh?<\/p>\n
\nSomething like that. When I first started to write regularly I was 16. I became involved in the West Palm Beach Poetry Slam community and for several years participated in performance poetry competitions.<\/p>\n
\nI presume you know that your collection of poetry<\/a> basically has the same title as Pablo Neruda\u2019s most renowned collection. What was the reason for that?<\/p>\n
\nBeing coy I\u2019d respond that it\u2019s just a simplistic thematic description of what\u2019s inside\u2026 Being candid I\u2019d say the contemporary poetry market is something that\u2019s ultra-niche and that if name recognition is enough to encourage someone to buy my book then so be it. The artists of today are always re-working the content of the past based on the needs of the present, so to me there\u2019s nothing wrong with this.<\/p>\n
\nSo over how long a period did you build this collection of poems?<\/p>\n
\nAbout 15 years. I think it shows too. You can definitely see some growth both emotionally and aesthetically in them.<\/p>\n
\nAnd were these all \u201creal love poems?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWhat you do you mean by \u201creal love poems?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nWell excepting the ones that seem to be more about social issues related to love \u2013 like Dowry Street and Hipster Pedagogue – were most of these poems that you wrote for someone, you know, while you were in love with them?<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019d say that most of them were written with someone that I was involved with in mind, but despite the title of the collection whether or not I was in love with them is a different story.<\/p>\n
\nWhat do you mean?<\/p>\n
\nWell I\u2019d just mentioned emotional growth on my work. The majority of these poems are from my early twenties. Now being in my early thirties I would define this as a period of my life when I was emotionally stunted.<\/p>\n
\nHow so? And if that\u2019s the case, then why share them?<\/p>\n
\nI wanted to share them because though the sentiment behind some of them aren\u2019t always \u201cloving\u201d in the sense of adoration and appreciation they\u2019re still compelling as writing.<\/p>\n
\nAnd how has love changed its meaning to you over time?<\/p>\n
\nA lot\u2026<\/p>\n
\nCare to go into specifics?<\/p>\n
\nWell. It\u2019s just that that\u2019s a big question. Do I start talking about how as a child, the period of life when most people have that modeled for them, by saying that I had no standard presented to me as to what romantic love was?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/arielsheen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_8536.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1\")
\nWell, that certainly gives me an idea of how your views have changed. I\u2019d asked as I noticed drastically divergent perspectives on love in poems like A Simple Request<\/em> and the Ode<\/em> poem compared with ones like Those Skeletons<\/em> and Silk<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nYes, well, those were all for different people at different times in my life. The latter two from when I was a teenager and was obsessed with the British Romantics. The former I wrote when in my early twenties and believed that selfish, amoral behavior was the manner in which to embody love for oneself (thanks Nietzsche!) and also up the quality of adventures that would be grist for future creative works.<\/p>\n
\nSo then Menagerie<\/em>, which is clearly about your ex-wife… Was that one of your mature poems about love?<\/p>\n
\nHeh, not really. I wrote Menagerie two plus years after our divorce while single. Towards the end of our relationship I\u2019d been reading a lot of books on communication skills for couples, how to overcome fear of vulnerability, how to forgive, how to develop emotional intelligence. You know, the things that schools don\u2019t always do because parents are supposed to but don\u2019t always do. With this in mind I decided to write what I wanted the relationship to be like since the actuality of our life together was so divergent from what\u2019s expressed therein.<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s, well, kind of sad.<\/p>\n
\nWhat happened, yes. But it was my fault for marrying someone that didn\u2019t genuinely love me in a mature sense, let alone herself. To be fair I don\u2019t think that she was alone in that. I certainly was dealing with some issues then that deserved correction. After all, we were engaged after two months of dating and two months later moved to Barcelona on a whim.<\/p>\n
\nInteresting. So you writing as an exercise in catharsis.<\/p>\n
\nNot just me, but scientists as well. Writing and other forms of creative outlets have a purgative effect of the negative energies we feel.<\/p>\n
\nTrue. Which is a good transition for the next poems I want to ask you about slash check if my periodization of your poems is correct. That means your last two poems Un\/Binding and The Ascent of Icarus\u2026<\/p>\n
\nAre the only genuinely recent poems in the collection. They are in part about my refutation of the character\/caricature I\u2019d adopted by identifying with such literary masters.<\/p>\n
\nI knew it! So you still think of them as masters?<\/p>\n
\nAbsolutely. I can appreciate their craft while being critical of their content. They informed my world view at a deep level for a long time in a way that I can\u2019t deny.<\/p>\n
\nCan you tell me a little bit more about those poems? They\u2019re the only ones that seem to exist as a pair, they speak with the greatest urgency, they seem to display the maturity you\u2019ve been talking about and they\u2019re the only poems that have an element of time in them \u2013 excepting what\u2019s clearly an addendum on Notes.<\/p>\n
\nWell, I re-connected with a former lover from my early twenties about two months ago. My muse from that period of my life. More than that, really, as I\u2019ve not had another one since and despite several \u201cserious\u201d relationships. She was the only one that I felt truly understood me on a spiritual level \u2013 which speaks rather poorly to my choices for romantic companions as they were chosen more for presentation rather than personality.<\/p>\n
\nSo that\u2019s the story behind the line \u201cI proffered naught but hope a decade plus ago\/That when we next see each other again it\u2019d be like it was\u201d<\/p>\n
\nYeah. I\u2019ve since looked at my journals from the time so know for sure that I rationalized my breaking off contact with her as a combination of \u201cI\u2019m doing her\/us a favor as the distance between Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale makes this unsustainable\u201d and as I was hurt I was no longer able to see her. I thought I was being mature at the time and moreover realize now that then I started to shut off those parts of myself down that I\u2019d later see as necessary for a healthy relationship to work. For a long while self-sabotage, unfortunately, was a bad habit of mine when dealing with emotions I didn\u2019t know how to properly process.<\/p>\n
\nIt sounds like you still love her.<\/p>\n
\nI mean, yeah. I do. Shortly after the new year I even found myself going through old notes to find a passage I\u2019d copied from a book I\u2019d read not too long ago that touched on what I was feeling:<\/p>\n
\nSo what do you think will come of it?<\/p>\n
\nOh I\u2019m doubtful anything will other than a gradual falling off. Were any of my former lovers to contact to me with such a story as the one I\u2019ve told above I couldn\u2019t honestly see myself giving them the opportunity to demonstrate they\u2019ve changed. Now there\u2019s major, major differences between them and her and of course, and the phrase \u201cSometimes second chances work out better than the first because you\u2019ve learned from your mistakes\u201d certainly comes to my mind, but I can\u2019t downplay the truth of how hard it is for someone to shake away a negative view that\u2019s been accepted as true for so many years. That\u2019s brain chemistry. Years of specific neuropathic associations. I may be forgiven, as she\u2019s told me that I am, but those make my desire to test the waters have to work extra hard against that well worn track. Plus, our physical distance makes an easy re-acquaintance impossible. I may be willing to make the effort to see and be with her, but whereas ten some years ago that was what was wanted I feel that now it just comes off as, well, weird despite my having no real desire to stay in South Florida and have because of the uniqueness of my job the ability to move wherever I\u2019d like. Ironic when you think about it\u2026<\/p>\n
\nFinding irony amusing instead of fighting for what you want? That doesn\u2019t sound like you. It sounds like you\u2019ve given up! Isn\u2019t love worth fighting for?<\/p>\n
\nI think love conquers all, yes. But that\u2019s not what we have now. Maybe there\u2019s some mutual fondness over long past memories and pleasure in conversation, but beyond that I\u2019m can\u2019t honestly say there\u2019s more to it. I\u2019m a romantic, for sure! But I\u2019m also a realist that can see that while something more would make for a great story, it is, however, unlikely.<\/p>\n
\nHow does that make you feel?<\/p>\n
\nThere was a time when I would have fixated on it and felt pain for not getting what I want. But I know that this would lead to another round of depression and self-medication and I\u2019m so over that cycle so I\u2019ll take a longer view and take comfort in the memories and the unforgettable reminder not to lower my standards as to the qualities that I should be seeking in a partner that fits my particularities.<\/p>\n
\nOk. Interesting. Look at you Mr. Mature. Let\u2019s move on to some other poems. I was wondering about the poem The Hipster Professor, The Leftist Demagogue and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. That poem, which has many of the qualities of a short story, seems so be referring to real people rather than placeholders for common academic stereotypes. Am I right?<\/p>\n
\nYes, those are real people! The Leftist Professor was Simon Critchley and the Hipster Demagogue was Micah White, who would later be one of the two co-founders of the Occupy Wall Street Movement. I met them both at an academic conference at SUNY Binghamton several years ago.<\/p>\n
\nBesides being critical of them, you seem to be somewhat critical of yourself there.<\/p>\n
\nYes, well, that\u2019s because I was. I\u2019d wrote a draft for that poem years ago and when coming back to it was of a very different mindset. That said I still think their politics are shit.<\/p>\n
\nHow do you think that love ought to operate on a social level?<\/p>\n
\nThat\u2019s a bigger question than one I\u2019m ready to answer now. For now I\u2019ll say that I think love relates not just to the people you choose and who choose you as a romantic partner but is evident in social values as well. In Heaven\u2019s Mansions I try to show how selfish it is to build beautiful spaces meant to be enjoyed and wall them off. In Dowry Street I try and point out the absurdity of a society that keeps so many people close to poverty that they\u2019re willing to turn a sacred ceremony into a means of supporting themselves. These are aspects of love, at a larger scale than exists between two people, that I think are worthy of recognition and discussion. I write about this in more detail in some of my more explicitly political poems.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/arielsheen.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/V-Day-ABCs.png?resize=597%2C470&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n
\nDo you have any other creative projects in the works right now?<\/p>\n
\nNo, because after all of the above came to your awareness in a manner that you couldn\u2019t avoid, you killed me.<\/p>\n
\nTrue. Though you have to admit it was a long time coming\u2026<\/p>\n
\nTrue. So at the end of this interview let me then ask you, do you have any other creative projects in the works right now?<\/p>\n
\nIn deed I do! I\u2019m taking a break from the serial novel project I\u2019ve been spending the past year or so doing character and historical research on to work on a comedic screenplay in hopes of it being adapted to film one day. Golden age of film and all.<\/p>\n
\nA comedy? Wow. That\u2019s quite a divergence from your rather serial novel project.<\/p>\n
\nYeah, well, I need a change from working on what I hope will be as impactful as Atlas Shrugged and I\u2019ve had enough people tell me I\u2019m funny that I think I might be able to get paid real money should I get it in the right hands.<\/p>\n
\nWell, I wish you, and thus me, the best of luck in your endeavor.<\/p>\n
\nWe are not the same, but I thank you nonetheless! Bye Felica!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"