Liliana Ponder is a student here at Bellevue College. Below is a piece of her poetry work followed by a brief interview.
“Ode to my microphone”
Echoing chamber plugged into the folds of my brain. Speaker for unheard thoughts powered via the creative outlet. Sleek cold feeling like touching a pane of glass. Comforting blue, an abyss that my words can fall into. The shape of a pill. A pill full of rage, judgment, fear, hope. Medicine that can be the cure and the disease. A type you can’t always swallow. Like an escape pod flying through space, watch it enter my focus’ orbit. Unexpected catalyst, it causes a stream of inspiration to grow. High-voltage courage. A mechanical eye that sees right through me. Scavenging for traits that I have hidden within my ribcage. Summoning a mirror, I’m afraid to peek into. In your metallic basket, you bring me shears. A tool that helps me cut through my overgrown path. You give me a place to unload the heavy bricks I carry around. A safe space that isn’t easily found. In your absence, like a small tack in a thick carpet, I would be lost. Electrified ballads wouldn’t be sung in tune. Melodies couldn’t fully express their moods. A jumble of noises; crackling, unclear voices.
Q: Why do you like writing poetry? Why is poetry important?
A: I like writing poetry because it gives me a place to lay out my thoughts. I have a difficult time conveying what I want to say out loud and writing them feels easier to me. It’s my outlet and I feel like without it, I’d be in a less functioning state than I am now. I also like to use poetry to relate, and I hope someone out there can relate to how I feel and possibly know that they’re not alone.
Q: What is this poem about and why is it your best piece of work?
A: This poem is about the microphone that I use to record music. The poem shares the microphone itself and the thoughts and feelings that it can bring me when I hear my own voice. I think this poem is my best work as of now because of the images that I can produce in one’s head. I used a lot of figurative language and I think it works well in this poem.
Q: Do you have plans of pursuing poetry as a career or hobby?
A: I don’t have plans to pursue poetry as a career, currently. I like writing poetry as a hobby for sure though, and if that consists of putting some of my work out there I would gladly do so.
To view the full poetry profile series, check out the articles under this link. If you would like to submit work to be featured in a future issue, contact Emily Dickinson here.
