FUNKY FRIDAY - with poet Kela Lewis Morin

This is my final FUNKY FRIDAY - I feel after nine months of fantastic interviews with readers and writers that it's now reached a natural end.  I'm always more than happy to continue hosting authors or reviewers from time to time so feel free to get in touch - it's just that this won't be a regular feature any more.

So ... I met this young man just recently on Twitter and, after reading some of his poetry, I wanted to share his talent with you all and shine the spotlight on him.

So, Kela when did you first start writing poetry and do you also enjoy reading it?

Poetry is an art that has always been a part of me in one form or another. I have always had an active imagination that just wanders off on its own tangent. I have an insatiable thirst for obtaining an understanding of how and why things happen. I am constantly questioning every assumption this world has to offer. The only way I could fully express the thoughts that circle in my head was to jot them down. Then my worded thoughts flowed into poetic streams of rhythm. My mind is riddled with a range of rhythmic paces, elaborate metaphors and double entendres. At first I kept my poetry to myself because I believed it was too personal to reveal. I was totally against anyone reading my work. The idea of uploading and exposing my work online for complete strangers to read petrified me. I was content with just keeping almost like an alter ego protected in the depths of saved documents. I was addicted to the freedom of passionate phraseology but I feared what others would think of me. Until one day someone very close to me rummaged through my laptop and read all of my private pieces. Despite my resentment it felt good to finally be honest about what I love doing.  The word spread around my friendship group and to my surprise I received a vast amount of encouragement. After a flurry of persuasive, peer pressure tactics I decided to create a blog and find out what the world thought about my work. Now after years writing and gaining confidence, I now think I have something different to offer the world. I openly admit that the belief I can have a fruitful career in writing is based on the validation from others. I am only as good as people say.

I love reading poetry because there is an infinite amount of ways to express the same words and sentiments. Art feeds art and all it takes is a couple of insightful words to spark your own train of thought. I see reading other peoples poetry as a constant source of inspiration. I admire poets like Sylvia Plath, William Wordsworth, Philip Larkin and Tupac Shakur because of their intricate world play. Also by the fact although they are no longer physically here, their literal legacy will forever live on. I aspire to have that kind of impact on the world some day.

Big Brother are doing a 'Writers' Special' and they want you to go on it.  Would you accept?

That is an unexpected question but truthfully I would be hesitant to enter. Although I am open with my thoughts, I still like my privacy. I am sure I would not feel comfortable in having my every move televised; I can’t handle that much judgement at once. However, I still consider myself to be very social and forthcoming with my opinions. The irony is I spend my days performing in every environment in order to be accepted. But because the circumstance always changes I know that every performance has an eventual end. Eventually the curtain is called allowing me time I to centre myself and continue. On ‘Big Brother’ there is no intermission period. You are constantly on display for viewers to pick apart and evaluate. I don’t think I could hold up the visage for long and eventually my true colours will show. I am not saying the real me is someone to be revered, but I know I have a tendency to be distant. I can be withdrawn and I do not talk to others because I am already talking to myself.  Being distant does not bode well in these kinds of reality shows. Basically, I am a crazy, abstract mute who occasionally smiles and mutters words to himself. On the off chance that I do happen to communicate the conversation would be disjointed and only end in regret. I would probably end up in a 5 day old man sized nappy, throwing his own faeces at the cameras. If the viewers would like to watch a psychological, reality wild life drama then by all means, sign me up.

What about 'I'm a Celebrity'?  Would you eat kangaroo's bits?

Kangaroo bits? There is no scenario were my name and Kangaroo bits would be included in the same sentence. On ‘I’m a Celebrity’ I would be forced to face my fears in front of the entire population. That is just a multitude of opportunities for me to embarrass myself on an epidemic scale. On second thought if you were allowed to bring your assortment of condiments, then maybe I would consider it. Kangaroo bits drizzled in a peanut and paprika dressing sounds strangely appetising.

Weirdo!  Tell us about your dream week as a poet.

My dream week as a poet would include an indoor work study with a scenic pool side view. I would love to be granted full time to work on my up and coming poetry collection. I am currently a teaching assistant in a local primary school, I specialise in literary and creative writing workshops. Sadly, I cannot financially live of my dream yet but I cannot wait till the day I achieve this. In this flawless instance I would be doing nothing but writing, re drafting and writing. Hopefully I would already have a flourishing career from consistently producing quality books for everybody. I have been working on a science fiction novel for some time now but I wanted to conquer poetry first. This fanciful week would allow me to work on all my writing projects with precision and total commitment. Free from all other ties and obligations, this would be a surreal but ideal situation.

You can follow Kela on Twitter or why not check out his website to see some of his work? I did and really enjoyed.