“A Portrait of my Father;” “The Dying Visions of an American Gangster;” and “New York, Again” by Eros Livieratos appeared in Issue 42 and can be read here.
We’d love to hear more about this set of poems.
“A Portrait of my Father” & “The Dying Visions of an American Gangster” are both poems about my father’s health. I wrote them while I was away finishing my MFA and I was heartbroken all the time. I tried my best to help with his declining health from afar, but it felt like a Sisyphean task to try and work against time and distance. These poems were written to help me process in real time.
“New York, Again” was a piece I wrote while visiting home. I got to hang out with my good friend and killer tattoo artist, Jakki Maroney and get some new work done. Afterwards, I saw my friends in Sunrot play a show in Queens. I was so enamored by how talented my friends are—I wanted to try writing a poem for them too. I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to write about platonic love.
What was the most difficult part in writing this set?
I get choked up when I reread “A Porait of my Father.” I love him dearly and so, writing these poems felt very out of my hands. “New York, Again” was hard in its sentiment. I want to write more about joy and so it felt like an exercise in gratitude.
Recommend a book for us which was published within the last decade.
Raving by McKenzie Wark. The book seamlessly blurs the lines of theory and autofiction while exploring the very contemporary New York rave scene and its ties to the trans community. I’m finding a lot of overlap between the phenomena of raving and noise shows–I just love it so much.
If you could have a drink with any living author, who would it be? Why?
I’m sure there’s a lot of brilliant authors to have a drink with, but in reality—I miss grabbing a beer with my thesis advisor, Marcus Jackson. He rules.
What are you working on now? What’s next?
The poems published here are a part of a manuscript that I’m submitting for publication. In the meantime, I am working on researching and writing a book on harsh noise. I spent March 2023 in Japan interviewing artists, and now I am conducting the American phase of research where I hope to speak to more practicing musicians, as well as continue performing under my project EROSLOVESYOU. Thanks for reading <3.
Our thanks to Eros for taking the time to answer a few questions and share these poems. Read “A Portrait of my Father;” “The Dying Visions of an American Gangster;” and “New York, Again” here.
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