Welcome to the 2nd episode of New Recruits! For details on what the hell this is and how it works, check out the description in Episode 1.
Janice and I met at the University of Toronto in a physiology course that I wasn’t really taking. She sends me 85% of the cute animals I view online. For a while, her name on Facebook was Janice Dolphin Lee, so when I say dolphin is her middle name, I’m only half lying. I chose this poem for her because it’s as cute/ruthless as she is and because it has a dolphin in it.
Here’s Janice reading the first little series in Dina Del Bucchia’s Coping with Emotions and Otters, “How to Be Jealous.” You can follow along with her for some of the poem in the amazon preview here. This preview is missing the last two parts of the poem (and the rest of the book) so you’re going to have to get yourself a copy if you want to read the rest. Highly recommend to new recruits and old recruits alike.
Did I mention that her reading voice is angelic and I’m mega jealous of it?
Q&A
What was your first impression of the poem?
I spent a good 15 minutes wondering how this was such a good fit for me. It’s like the author peeped into my life.
Which line of the poem do you like best?
‘before you/ realized these underwear/ would help you cling/ to a body/ you hated’
Why?
I totally resonated with that.
What does this poem make you think of?
Reminds me of my younger self’s struggle with self-love and how jealous I can be sometimes of a past-self or past-body rather. But also a lot of sadness for little-me for not understanding that I didn’t need to be so hard on myself. And then a realization that I don’t need to be so hard on myself now.
Are there any words in this poem that you don’t understand?
Treatise.
Would you like to understand them?
yAH – just googled it so I could pronounce it properly.
Have you encountered a poem like this before? Is this poem different from what you expected poetry to be like? If so, How?
Kind of reminds me of Rupi Kaur? It was much more accessible than what I usually expect of poetry. It also had a deep well of rich meaning when I sat with them. These poems were much more visceral than what I’ve read for school and I like that a lot.
Do you have any questions for the poet?
Did you know you were writing this for me? haha just kidding but is this how you owned your experience of jealousy? Because I’m thinking of following suit. Going to cover my work with golden stars.
Janice Lee is currently in Optometry school. She’s a borderline Capricorn-Aquarius and therefore a water goat, but more accurately any marine animal including DOLPHINS AND OTTERS. She likes painting and hearing people’s stories.
Emily Izsak 