K-OODI Magazine March 2016, Issue 4 | Page 190

have experienced terrible things, loss, heartache, pain to create what they have created. Do you think pain is a necessary component of art making, especially when it comes to writing? Absolutely. Pain makes the best art in my opinion. If you have yet to ever experience a hardship in your life, and I mean actual hardships, then it will show in your art. Not that you can't create without pain, but it certainly makes for amazing art. What would you say to a person who's never written anything, barely a letter, and uses the excuse "I can't"? I would say, "Get off your ass and do it!" Anyone can write, just no everyone is good at it. You get better as you go, and until you try, you will never know what you can accomplish. How much of your work is free flow of words and how much would you say is about polishing the work? Do your poems come to you in almost ready form, or do you ponder around them for longer periods of time, trying to find the right way to say what you want to say? As I said before, the majority of the words I write, be it songs or poetry, come to me in one big flow. I write it out, and then I have to go back and see what it is I wrote. Sounds insane, but it is true. There is a voice inside that takes over most times I write. What would you never write about? Or is there such a topic? I don't believe there is a line. I think that writing comes from within, so if you don't like someone's writing, then don't read it. Who are the writers/artists that have inspired you? As far as poetry goes, I would have to say Poe, Byron, Shakespeare and Rimbaud. What do you want people to take away from your poetry? I want people to take away a new way of thinking. If you read something I have written, then I want you to think as