I wish my apartment had better acoustics (or eggshells nailed to the walls, for that matter) but for what it’s worth, this video is an audio recording of me reading through Lana Del Rey’s entire (amazing) poetry collection “Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass.” I’ve been listening through all of her music lately (she is a genius, with a BA in philosophy—specializing in metaphysics—from Fordham university in New York) and I just sorta recognize a kindred spirit. Her personality, with its low self-esteemy vibe and promiscuous behavior, along with a mystical streak, does remind me very much of the late Mary Church, who committed suicide one month after her twenty-eighth birthday (close enough to join the 27 Club) in January of 2019.
The writing style of Del Rey’s poetry—with very little punctuation and uncapitalized personal pronouns—does recall the writing style of Church’s personal journals Earthblood, which I published in 2020 (to be republished soon, hopefully sometime next year, as the primary source material for my Motorcycle Girl Trilogy). Del Rey’s poetry also does have a similar feel to my own poetry, especially recalling some of the rhythms and diction of Gravity Girl (2017)and Orpheus in the World Interior (2017), both of which books I wrote for, and about, Mary Church (also to be republished soon: I’ve got a fuckload of work ahead of me. If anyone wants the pdfs of those two books, let me know and I’ll send them to you free, or Church’s Earthblood journals, for that matter).
I just feel that Lana—whose real name is Lizzy Grant—is a kindred spirit to the both of us, which is a feeling I cannot say that I’ve felt about anyone else. Ever. (Except maybe another great Los Angeles poet Michael Aaron Kamins). If, in an imaginary—or even astral—universe the three of us had not been separated by a gigantic economic gap—Mary Church and I being at the bottom of that pyramid, with Lana at the top—I think we would’ve have some really fun and entertaining conversations about…gods, the spirits, the astral plane, the multiverse, etc. etc.
Hopefully I’ve given her poems a sympathetic and nuanced reading. I love them. They are beautiful and reveal the introverted depths of a mystically-inclined soul. And I love her, too (her public avatar, that is).
One thing I’ve learned throughout my metaphysical researches is that if a particular historical time, place or person fascinates the hell out of you, there is most likely a karmic connection of some sort.
Hope you enjoy her poems as much as I do.
(I still do astrology readings, btw. If interested, contact me at johndavidebert@gmail.com
We’re also beginning a David Lynch course on Wednesday night, May 7 at 6-8 pm MST for eight weeks. To attend the discussions live, enrollment is $100 or if you just want the video subscription, cost is $50. If interested, hmu at johndavidebert@gmail.com).
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