the question everyone's asking
Updated: Oct 3, 2025
“…soooo…how many books have you sold?” she asked cautiously, yet clearly curious.
“uhhh…i…uhhh...don’t know”, i mumbled, rushing the words together.
i focused on the sound of the wind filling the car, wishing it would blow the conversation out the window.
“you. don’t. KNOW HOW MANY BOOKS YOU’VE SOLD?!” she spat out.
sharing the moment above has shown me how long it’s been since i wrote on here. there’s so much to catch up on! let’s start with where we left off last time. in this blog post, i shared some projects i was working on. these weren’t creative in the traditional sense (which is probably what the person had in mind when they asked) but here are the updates nonetheless:
i’ll get this out of the way: i have not read the entire bible yet. my motivations for wanting to do it were misguided. once i refocused my attention on God (instead of philosophical “what if”s that may never happen), my view of the Word shifted as did my understanding of what It is and the role It plays in my life. the best verse that sums up the experience so far is ps. 119:105 "Your word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path"
my cornrows are neater
still can’t do a pull up
the balcony isn’t an urban garden yet howeverrr my plants are happy (for the most part)
annnnd now on to the creative projects!
in the past year, my creative life has been mostly freelance gigs, collaborations, and workshops. check out the events section on the main page to get a feel of what i’ve been up to. my cv is also available upon request if you’d like to see a full list.
my latest project explores loneliness as creative currency. collaborating with other creatives has given me the privilege of bearing witness to how mandated isolation affected us. though we are social beings, it is in the artist’s nature to take/create time apart. being alone is an integral part of "the process" but, as with all things, we need our solitude in moderation. even the most antisocial creative still has a threshold for how much solitude they need in order to be productive and grow in their craft. i hope to share more sometime soon!
speaking of craft....a little over a month ago, a friend connected me with a sound engineer who was looking to work with more poets. he pitched his idea and although it sounded a little out there, i liked that it was different.
after an afternoon of shooting and recording, he created the video below. not what i was expecting, but it was pretty cool to see someone interact with my work and produce different content as a result. this poem is the oldest one in light soup (i originally wrote it in 2016). this piece is one i like to begin certain sets with. in light soup it’s called “introduction poem” but i renamed it “mi n3” which means “this is me” in ga. check it out and let me know your thoughts in the comments (or text me).
“NUNOO! come on! you HAVE to know!”
i gave a limp excuse about having to check excel sheets but the truth was, i did know. not an exact number, but i had a rough estimate. my friend, sensing my discomfort, accepted the answer but the smirk on her face told me that the conversation wasn’t over. later that night i brought up all my excel sheets, scrolled to the bottom of them, and gingerly added the numbers.
“100...150…200...250…300...”
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