Why I wrote "Soup and Everything"

(Note: This is also the Preface for "Soup and Everything")

“Soup and Everything” started off very small and, like all ideas, it took off in its own path and so I followed. The original idea was to do a poetry collection with some simple drawings so that I could figure out how bleed (book illustrations) worked for future projects. Then I wrote “An Ode to Crumbs” separate from the idea and I felt as though it was a good starting off point for a potential project about seemingly insignificant things and the value I could abstract from them.

Thus the original title was going to be “Abstracting Objects” and the collection would feature a hodge-podge of small and big objects that were then placed on a sort of equal value where I tried to craft poetry that reflected the beauty of each of these objects. As I wrote, I found that merely writing “objects” in a strict sense was too limiting and, in some ways, a disrespect to what I was trying to do. Taking roles such as “Songwriter” or “ Knight” and calling them “objects” felt wrong and then adding in concepts such as “Nihilism” were entirely out of the bounds of the title. However, I felt they were still accomplishing what I wanted for the ever-growing collection, it was just that the collection had changed gears.

So as I wrote I thought about what this collection was trying to be. I had already written the final poem “Zero and Nothing” about an empty can at the end of time and I had been rewriting a poem called “Soup and Everything” when it all came into place. I wanted the poem “Soup and Everything” to be about the beautiful mix of ingredients creating something better than its individual parts and I realized that’s what I wanted for the collection. So why not make that the title? The poem that I still had not completed was to be titled “Soup” and the poetry collection would start off with “Soup”  before getting into, well, Everything else.

Now I already had a loose plan for the narrative of the collection so with a few adjustments, and turning the odes into prologues and epilogues, I was able to create what is in your hands now.

Then came the art which, if you remember, was originally the whole point of the collection. I have no classical training in art and have only ever pursued it as a hobby to attach to my writing. Initially, I wanted the art to be incredibly simple and scarce to compliment the poetry and allow me to experiment with bleed. As you’ll come to see, that was not the final product. I found that these poems, while some of my favorite works alone, were also begging to be accompanied by art that reflected their quality. Thus, I invited others on board to create complimentary works that I could not accomplish while also pushing myself to craft some pieces that were bigger than I had ever done before. For me, there were certain limits. I did all the art on my phone with my fingers and thumbs. While I wish I could say this was out of some passionate challenge to form and artistic expectations, it was simply because that was the only way I had ever known to do digital art. However, I found that the medium I chose could be pushed, and by the end of the project I was proud of the art I created. Some of it is really simple and some of it may be a bit much, but that is also dependent on the poem. Each image is meant to be as dramatic or simple as the poem it is paired with and when there isn’t a picture to go along with a poem it is likely because I felt that the poem works best without an image.

By the time I finished I realized how despite the narrative I crafted for the collection, the poems themselves vary so much they may feel a bit random. Trying to capture the essence of so many different concepts, I felt it necessary to go to so many different places. So if the collection feels chaotic I apologize, but also, I hope you find that chaos inspiring in the same way the collection inspired me.

I’ve been trying to think through what I wanted the collection to accomplish for the reader and I’ve decided that if I can get you, the reader, to find one poem, one concept, and attach yourself to it; to find some value in something that you hadn’t previously thought of or considered. If you can be inspired by something, anything, everything, after reading this then the collection was a success.

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