"Dream of Me as Water" by David Ly

I'm delighted to see that David Ly is about to release his second collection, Dream of Me as Water (Palimpsest Press, 2022). I interviewed David back in 2020 when his first collection, Mythical Man, was published. 

Here's a sample poem from the new book:

Ask and Answer - David Ly

He asks when the octopus lost its shell and it twirls the end
of an arm, pointing back to the Mesozoic Marine Revolution

He asks when it would be okay for him to lose his carapace,
but the octopus doesn’t move, waiting to feel safe

He asks why the octopus lost its shell and it melts
into a glass bottle to try and evade questioning

He asks why he needs to learn to be softer,
so the octopus emerges to embrace him

He asks how the octopus lost its shell, begging to learn,
and its skin flushes from mottled brown to yellow and orange

He asks how he can lose the ability to be so hard on himself
and the octopus wipes away his tears with the tips of its arms

 

I love that casual twirl all the way back to the Mesozoic! David is clearly continuing his tradition of making old stories new, which we discussed back in 2020. Where else can he go? In this book, wherever water flows, it seems. From the jacket copy:

Using water as his central metaphor, Ly meditates on how identity is never a stagnant concept, but instead something that is intangible, fluid, and ever-evolving. Dream of Me as Water revels in the nuances of the self, flouting outside perceptions for deeper, more personal realities.

David's Vancouver launch for Dream of Me as Water will take place on Sunday, September 18th at 6pm, at the Massy Arts Gallery. He'll be joined by poets jaye simpson, Adèle Barclay and Jen Sookfong Lee (you can read my interview with Jen here). 

Here's the fancy poster:

You can register for the event via Eventbrite here. And wherever you live, I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book!

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David Ly is the author of Mythical Man (shortlisted for the 2021 ReLit Poetry Award) and Dream of Me as Water, both published under the Anstruther Books imprint at Palimpsest Press. He is a co-editor of Queer Little Nightmares: an Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). (Author photo by Joy Gyamfi.)