My poetry collection But You Painted Me Golden comes out 1st of August 2024.

Summary: But you painted me golden, though, I am red and blue – this poetry collection captures the ins and outs of a mind in turmoil; the feeling of being lonely while being loved; the infinite longing for a universal truth lying within. It’s a collection about searching for a destination while also understanding that history has always been made on the road.

The collection contains most of my English poetry from 2017 to 2023. I‘ve been working on this collection for a while now; started editing in 2021 and was on and off the project for three years.

Originally, I wanted to publish this collection in 2022 and had everything set up for it. The plan was to have a Christmas calendar and to publish on Christmas 2022. However, I was finishing up my Master’s and ended up moving back home. I was not feeling well that year and only recorded a few videos. You can watch some of them on youtube.

Anyhow, this year I decided to do this at a time when the cornflowers, poppies and daisies bloom, because I created some illustrations featuring the collection.

I separated it into four sections. That was tricky in the beginning, but I felt it was necessary for the reading experience. I wanted to cluster the poems concerned with a similar theme. The system I worked out in the end was one of associations:

Crimson & Cobalt (me & myself)🌹
Shadow & Ash (depression & loss)🔥
Daisy & Pearl (life/death & eternity)🌼
Amber & Moss (nature)🌿

Writing Your Heart out: Becoming A Poet in My Late Twenties

I exclusively wrote prose until I was 25 years old. I’m not sure what made click in my mind to pursue this new way of expressing myself so late. I tried learning to program around the time (and failed); and I guess the structure of coding in structured, short lines simply stayed with me. Since then I’ve been way into poetry.

But You Painted Me Golden became a deeply personal collection that draws on many of my early fears and insecurities. Reading it now reminds me of the person I was and the person I am still in the process of becoming. (Which is the overall theme I’d say.) I named it after one of my favorite poems of mine (and not the Taylor Swift lyrics). I guess it represents a lot of what the collection is about: The experiences I had in my (late) twenties. 🌱

Lately, I haven’t been writing much poetry since I’ve concentrated on my collages. So, publishing this collection will also be a way to close a chapter, at least inspiration-wise. I still love poetry and am planning on writing more in the future. But it’ll simply be different and as changing as I myself am after several years of – just – life.

I haven’t even tried sending this poetry collection in to a publisher. Poetry that is not printable on a coffee mug is kinda dead. Especially if you are unknown. I’m German and writing from Germany. I get how German publishers work, but I don’t know much about the NEMEA market. Where would I even go? The UK or the US? Somewhere else entirely? So, self-publishing it was.

2024 I decided to do this via Amazon, because it has the greatest reach, especially for an English speaking audience. However, due to the whole scraping of content by AI and the poetry loosing some of that romantic notion in ebook form, I wanted a paper bag only.

Special thanks goes out to @giusysrvll for editing and @marasbrain for hand holding. 💞

If people are interested, I’d print some special editions hard cover and sign them. I’m planning on selling some books and posters next year, anyways. Maybe I’ll add even more illustrations then.