May 31, 2022 • 10 mins
This week on Night Water, we’ve got a special treat: a late night poetry reading from my friend Mary Boo Anderson, an artist, writer, and teacher currently based in LA. A few weeks ago I saw Mary Boo doing a virtual Zoom poetry reading for Peach Mag and I thought, we need that energy on Night Water. Consider it manifested!
Find out more about Mary Boo at her website and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
The three poems from tonight’s reading:
“Capitalism in the Form of Me Always Just About to Buy Some Pink Crocs as a Consolation Prize,” published in American Chordata, Issue #10
“In IKEA at the End of the World,” published at Neutral Spaces
“Watching, Waiting, Commiserating,” published at Pom Pom
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, and welcome back to the Nightwater podcast.
If you're joining us here at thecooler for the first time, you
are also welcomed to theNightwater in case you don't
know, in case you just randomlyfound this in your podcast app
or on the web or in a link,Nightwater is a late night email
newsletter that deliversrefreshing content straight to
(00:25):
your inbox every Tuesdayevening, Eastern time. So if
you're not signed up, head overto nightwater.email. That's a
URL, nightwater dot email justput in your email address and
get that late night contentinjected directly into your
inbox. It's It's also a website,so you can go and read the whole
archive.
You can, like, see if thecontent is, like, good for you.
(00:47):
If you're like, oh, this is thisis truly refreshing. Or if
you're like, this is not asrefreshing as I was sold, this
is not the kind of refreshingcontent that I'm looking for on
a Tuesday evening. That's fine.You don't have to put in your
email address, but you can readit all.
Leave a little comment. Leave ita little like. We love it
regardless. So for this week, Iwanted to bring you something a
(01:10):
little special. So a few weeksago, I saw my friend, Mary boo
Anderson, performing at avirtual Zoom poetry reading for
Peach Mag.
And I thought, damn, let's bringthat energy to night water.
Let's get a little late nightpoetry reading going. And so
that's exactly what we did, andI will just let Mary boo take it
(01:31):
away from here.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Hi. My name is Mary boo Anderson. I'm a poet,
artist, teacher. I currentlylive in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
You do a lot of stuff, which I would encourage
people to go to your website andlike, look at all the projects
that you've done and all yourpoetry. But I'm curious how you
would describe your poetry interms of, like, where you draw
inspiration and and what kind ofthemes you like to explore and
how that is maybe different orthe same from other artistic
(01:59):
work that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's a great question. Yeah. I would say my
poetry I like poetry that's sortof silly, but also sort of
comments on our weird currentsociety. I also if you know me,
I really enjoy things that arekind of performative or kind of
shickey or kind of have somesurprises in them. So I think I
(02:23):
draw a lot on that kind of vibe,like absurdism, fluxism, like
the situationist kind ofcreating opportunities where
maybe no one would expect thereto be an opportunity type of
thing in my poetry as well as inmy artwork.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Do you feel like your poetry has allowed you to
explore that in a different waythan than creating a physical or
or digital art piece?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah. I think so. I was just thinking about that
today. I think sometimes inwriting, it forces you to
explore it deeper sometimes, Ithink, because there's less
space to hide. You know?
Sometimes it's nice to juststart doing a visual piece of
art, and you can kind of hide,and, oh, I wanna make this look
pretty. Or, oh, like, I'm gonnatry this technique or something.
And I you can try techniques inwriting, obviously, and you can
make writing look pretty. Butsomehow it still feels
(03:06):
different. You're kinda forcedto confront, things a little
differently, which I enjoy.
It's more of a challenge,honestly, to me.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm curious about that in terms of, you know,
performing poetry versus readingit on the page as well because
it's been, I know with thepandemic, a lot less poetry
readings in general. So I'mcurious how you feel about that
in terms of the experience ofperforming it and hearing it
versus, reading it on the page.Because I know also in your in
(03:35):
your poetry, you explore like, alot of, like, Internet language
or, like, spelling things, youknow, differently, more like
texting. So I'm curious, like,kind of how you feel that
affects, the experience of itversus hearing it out loud.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah. I think both are equally good, and I think a
good reading, kinda, gives youmore insight into the poem,
which that's why I enjoy goingto readings. And I think, yeah,
like you're saying, I do use alot of chat speak. I do use a
lot of, like, abbreviated wordsand stuff, which I think you can
only kinda capture on the page.But sometimes I do think, like,
my affect and how I break linesup when I talk and stuff like
(04:11):
that, I think really helps givethe reader even more perspective
on, kind of, what I'm going for,what the attitude of the poem
is, stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I love it. How many poems do you have for us today?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I have 3 poems. Alright. So I'll introduce the
poem then read it, and then dothat consecutively. Beautiful.
Sounds great.
Alright. Wonderful. Thank you,for this. I'm so excited.
Alright.
This first poem I wrote when Iwas a barista, and I was getting
into some trouble, but not inthe ways you would think. My
(04:40):
manager caught me on on the tapeof me, just my head down, asleep
at the bar, but she was verynice about it. She she had a
talk with me, and, she was like,you could do better. I'm like,
yeah. You're right.
I can. But don't want to, but Icould. Anyways, it's kind of a
silly poem. It's also a shoutout to my friend, Molly Lamb,
(05:01):
who's really, really cool, andan amazing writer herself.
Alright.
This is the poem. Capitalism inthe form of me, always just
about to buy some pink crocs asa consolation prize. Fingers
stained red from talkies. I'mreading on my phone at work
again. That book everyone'sreading.
The one by that hot new youngfemale essayist. My friend took
(05:24):
a pic of every single page inthe Barnes and Noble and sent it
to me. I see her fingers holdingback the pages. I understand not
wanting to buy the hardcover,but also not wanting to wait.
Today, I had a first sessionwith a new therapist.
I felt proud of myself when Itold her, I'm finding it
difficult to talk to you becauseyou keep dozing off. There is a
(05:48):
woman taking a shit in thisWhole Foods bathroom, and it's
perfect. This next poem I wrotekind of at the beginning of the
pandemic when I got laid offfrom that said barista job, and
I was trying to make myapartment really nice before
COVID got too crazy, so that'sabout that. In IKEA at the end
(06:12):
of the world. I'm eating 2veggie dogs at IKEA, and it's
empty because it's the end ofthe world.
Wandering through the displayroom maze. Goldilocks trying
every couch, bed, and chair. Thethrill to own everything in a
house that's not yours. Sexilysulking in so many different
(06:35):
banal interiors. Swedish designwith a penchant for gentle
placation.
I didn't make this bed, but I'mlying in it. The world is over,
wah wah, paws to eyes, lips tochin. It's possible that the
princess felt the pee under allof those mattresses because
there is nothing else to feel.Alright. Last poem.
(07:01):
This poem was also early earlypandemic poem. Early, yeah.
Watching, waiting,commiserating, Car alarm on loop
remains preferable to I told youso, the comforting refrain of a
TV theme song. In Brooklyn, themotorbike boys still night still
night ride down Nostrand. Thestreet cats still make bodegas
(07:24):
their homes.
Sometimes the only good thingsare dogs and flowers, but then I
remember fruit and horses, andthe couple giving out pineapples
to everyone in this park. Holdmusic
Speaker 1 (07:38):
plays. I love all of it. I love the vision of, like,
IKEA at the end of the world.The I can imagine I can imagine,
like, actually, like being holdup in like the, Redhook, IKEA,
just like like the zombies atthe door or whatever. And you're
kind of stuck in this like kindof perfect, environment or these
(08:01):
kind of like open apartments allthe time as well.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Definitely. This weird mini world.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Before we wrap up, have
to ask you the most importantquestion anyone's ever been
asked. What do you imagine fromthe phrase late night vibes?
And then what do you think areyour kind of ideal late night
vibes?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think to me, they're one of the same. I think
of just cozy. Cozy on the couch.I have a blanket. It's a little
too cold, but I need theblanket.
I like something heavy on me.You know? Getting into some,
just very chill activities,watching watching Survivor,
watching the some HBO show, justkinda winding down. Maybe I have
(08:44):
a treat. That sounds prettygood.
Very cozy.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I've had that answer before where some someone says,
like, oh, like, maybe, like, anice treat. Like, I'm just like,
I love that. In terms of, like,it's the end of the day and it's
like, you deserve a treat.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Exactly. Big in a treat culture.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Cool. Where can people find you if they, if they
love the poetry and they wannaread more? Just follow your
work. Where can people do that?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at who
is Mary boo, and my website ismaribouandersondot com. And
thank you so much for having me.I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Thank you so much, Mary boo, for joining me here on
Nightwater. As Mary said, youcan find out more about her at
maribouanderson.com. I'm surethat link is in the show notes
in your podcast app if you takea gander over there. And you
could probably also find a linkto nightwater.email. That's
where I'm at, where I'm sendinglate night refreshing content
(09:42):
every week, Tuesday evening, ETtime.
ET time. So, E Stern StandardTime. So didn't need to say ET
time. It's kinda like saying ATMmachine. I apologize to you, the
listener who is diligentlylistening to the end.
If you are diligently listeningto the end, you truly love this.
(10:02):
Head over tonightwater.emailsubscribe, I
think. And if you're alreadysubscribed, it'll show you a
nice little option where you canactually upgrade your
subscription to a paidsubscription. What that does is
it gets you some bonus content.Just gets you more behind the
scenes kind of DVD extras fromme.
It's a thing where, you know, ifyou like what I'm doing here, I
(10:25):
definitely appreciate it. Butalso, if you don't have the cash
or you just are like, you know,I like it, but not that much,
also totally fine. You'll stillget free content every week,
Tuesdays, ET time. Also, just incase you don't know, it's a
newsletter, but also it's awebsite. So, you can go and like
leave comments and throw alittle like.
So if you made it all the wayhere, throw me a comment, throw
(10:47):
me a like. You can do that atnight water dot email. Thanks.
Hello, and welcome back to the Nightwater podcast.
If you're joining us here at thecooler for the first time, you
are also welcomed to theNightwater in case you don't
know, in case you just randomlyfound this in your podcast app
or on the web or in a link,Nightwater is a late night email
newsletter that deliversrefreshing content straight to
(00:25):
your inbox every Tuesdayevening, Eastern time. So if
you're not signed up, head overto nightwater.email. That's a
URL, nightwater dot email justput in your email address and
get that late night contentinjected directly into your
inbox. It's It's also a website,so you can go and read the whole
archive.
You can, like, see if thecontent is, like, good for you.
(00:47):
If you're like, oh, this is thisis truly refreshing. Or if
you're like, this is not asrefreshing as I was sold, this
is not the kind of refreshingcontent that I'm looking for on
a Tuesday evening. That's fine.You don't have to put in your
email address, but you can readit all.
Leave a little comment. Leave ita little like. We love it
regardless. So for this week, Iwanted to bring you something a
(01:10):
little special. So a few weeksago, I saw my friend, Mary boo
Anderson, performing at avirtual Zoom poetry reading for
Peach Mag.
And I thought, damn, let's bringthat energy to night water.
Let's get a little late nightpoetry reading going. And so
that's exactly what we did, andI will just let Mary boo take it
(01:31):
away from here.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Hi. My name is Mary boo Anderson. I'm a poet,
artist, teacher. I currentlylive in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
You do a lot of stuff, which I would encourage
people to go to your website andlike, look at all the projects
that you've done and all yourpoetry. But I'm curious how you
would describe your poetry interms of, like, where you draw
inspiration and and what kind ofthemes you like to explore and
how that is maybe different orthe same from other artistic
(01:59):
work that you do?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That's a great question. Yeah. I would say my
poetry I like poetry that's sortof silly, but also sort of
comments on our weird currentsociety. I also if you know me,
I really enjoy things that arekind of performative or kind of
shickey or kind of have somesurprises in them. So I think I
(02:23):
draw a lot on that kind of vibe,like absurdism, fluxism, like
the situationist kind ofcreating opportunities where
maybe no one would expect thereto be an opportunity type of
thing in my poetry as well as inmy artwork.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Do you feel like your poetry has allowed you to
explore that in a different waythan than creating a physical or
or digital art piece?
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah. I think so. I was just thinking about that
today. I think sometimes inwriting, it forces you to
explore it deeper sometimes, Ithink, because there's less
space to hide. You know?
Sometimes it's nice to juststart doing a visual piece of
art, and you can kind of hide,and, oh, I wanna make this look
pretty. Or, oh, like, I'm gonnatry this technique or something.
And I you can try techniques inwriting, obviously, and you can
make writing look pretty. Butsomehow it still feels
(03:06):
different. You're kinda forcedto confront, things a little
differently, which I enjoy.
It's more of a challenge,honestly, to me.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I'm curious about that in terms of, you know,
performing poetry versus readingit on the page as well because
it's been, I know with thepandemic, a lot less poetry
readings in general. So I'mcurious how you feel about that
in terms of the experience ofperforming it and hearing it
versus, reading it on the page.Because I know also in your in
(03:35):
your poetry, you explore like, alot of, like, Internet language
or, like, spelling things, youknow, differently, more like
texting. So I'm curious, like,kind of how you feel that
affects, the experience of itversus hearing it out loud.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah. I think both are equally good, and I think a
good reading, kinda, gives youmore insight into the poem,
which that's why I enjoy goingto readings. And I think, yeah,
like you're saying, I do use alot of chat speak. I do use a
lot of, like, abbreviated wordsand stuff, which I think you can
only kinda capture on the page.But sometimes I do think, like,
my affect and how I break linesup when I talk and stuff like
(04:11):
that, I think really helps givethe reader even more perspective
on, kind of, what I'm going for,what the attitude of the poem
is, stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I love it. How many poems do you have for us today?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I have 3 poems. Alright. So I'll introduce the
poem then read it, and then dothat consecutively. Beautiful.
Sounds great.
Alright. Wonderful. Thank you,for this. I'm so excited.
Alright.
This first poem I wrote when Iwas a barista, and I was getting
into some trouble, but not inthe ways you would think. My
(04:40):
manager caught me on on the tapeof me, just my head down, asleep
at the bar, but she was verynice about it. She she had a
talk with me, and, she was like,you could do better. I'm like,
yeah. You're right.
I can. But don't want to, but Icould. Anyways, it's kind of a
silly poem. It's also a shoutout to my friend, Molly Lamb,
(05:01):
who's really, really cool, andan amazing writer herself.
Alright.
This is the poem. Capitalism inthe form of me, always just
about to buy some pink crocs asa consolation prize. Fingers
stained red from talkies. I'mreading on my phone at work
again. That book everyone'sreading.
The one by that hot new youngfemale essayist. My friend took
(05:24):
a pic of every single page inthe Barnes and Noble and sent it
to me. I see her fingers holdingback the pages. I understand not
wanting to buy the hardcover,but also not wanting to wait.
Today, I had a first sessionwith a new therapist.
I felt proud of myself when Itold her, I'm finding it
difficult to talk to you becauseyou keep dozing off. There is a
(05:48):
woman taking a shit in thisWhole Foods bathroom, and it's
perfect. This next poem I wrotekind of at the beginning of the
pandemic when I got laid offfrom that said barista job, and
I was trying to make myapartment really nice before
COVID got too crazy, so that'sabout that. In IKEA at the end
(06:12):
of the world. I'm eating 2veggie dogs at IKEA, and it's
empty because it's the end ofthe world.
Wandering through the displayroom maze. Goldilocks trying
every couch, bed, and chair. Thethrill to own everything in a
house that's not yours. Sexilysulking in so many different
(06:35):
banal interiors. Swedish designwith a penchant for gentle
placation.
I didn't make this bed, but I'mlying in it. The world is over,
wah wah, paws to eyes, lips tochin. It's possible that the
princess felt the pee under allof those mattresses because
there is nothing else to feel.Alright. Last poem.
(07:01):
This poem was also early earlypandemic poem. Early, yeah.
Watching, waiting,commiserating, Car alarm on loop
remains preferable to I told youso, the comforting refrain of a
TV theme song. In Brooklyn, themotorbike boys still night still
night ride down Nostrand. Thestreet cats still make bodegas
(07:24):
their homes.
Sometimes the only good thingsare dogs and flowers, but then I
remember fruit and horses, andthe couple giving out pineapples
to everyone in this park. Holdmusic
Speaker 1 (07:38):
plays. I love all of it. I love the vision of, like,
IKEA at the end of the world.The I can imagine I can imagine,
like, actually, like being holdup in like the, Redhook, IKEA,
just like like the zombies atthe door or whatever. And you're
kind of stuck in this like kindof perfect, environment or these
(08:01):
kind of like open apartments allthe time as well.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Definitely. This weird mini world.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Before we wrap up, have
to ask you the most importantquestion anyone's ever been
asked. What do you imagine fromthe phrase late night vibes?
And then what do you think areyour kind of ideal late night
vibes?
Speaker 2 (08:22):
I think to me, they're one of the same. I think
of just cozy. Cozy on the couch.I have a blanket. It's a little
too cold, but I need theblanket.
I like something heavy on me.You know? Getting into some,
just very chill activities,watching watching Survivor,
watching the some HBO show, justkinda winding down. Maybe I have
(08:44):
a treat. That sounds prettygood.
Very cozy.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I've had that answer before where some someone says,
like, oh, like, maybe, like, anice treat. Like, I'm just like,
I love that. In terms of, like,it's the end of the day and it's
like, you deserve a treat.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Exactly. Big in a treat culture.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Cool. Where can people find you if they, if they
love the poetry and they wannaread more? Just follow your
work. Where can people do that?
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter at who
is Mary boo, and my website ismaribouandersondot com. And
thank you so much for having me.I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Thank you so much, Mary boo, for joining me here on
Nightwater. As Mary said, youcan find out more about her at
maribouanderson.com. I'm surethat link is in the show notes
in your podcast app if you takea gander over there. And you
could probably also find a linkto nightwater.email. That's
where I'm at, where I'm sendinglate night refreshing content
(09:42):
every week, Tuesday evening, ETtime.
ET time. So, E Stern StandardTime. So didn't need to say ET
time. It's kinda like saying ATMmachine. I apologize to you, the
listener who is diligentlylistening to the end.
If you are diligently listeningto the end, you truly love this.
(10:02):
Head over tonightwater.emailsubscribe, I
think. And if you're alreadysubscribed, it'll show you a
nice little option where you canactually upgrade your
subscription to a paidsubscription. What that does is
it gets you some bonus content.Just gets you more behind the
scenes kind of DVD extras fromme.
It's a thing where, you know, ifyou like what I'm doing here, I
(10:25):
definitely appreciate it. Butalso, if you don't have the cash
or you just are like, you know,I like it, but not that much,
also totally fine. You'll stillget free content every week,
Tuesdays, ET time. Also, just incase you don't know, it's a
newsletter, but also it's awebsite. So, you can go and like
leave comments and throw alittle like.
So if you made it all the wayhere, throw me a comment, throw
(10:47):
me a like. You can do that atnight water dot email. Thanks.
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