BCC Shines A Light On: Ariel K. Moniz
Name of the piece published by BCC:
When/where was it originally published:
It was originally published in The Kraken’s Spire, Issue 3, September 2020
Tell us more about your piece! What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?
This piece was written about my mother. My childhood was riddled with moments of family heirlooms going “missing” following trips to the pawn shop. My mother was not ready to be a mother when I came along, and I wondered, if possible, if she would have considered pawning a fetus. Unfortunately, I imagined she would not have been very successful, given the limited value of the fetus in question.
Many of my poems find their genesis in a question, and those questions more often than not arise from an effort to understand the world, my family, and the body I was born into. My poems aim to provide answers to the questions posed.
How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?
When “The Pawn Shop” was originally published I did not expect it to ever see the light of day. It was a very raw and harsh piece. The imagery of a fetus quivering in terror on a pawn shop counter is not particularly poetic or wholesome to some, but it felt true to me, and that is what I always try to instill into the poems I submit into the world. I am so pleased that it has now been published not once, but twice, meaning it has reached the audience that is meant to see it.
Is there a specific message you would like readers to take away from reading this piece?
The bare bones message of this piece is just to feel the pain of an unwanted child, knowing it is unwanted even before birth. I think that there are many of us who can connect with that pain. Deeper than that, it is meant to raise a question of value– how we value ourselves, our curses and blessings, what do we do when we acquire something we deem as valuable or not. “One’s trash is another’s treasure,” or vice versa.
What else would you like to tell readers about your writing? (Doesn’t have to refer only to your BCC piece)
I suppose what I would like readers to know about my writing is that it is a reflection of me and my inner world, and I hope that it finds those who can share in those reflections and who might need to know that even the darkness in us has kinfolk elsewhere.
Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)
I have an author website where I share a monthly blog post and list all of my other publications, services, and general news about my writing. That can be found at https://kissoftheseventhstar.home.blog/
My writing can also be found on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kiss.of.the.seventh.star/
For the occasional readings of my work I can be found on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@kissoftheseventhstar
Lastly, I sometimes share writing updates and releases on my Twitter/X account at https://twitter.com/kissthe7thstar
