Izzy Rich; "Detestable" and "Distant"

Artist Feature: Izzy Rich / Poetry and Art / Class of 2022

By Ana Haapala and Sonja Cutts

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"Detestable"

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Distant

all the rivers i have travelled have led me here to her

everything i've ever known, i've told her. the currents are too strong for me to trace my way back

so i sit on the river bank chewing on sunflowing seeds, weaving the clouds together. she sings softly, carefully so that her words do not mask the sweet things the trees say to us.

she knows the importance of holding my hand looks into my eyes and tells me it's fine. she calls me subtle when all i've been called is slutty. all of her encapsulates all of me when my self slips away and i feel like fainting. she acts like the blood on my arm is as simple as lemonade.

i spit sunflower shells into the cold, gray water hands buried in stony sand cloud watching cloud weaving

next to her.

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Izzy Rich is currently a senior at St. Mary’s Academy. While both an artist and a writer, Rich largely focuses on poetry. His work has been awarded a Gold Key by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and published in the last three editions of Escribe Maria.

Rich takes most of their poetic inspiration from their memories. While speaking to Escribe Maria, he told us, “The moments of joy and pain and everything else that I experience are often the beginnings of my creative process.” They utilize emotions, both their own and those of others, in order to begin the process of art-making or writing. Rich has learned the importance of finding the right headspace in this process, and tries to take the time to do so. Once there, they begin to translate emotions into words or brush strokes. Rich notes that he often finds written language to be limiting, and has to play around with word combinations until they truly express the meaning behind his poetry.

While they’ve been a creative soul their whole life, Rich reflected that they “only started taking [their] creativity seriously around middle school.” Now, he writes and draws on a regular basis. His poem “Distant” and painting “Detestable” were both published in the 2019-2020 edition of Escribe Maria.