Xayaat Saeed's second poetry collection Nefelibata, is a head-dive into the art of making art.
Along with poems, Saeed also includes anecdotes and thoughts about her experiences as a creative.
'The weird thing is, I never find films about films or books about books. Nobody really talks about creativity. Of course there's Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic and The War Of Art but other than that, I haven't found much.'
In the poem 'TROLLS', Saeed speaks on how she feels about dealing with trolls.
'i can choose my struggles
&for me,
struggle that doesn't lead to my progress is a waste of time
i don't wanna struggle to stop trolls from trolling
bc jealousy doesn't have a cure does it'
She also speaks on the difficulty on starting a new idea.
'so get up
&do what it is you do
even if it's completely crap,
continue
bc nobody competes in the olympics
w/out training
nobody performs
w/out rehearsing'
The chapters are specifically curated to the life of a creative. Poems on topics like making money out of your craft, making friends who are also creative and losing ideas are also included in the collection.
Nefelibata, which originates from Archaic English, means to live in the clouds of your own imagination. Growing up, Saeed felt like as if she was the only one who did.
'I wrote this book because there aren't many out there anyway but also because I wanted to have at least one book about creativity. There's too many romance books out here. I wanted there to be something that people get and understand. And for me, it's always amazing to know that there's someone out there who's mind is like mine.'