Max’s Musings: Cody R. Simpson

What book saved you?

I want to start by expressing my immense gratitude for this column and everyone who reads it. With this week marking my twentieth post for Max’s Musings, I wanted to thank each and every individual, whether you have been here from the beginning or just joining in the poetic…

Max’s Musings allows me not only to share my insights into my extensive love for poetry, but also to venture deeper into love while rereading the poems and poetry collections that have meant something, shaped my writing, and changed me.

For this week, I looked back at a poem and poet that fell into my lap at a time that I needed it the most. Cody R. Simpson, also known as singer/songwriter and actor Cody Simpson, released his poetry collection Prince Neptune in 2020. The collection touches on a conflicting battle between his struggle to uphold his godlike persona and reflecting on his own mortality of fame and fortune. “Simpson’s poetry combines themes of freedom and the ocean with the wisdom of an old soul.”

Neptune, the Roman god of the sea and counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon, goes hand and hand with the countless water and ocean imagery. With foreign and uncharted waters often standing as a symbol for mystery and possibilities, Prince Neptune brings a new interpretation to the sea. As an avid mythology lover, I find these references in modern poetry occurring more now.

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When the senses are rationally disordered,

the poem rises from the depths of the

subconscious like a shimmering pearl.

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Simpson’s lack of titles for his various poems is refreshing. Titles, regardless of the art form, can alter how the viewer—in this case the reader—perceives the medium and its intended message. Instead of dressing the poem up with all the bells and whistles, Simpson dives headfirst into the heart of the matter and guides his readers through the collection.

Instead of portraying the sea as something dark and scary, it harbors a haven for progress and poetry. Of everything that forms from one’s psyche, art and poetry is the most lustrous and pure, especially when the rest of one’s mind struggles to keep up.

2020 was a trying time for the world and all its inhabitants. It was then that artists needed to resort to their art the most, as it was all they had. During quarantine from the COVID-19 pandemic, I submerged myself into my poetry manuscripts. They kept me going while the rest of the world stood still. I am just one of many.

Simpson discusses how art doesn’t form when a creative’s environment is justly stable. Most art forms from the darkest and deepest part of oneself. Poetry, like any art form, is born from the beauty of chaos and discord. Poets, artists, and creatives must rely on more than their typical senses, like a second sight that not everyone else presents. With COVID-19 striking a chord in the world, lasting beauty was born from it.

Prince Neptune by Cody R. Simpson (paperback).

The Evergreen Echo

Art is only limited by its artist and creator. The creator is limited by their environment. When the environment changes, they must learn to adapt and find new ways to achieve inspiration and ideas for further creativity.

During lockdown, I went on daily walks around my neighborhood in pursuit of something new. Though I have come to know my surroundings well, walking helped me uncover hidden treasures of inspiration that I had not seen before, like a fairytale bench and a thicket full of trees.

Although I did not have the luxury of quarantining in Seattle, I can only attempt to fathom what that must have been like. With a city rich in culture, art, and whimsy, I now have a new pool of inspirations to tap into for my creative endeavors.

Through tapping into new and experimental art forms, creators coped with the pandemic and quarantine however they could. For artists and poets alike, they were left with their art. I remember feeling my poems were all I had to turn to throughout quarantine, and Prince Neptune helped me see that.

So, what was your lasting impact from quarantine?