Holly Mara | Lifestyle Session | Georgetown D.C.

Location: Georgetown DC

How would you describe your poetry?  I would describe my poetry as symbolic and narrative – I use imagery from nature and spiritual reflections from my religious tradition to connect my thoughts via poems. A lot of my poems are contemplations that happened to come out with some sort of rhyme or message or resolution to them. They are usually letters to myself – but there are also global references in some of my poetry as well – messages of hope, peace, remembrance, and togetherness.

Who is your all time favorite poet?  My favorite poet is cliche.. but it’s Mawlana Rumi – the 13th century Sufi scholar and poet who spent most of his adult life in Konya, Turkey. His poetry is like an arrow. It shoots you to the core without making you feel speared – you feel reborn  instead. The spiritual reminders woven throughout his words are gifts. They’re internally transformative.

What’s the message you try to communicate through words?  The message I usually try to communicate in my poetry varies – but it’s usually an impulsive decision to write – it could come out of a personal experience that emotionally affected me – or a realization about the world – but the message is usually that we are stronger than we think… usually my poems don’t end in despair but some sort of ‘out of ashes’ realization about whatever the situation is.