Alumni Author Spotlight: Erik Soto
Celebrating former Zaum editor as he debuts his first poetry collection
by Zaum staff member Róisín Feely
Erik Manuel Soto, a Mexican-American writer and a Sonoma State alum will visit campus on November 10th to celebrate his debut poetry collection Inside the Umber Iris. His reading will be held at noon in the Bennett Valley Room here at SSU!
After getting his Masters at SSU, Erik went on to the MFA program at the University of Nevada in Reno. His poems have appeared in Volt, Huizache, Action, Sonora Review, and elsewhere including Zaum!.
While at SSU, Erik was the Art Managing Editor for the volumes where his work appears, including Zaum Volume 21 and 22. In advance of Erik’s reading and celebration, we want to share two of the poems he published in these issues.
In these poems, Erik writes about topics of love and lust, sorrow and distraction. In “Promiscuity That Kills,” Erik explores the ways that lust can take over the body causing a person to commit acts with another you might not love. This poem captures a universal struggle of fighting between what we want and what we know is right that many readers may find relevant in their own lives. Readers may also find a sense of comfort in this poem, in reminding us that we are not alone, that others can relate to this feeling of disembodiment when searching for mutual connection.
Likewise in “What comfort in Liquor” Soto addresses the way some individuals may try to numb their emotions with substances and distractions, with actions that include indulging in alcohol and hook ups. The poem speaks about dark and painful subjects many go through in a tragically beautiful yet human way. This poem speaks to our desire to forget certain things about both our pasts and current realities.
“Promiscuity That Kills,” from Zaum, Volume 21
The collectiveness of hallow love
suffocates the remainder of my faith.
I’m forced to live my love life
As a nihilist lives the end of his days.
How am I to pretend,
Sex isn’t something which enslaves.
As lust corrupts the mind,
Miscuity taunts the body to misbehave.
All of a sudden the flesh
of another being is desired,
the need to feel the breath
Of a stranger intoxicate your soul.
Their lips trickling down your skin,
As you finally decide to give your whole.
Your mind and body descend into the hands
Of that which whom you do not love,
But its too late now
you’re hooked to lust like addicts are to drugs.
Your sweat floats onto the body
Of the stranger,
your heart beats to the rhythm of the being.
Your eyes glaze into the unknown spirit,
as you commit the biggest of treasons.
I despise the sight on site
as my insides flare with despair.
I can feel my heart sink into oblivion.
I grab the gun without being aware. “What comfort in Liquor” from Zaum, Volume 22
She lay in the empty corners of her dark room,
accompanied by a bottle of rum,
and a solitude she could hardly bare,
Piercing within the shallow creaks of her being.
She was afraid the liquor would no longer
Be a serum potent enough to buzz away
the somber memories hinging with her miserable present,
both stirring up a pain she longed to kill.
Her tongue kept trying to savor the vapid drink,
hoping at some point the alcohol
would knock her out of her consciousness,
like the fists of her abusive father had once damaged her skull.
She kept kissing the bottle’s lips,
in search of a love she never found,
Hidden in the lonesome sheets of random lovers,
who like her romantic expectations were dissatisfying.
She chugged the rest of the rum without a daze,
and looked to the ground to cover up her lack of faith,
the high wasn’t enough to murder her pain,
and like the god whom failed to save her,
she cursed the liquor for the pain it couldn’t erase.
As a whole, Soto’s poems speak to the coping mechanisms we may use in order to deal with heavy emotions or experiences. Soto himself has played an influential role in the poetry world, using his experience from the Sonoma State Masters program to bring this influence to the outside world.
Erik Soto will be reading his book of poetry, “Inside the Umber Iris” this November 10th, at 12:00 pm in the Bennet Valley room here at SSU! It’s free and open to the public. Please stop by and say hi!
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