Love Is Blood, Love Is Fabric by Mary De La Fuente

I wrote the poems for Love is Blood, Love is Fabric over the course of seven years. The event that really spurred this book into completion was my divorce, which took place in May 2019. The rush of emotions I felt at that time made me realize I had something to say with my writing. I wanted to write this book for anyone who has ever experienced heartbreak, and anyone going through a tough time. I wanted to give people hope and inspire them to take charge of their lives.

Love is Blood, Love is Fabric is a book of poetry fluidly interweaving poems that are simultaneously independent and connected to each other. I meditate on issues such as grief, dysfunctional systems, complex romantic relationships, the difficulties of intimacy, plus the value of a person’s deepest intuitions, even as the world sees them as insanity. This collection opens the door of the forbidden and the sublime with spiritual and psychological resonances throughout. 

My writing process is very sporadic, for lack of a better term. I find that most of my inspiration comes at night, and most of my poems are written in the middle of the night. When I write, the words and thoughts come out as a stream of consciousness. Then, I’ll go into the poem the next day and edit it down to the bare bones. Nighttime is for writing; daytime is for editing.

Below is a short poem that sets the stage for the rest of the book. I chose this one because it tries to express something beyond the physical when it comes to intimacy and love. There’s something magical in seeing beyond someone’s walls and ego and personality. It’s amazing when you can appreciate another person — not because of what they do for you or how they make you feel, but for just being them:

“I had something to tell him,

something like the interstices

between tree branches at dawn and dusk,

the peak between the in-breath and the out,

a whisper formless and formed

only when his eyes,

his contours,

evaded me.”

This book is a journey to the self. It’s about contrast. It’s a completely honest, raw and visceral account of someone who is not afraid of pain, and who loves harder because of it.

Author Bio

Mary De La Fuente earned a Master of Arts in English with a concentration in creative writing from Binghamton University in 2018. Her work has appeared in The Carousel Issue 61, Art Ascent & Literature Journal Issue 33, and the San Diego Poetry Annual 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19. Her poem, “Pull-n-Peel Licorice Twists” was selected as a finalist for The Poet’s Billow 2017 Atlantis Award. Mary is a former preschool and second-grade teacher for the San Antonio Independent School District in Texas and works as a copywriter in New York.

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