Arianna Ngnomire's Debut Poetry Book Centers Wellness and Healing
Arianna Ngnomire started writing poetry when she was in fifth grade. And now, after years of filling journals with poetry, at 24 years old, she is releasing her first collection of poetry in a book titled, “The Balance of Dawn.”
“I had so many poems, just journals, and journals, and journals full of poems. So, the first thing was going through all those journals…and putting all the poems that I had in a document. I think the earliest poem that I have in there is from 2015,” Ngnomire said.
Ngnomire is a creative currently located in Los Angeles, CA. She is also an actress and painter, and an activist and advocate for intersectional justice. While a physical consequence of the pandemic was staying indoors, for many people there were also many mental and emotional consequences, including feelings of being trapped, isolated and lonely. In June of 2020, when former police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, the entire world watched and protested, which Ngnomire organized and participated in. She said that several of the pieces from the book were written during this time frame.
“During the peak of the pandemic, like that initial shock, as I talked to more people it just seemed like this emphasis on healing was really important and I started to notice more people leaning into their spirituality, along with therapeutic and clinical practices,” she said.
The Balance of Dawn is about taking each moment and figuring out how to balance ourselves in both the positive and negative. Ngnomire mentions that sometimes culture can glorify toxic positivity, which is the belief that no matter how dire or difficult a situation is, people should maintain a positive mindset. Ngnomire thinks it’s sometimes more important during hard times, to try to do the work, rather than pretend everything is okay.
“We kind of deal with two extremes to find the balance, so if you're thinking of this light, there can also be a negative to that – which is toxic positivity, which is ego, which is not really reconciling with past trauma,” Ngnomire said. “And then of course the flip side of that…it could be a hermit scenario where you're just alone, isolated, but also journaling, but also doing your therapy, but also doing that really hard work. But it [could] be that you are stuck in a depressive moment, and you do not see a way out and that can be really dangerous too.”
The Balance of Dawn, the book, is also being paired with a short film under the same title. The short film follows a Black man who’s feeling the pressures of his identity and addiction, which pushes him towards a suicide attempt until a friend helps him with creating healthier coping mechanisms and healing practices.
“My background in film [made] it pretty easy for me to see and then create something in film,” Ngnomire said. “I felt like images downloaded into my mind and at one point I was like, ‘Oh, we can do this,’ so everything was pretty seamless once I had the title, the motifs, and themes down that I wanted to focus on for the film.”
The goal of the book is to provide healing, and she draws from West African spirituality and across the African diaspora. She mentioned that much of the book is affirmations and that it’s meant to be read aloud.
“My journey has been a battle of the mind, of the spirits, and certainly a battle of physical abundance, but…I caution myself saying this sometimes because we've lost a lot of people during this pandemic,” Ngnomire said. “I also find myself having these moments of gratitude, where I'm [thanking] God I'm even alive because there were several years of my life where I did not want to be – and I'm still here. So, how can I use this time to just double down on what I love?”