Former Flame Fridays - Rae Diamond
5/16/25
You were featured in volume 1!!! What has happened since?
Forest fires, floods, wars, hurricanes! We are living in apocalyptic times, and my life has certainly reflected that. In the midst of going through a divorce, shepherding a beloved cat to her passing, shifting careers, tending multiple health issues, moving home five times, and being unhoused, I managed to get a couple of books published. The Cantigee Oracle, published by North Atlantic Books, is a prose book (with an oracle deck) of 52 fables and insights into working creatively, tangibly, and mystically with climate change. First Matter Press published "floating bones," a hybrid of poetry, drawings, and an essay about the interrelationship of the housing crisis and our relationships with each other and with the Earth.
What/who inspired concealed weather? How does it fit into your style/body of work?
"concealed weather" was inspired by my experience of being married to someone with a mental health condition called Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Publicly, my spouse was a loving and supportive companion, but in private, he was under the throes of his disorder and thus extremely verbally abusive to me at the drop of a hat. To cope with this circumstance until I was able to leave the marriage, I immersed myself in my creative practices. The poem starts by stating the painful circumstance I felt stuck in, and then turns to the magic and wonder I consoled myself in—the stories and music and art that came to me, and created more loving and peaceful worlds I could abide in for rest and healing. I hope that by sharing my work the healing these worlds offered me could in turn bring healing to others.
In terms of style, "concealed weather" was written during a time when I was exploring box shaped poems with holes or windows in them. As the writer, I was simultaneously within the box, looking out through the windows and wondering about what might exist beyond that space; and also outside the box, peering in through the windows to discover what was hidden within the dark interior. I hoped that readers of these poems would also feel these dichotomies of inside/outside, enclosed/free, looking in/peering out.
Why Troublemaker Firestarter? What compels you to submit your work? Why be a writer at the end of the world?
I was drawn in by the title of the magazine and by the fiery spirit in your calls for work for the first issue. I felt a visceral momentum in submitting to that first issue—essentially helping to light the fire!
I write now—as the world we know is literally melting and eroding into the sea and going up in smoke, and as the structures of societies are crumbling—because I hope to generate and share some medicine that will help those who are suffering now and in the future. My writing process is in turn a medicine for me.
Who are your current favorite writers?
In no particular order: Victoria Chang, John Cage, Mary Ruefle, and Ocean Vuong.
Are you a troublemaker, a firestarter, a heartbreaker, a lucky duck, a devil, a terror, or sad and horny?
I aim to be a firestarter in the best ways possible—to light fires that burn out the tangled undergrowth and awaken the dormant pinecones, so forests can renew and thrive.
Where can people find you?
Hiking in the redwoods! Or if you must look online...
Substack:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rae13diamond/
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/raediamond
Site: https://www.raediamond.com
What would you want the lovely readers of Substack to do?
Be kind to yourselves and to everyone you encounter. Spend more time in nature. Let yourself be more happy. Pause longer and more often. Hug yourself like you mean it every single day.