The Visionaries Poetry Collection: Zintle Snell
This is the second piece of the Visionaries Poetry Collection, curated by Shakilya Lawrence for National Poetry Month. This series centers on the poet, their work, and background, highlighting the messages they want to spread with their projects.
“My work reflects my own personal essence and style as a Black womyn”
Zintle is a 90’s-born writer hailing from NYC. From the age of 3, she has been an avid reader, and her love for writing blossomed shortly after. Growing up, she never imagined she would be writing professionally or sharing her work in a public manner. Now she shares her truth through her poetry page on Instagram @blkdandelion.
This is Self Expression
.Many truths bring profound misery
Unreal almost
After the letdown
The pain will feel unbearable
Like you’ve reached the end of your mind
Some days you won’t feel it at all
Anticipate unsolicited judgment
Any & all liberation
Expect every possibility
Seek contentment
Feed the soul
Never neglect spirit
Long for bliss to occupy the being
And for joy to overflow within the heart…
Time will pass & you will have something to show for it
Art comes in so many forms
Words, colors, visuals, sounds, flavors, styles, rhythms
E N E R G Y
However you choose to self-express
Sacral shine
Let it be creations of elevation
To cease negativity & uplift
Increase your frequency
Assist in your rise
You create your passions
E C C E N T R I C
You’re in the process
Because the outcome matter
Rise in your strength
Rise in your power
From an early age, writing was the way Zintle processed her emotions. It was a “safe space [she] created in order to heal.” Combined with her profound love of fiction, this became the catalyst to launch her on the path of writing poetry. When she first began, they were like “diary entries,” personal to her, and she never imagined she would be sharing her reflections on a public scale. Her pieces reflect the opposite of the fantasy worlds she used to get so easily lost in. Reality, truth, and rawness are the driving forces in her creations, shining a “light on all aspects of [her] own personal journey, not just highlighting the exciting moments.” The imagination she developed as a regular reader helps when choosing the beautiful photographs to accompany her words. They are birthed from the vivid fantasies that plays out in her mind as she writes. In doing so, she builds on the experience for the reader, giving them detailed glimpses into her worlds.
“I used to view writing as such a private experience—and I still do to an extent—but now I realize the importance of sharing your truth and how powerful it is to do so. ”
Zintle started her poetry account August 2019 and has consistently posted captivating words with aesthetically pleasing visuals. Her page is diverse in the poetry she features. Within her pieces, there are various energy levels, ranging from those explosive, impassioned sentiments you feel in the heat of the moment to feelings of stillness, calm, and the soul. What remains the same is Zintle's ability to evoke emotions effortlessly. She attributes the variety in her work to “[her] nature, which can be everywhere, but nowhere at the same time. Present, yet not attached to these experiences, people, or emotions.”
The concepts behind her remarkable poetry come from her senses with film and music having a huge impact on her. However, since writing has always been a way for Zintle to emotionally process, her greatest inspiration is life itself—though not always from her own experiences. She also chooses to write from experiences she’s never personally gone through, but others have. This unique vantage point allows her to “connect with [her] art outside of [her] own perspective” and offer well-rounded pieces that can reach a broad audience. It’s how she establishes that personal connection with her readers.
“The best art comes from our experiences and how they’re processed within. Art is the expression of emotion, and sometimes its essence comes from pain or the darker things we don’t talk about or may avoid.
”
This is Healing
Two bodies
Laying in a tub
Very warm water
Not filled to the brim
Just enough
Always enough
One sitting behind the other
Hands clasped together
Over the edge
Hearts filled with enough tears to fill a thousand more tubs
Lovers on a mission
Bond growing stronger
Energy getting tighter
No roses
Rose water
Passion induced
Scent of lavender
Sight of honey
Room falls silent
Steam rises
Eyes dry up
Wounds restored
They laugh now but they listen always
Scars may remain
Still take that bath together
One of the more challenging aspects as a writer is using the right words to convey our messages. Especially as a poet, words help articulate your tones, themes, and pace. Though it can be difficult at times, Zintle is extremely deliberate in her word choice usually opting for more enhanced adjectives and descriptors and making sure she uses her words to communicate the right context. This intentionality creates word mastery, which aids in her ability to elicit emotion and connect with her readers.
Besides word challenges, sometimes Zintle has dry spells, where it’s harder to produce work. She describes it as a period where nothing comes to her despite being inspired by something. However, when these periods arise—as they do for many writers—she already has a solution. “Sometimes when we get stuck, we just have to redirect our energy or try something different to get that energy flowing again.”
“It’s very inspiring to me oftentimes when I think about it because if I wasn’t confident in myself and my abilities, I would’ve never been able to put myself out there.
”
Destiny is to Just Be
The writings on the wall
Detailed a great message
One I knew I could not comprehend on my own
Colossal in size compared to me
I didn’t even expect it
Suddenly my only mission became to accept it
My destiny rather than fate
Raw & True
They won’t believe
What I’m capable of
Oh but I do
Sun is my savior
Lunar like me
I have been blessed
With what I possess
Along with many other gifts to use
I’m thankful..
I’m present
I’m known
I’m seen
In the moment
I feel it
Tell myself just breathe
Idolization of the apprentice
Appreciation for what I see
And everything that is me
Take it all in
So many good things
I cannot stop
See
When I create
I live
Air I breathe
My presence is a gift
A flood, it leaks
Quenching the thirst of many souls
I take you deep…
Art has been influential in Zintle's life ever since the moment she picked up the pen. Her art positively affects her mental health as it has been her space to process, a way for her to develop her emotional compass, and a means to reflect on her responses. It helps her acknowledge and validate her own feelings. It also allowed her to step outside her comfort zones and share her work publicly. Since creating her Instagram two years ago, she's connected with people who are genuinely interested and invested in her work.
Currently, Zintle is in her last semester of undergrad and will be graduating May 15th with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Her sights are set on graduate school. Outside of higher Ed, she desires to focus more on “enhancing her craft to create pieces that speak to [her] talents even more. With this in mind, she plans on dedicating more time to writing and intends on publishing more of her poetry on a larger scale—like magazines, blogs, etc.—in the future.
“I thank you for sharing your space with me & my art. Blessings and abundance to whomever reads or supports me. ”
Hey! My name is Zintle Snell, and I am a 21-year-old full-time psychology major, tarot reader, and astrologist originally from NYC. My black-owned tarot reading business is Sugar Tarot. I specialize in tarot and birth chart readings. Outside of my work, I am a true lover of words and my love for them started as a child. In the future, I plan on becoming a published author someday.
You can find my personal Instagram @itszinnn. My poetry Instagram is @blkdandelion. My business Instagram is @sugartarot & the link in my bio is to the rest of my writing or to book a spiritual service. Thank you so much to anyone reading my poems or reading this right now. Self-expression is one of many blessings.