The Visionaries Poetry Collection: KaeLoe
This is the fourth 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.
“Poetry pulled me out of a dark place. Because that’s all I had—just me and my words.”
For Keliesia “KaeLoe” Cross, poetry is more than just a creative outlet. It has gotten her through some of her toughest times in life. Her art was a way to escape, process, release, and eventually gain healing from an emotionally intensive period. Her debut poetry book, “Just In Case,” is a collection of these life moments from a holistic view, a journey she had to take to grow into a healthier, more mindful space.
Poetry has always been impactful in Keliesia's life. She wrote her first poem in 2003 when she was 8 years old in memory of her great-aunt and has been consistently writing since 2008. About four years ago, she made the transition to considering poetry seriously as a profession.
Before the pandemic, she would share her work occasionally at events people would commission her for. However, now she’s completely stepped outside her comfort zone when it comes to sharing her work. She shares poetry videos on social media and has even participated in open mics, and poetry plays on Clubhouse. This newfound confidence has opened new avenues for her in the form of opportunities for exposure and collaborations with other artists. It's definitely an aid as she goes through the publishing process for her first book.
Storytelling is integral in Keliesia's poetry. Whether it’s based on her own life or a scenario she comes up with, she chooses a viewpoint to write from and will build her poem around it. Sometimes she'll even take the same scenario and write from a different person's viewpoint allowing for deeper insight. This is what she calls “perspective poetry.” In doing this, she's able to give her audience a broadened view and multiple perspectives to see the situation from. The stories she creates aren’t limited by one person's perspective; instead, they become more expansive as she gives voice to the untold sides of the story. It results in a better understanding of the stories she conveys through her poetry for her readers.
Inspiration finds Keliesia finds her effortlessly, with life itself being her greatest source. She can take the smallest thing, like seeing a bird soaring through the air, and create a poem surrounding the desire of freedom. Within life's fleeting moments, she finds deeper meanings and brilliantly expresses them through her work. The most important component of her creative process is remaining open-minded and unconstrained. It allows her the ability to flow through her thoughts as she brings her stories to life. This proficiency is present throughout her work in her words.
The desire to publish a collection of her poetry was always an aspiration. However, she always felt like she was “getting in her way,” finding reasons to delay herself from pursuing the process. But these sentiments changed after an encounter she had with a police officer last year.
“During that encounter, I kept thinking ‘dang, my family may not know if I make it home.’ I just didn’t know what would happen. The days aren’t certain anymore. So I knew whatever I hadn’t had the chance to say I needed to say it. And I needed to do it now.”
Throughout life, Keliesia's always felt death looming over her. She felt a dark cloud over life due to knowing her mother almost had an abortion with her. Those lingering sentiments she's held in from childhood combined with the police event made Keliesia determined to publish her book. Initially, she titled it “Just In Case” in the event something happened to her before her 25th birthday. However, upon reaching her milestone birthday, her sentiments changed. Now she sees it as a testimonial of her strength and the ability to survive. She hopes her readers gain this message, understanding that they aren’t alone in their circumstances. And although she may not be exactly where they are, she wants them to know that she's gone through similar situations and can empathize.
She created her book with the intention of filling it with relatable life lessons for her readers. But it's not your average “love and light” poetry collection. She depicts life's hardest, most vulnerable moments—the things we go through that can be hard to talk about. There is a deep level of candor present, but she uses it to showcase the dichotomy of life’s real moments—the good, bad, and everything in between—to remind her readers they aren't alone in their struggles.
Her book includes a combination of poetry and journal entries. She uses these as the means to tell a progressional story from different viewpoints throughout her compilation. You’ll journey with multiple characters through the entries as “chapters.” The reader will get to see each character grow into a different by the end of their phases, all while receiving messages of strength, empowerment, healing, and the ability to overcome.
Below you'll find an expert from “Just In Case,” titled “Day and Night,” which touches on depression and the struggle to navigate life.
Day and Night
There have been days when I all wanted was to eat, but instead, all I had was sleep.
There have been days when all I wanted was to talk, but when the opportunity came, no words could convey my feelings without tears forming in my eyes.
There have been days when all I wanted to do was be surrounded by loved ones, but once in their presence, I still felt alone and unloved.
There have been days where I prayed so much that I knew God must have heard me, but then I second guess if I’m even worthy of such blessings.
There have been days where I’ve compared my worth to dirt because that’s how I felt.
So useless, so dry, and so rough.
There have been just as many days that I wasn’t myself, and I wanted help, but I didn’t want to be labeled.
There were so many days that I just wasn’t able...
There have been so many days where nothing ever seemed right.
There have been so many bad days that having at least one good day...
It just doesn’t seem right.
In bringing such a candid piece of work to life, Keliesia had to step outside her comfort zone while creating some of these pieces. This collection of work involved her having to address and process her childhood and its enduring sentiments. Following the theme of her book, she wanted to get out the emotions and words she's held back from expressing all these years because “they deserved to be said.” As much as this book is for her readers, it's also for her to receive closure and move forward with her life.
One of the most inspiring qualities about Keliesia is that she took the step to publish as a first-time author by herself. She went to school for Business Administration, so she had no formal training or background to assist her. However, through internet research and discussing with other published authors, she found the best option for her—self-publishing through Amazon. It was the easiest option for her as Amazon is well-known and makes it simple for writers to publish on its platform, but it also allowed her to focus on impact over money.
“Ultimately, I’m not looking for how much I can make off my first book. I wanna know how many people are gonna be impacted by [it] and if my words reach [them].”
This process has taught Keliesia to believe in herself and has developed her as a poet. This maturation will only evolve her artistry, and she plans on doing some incredible things in her career as she continues moving forward. Firstly, she would like to release a poetry EP sometime soon. She hasn’t fully undecided on the theme, but she does know she wants it to be a ballad that speaks to her duality, showcasing the different sides of her. Writing a children's book is also in the plans, and she dreams of opening a poetry cafe sometime in the future once the pandemic subsides.
Her debut book “Just In Case” will be released this May!
My name is Keliesia, but I also go by KaeLoe or TheKaeLoe. I’m from Rockingham, North Carolina. I’ve been writing poetry since 2008, but I started taking it seriously in 2017. I was attending NCCU, and unfortunately, I was unable to finish my last year. I was depressed for a while and just didn’t know what I’d do. I worked two to three jobs day in and day out, but it wasn’t enough. At that moment, when I felt I had nothing…poetry reminded me that I at least had it. And from there, I decided that I wanted to start publishing poetry books as well as stories for children. Poetry saved me from myself.
You can keep up with Keliesia, her poetry, and receive updates on the release of her debut book “Just In Case” through her Twitter @KaeLoe & her Instagram @TheKaeLoe.