SHORT 'N SWEET: THE BOOK SPEAKS: The Most Kissed Woman in the World

How would you, The Most Kissed Woman in the World, describe yourself in two sentences or less? 

I am a question asked inside an ongoing conversation about the divine feminine, asking who or what is allowed to see herself reflected in god’s image—and why. Within this, I ask about human nature, climate chaos, the colonization of discovery, as well as grief, mothering, beauty, and marriage.

Where would you go on your dream vacation? 

In a dream, I would sit below the branches of an autumn ginkgo, swim in the sea beside mermaid manatees and one lonely whale, listen to the blues from a place on the cusp of heaven, and float across Lake Merritt in a gondola rowed by a ghost.

What is your favorite color? 

How could I choose one? My favorite color is every color of sky. Plus, hummingbird green, pollen gold, and the burgundy of a red onion.

What is your favorite movie? 

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

What advice would a therapist give you? 

My therapist tells me to drop the god complex—or she would if she stopped being so damn polite. I tell her god is complex.

What is your favorite smell? 

Being made of paper I am particularly wary of fire, but I do love the sweet scent of a charred forest—the surprise of devastation holding the scent of comfort.

Do you collect anything, and what do these items mean to you? 

Lost wedding bands, broken teeth, the word for dove in every language, dead and brittle honeybees, skeleton keys, Bonnie Raitt lyrics, death masks, and first kisses. I suspect what I think they mean to me is not what they really mean to me—as does my therapist.

What is your favorite snack? 

If you read me, you’ll understand why I don’t prefer popcorn—even if it is a reflection of god. Figs are my favorite, fresh from the tree, still warm from the summer sun.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be and why? 

Octavia E. Butler, Ntozake Shange, Rumi, and Pema Chödrön. We might discuss ideas of the divine and I hope it would include big-god laughter.