Voice Over by Val Cole

Visual Design: Adam Bilyea

Produced by Matthew Toffolo
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Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?
The theme is about what role society wants you to play versus how you want to live your life and then how you fit into society by living authentically.

2) What motivated you to write this poem?
I was motivated to write Hotel Confessional as I started to examine parts of myself and why I am who I am. It was an exercise in vulnerability and honesty. Sharing it turned out to be very cathartic.

3) How long have you been writing poetry?
I started writing poetry during the Covid pandemic. It just kind of came about out of nowhere. I believe having a lot of free time gave me the opportunity to be more creative than I ever imagined.

4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Hmm, that’s hard. I’d love to have dinner with people from my favorite bands(My Chemical Romance, Pearl Jam, Deftones, Pierce the Veil) and pick their brains about how they create their music, but, ultimately, I would choose my father, who passed in 2010.

5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I wanted to keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone by continuing to share my poetry in a very public way. I’ve learned I love collaborating with others. Why not do it?

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POEM;

Hotel Confessional, by Alicia Daggs

As a girl I wanted to be

A movie beauty queen

The star in a centerfold

From a pin up magazine

Down in the ditches

I was raised up so clean

But things I learned on the internet

So obscene

Some things I found out

I wish I never knew about

But, if you please

We can play cat and mouse

In a blissed out fantasy

Just between you and me

I got a feeling

Someone’s gonna bleed

In this hotel confessional

There’s no room for privacy

We’re so close

Skin to skin

Bedroom eyes and bloody knees

And if you confess your sins to me

I’ll show you just how much it means