Episode 8) Interview with River Joy

I want to start by thanking everyone for the support and ask that if you haven't rated the podcast in your podcast player, please do so! I'm more familiar with Spotify and if you're on the title page of the podcast there should be stars underneath on the left-hand side! Please go ahead and rate us five stars! Now on to the interview!

RIVER JOY (Pronouns they/them)

What strikes me about River Joy is their intentional style of work, which I elaborate more on later. River talks about everything from love to sensory overload to climate change; which we explore in the interview and here in their work! River’s energy was simply divine and calming; as soon as the Zoom call cut us off, I was left with this empty feeling, like the light had been sucked out of the room. A great interview and a lovely person to talk too!

Let's explore some of their pieces!

One of my favorite pieces by River is “The Walk”. They convene the love between two people without words; and instead through intentional action. Intentional is an adjective I would use to describe all of their writing. This particular piece really hit home for me when the character needs a no words day, and I’m reminded of times my husband has asked for moments like this and I haven’t been understanding. I loved how the story is built on this conscious and deliberate action of no words and it a fantastic entry to the challenge!

This particular poem, to a young poet, struck me in my humanity due to the vulnerability. Inside all of us is this young poet, and sometimes, we need to be reminded.

Some of my favorite quotes while doing the interview!

David Lynch is a beautiful wack job!

Our relationship grew out of quietness

Having someone's voice there for me

Now this poem is my FAVORITE. This poem is in all of our voicemails and heads. I have so many saved voicemails from my loved ones; one from my Gramma who isn’t with us and one from my Dad, who is my hero. I save them from my husband, and my friends. This poem speaks to this, and River did a phenomenal job incorporating the real messages they have and leaving us teary-eyed emojis in real life.


These next poems are a part of the climate series that is older for River. I loved the feeling of these poems, sad with a hint of hope. These poems gave me Bo Burnham's “That Funny Feeling” vibes. the I think it's a beautiful way to remind us that the world is sending us signals that it needs help. We need to listen.

Finally, closing thoughts for this episode. River’s voice is so soothing, as I listened back to that raspy calm voice I wanted to meditate. River showcases their poems on TikTok, a form of social media I don't possess but if you do should check out their account! Featured at the bottom of many of their work, River reads their poems for all of our delight. River is a super supportive car ea for here on Vocal and can be found on multiple Facebook groups and Discord.

Public Service Announcement

I want to thank everyone who supports the work being done here on Vocal, I apologize that I haven't been as active but I've been focusing on other things. I have reached out to Vocal to see if Vocal would like to be a part of the podcast, however, I have not heard back. I am looking for a partner if you are interested, email [email protected].