Poetry Unbound

Elisa Gonzalez — To My Twenty-Four-Year-Old Self

Jan 26, 2024

Poet and writer Elisa Gonzalez contemplates her journey as a poet and reflects on the changes in her writing over time. She engages in a conversation with her past self, exploring the limitations of her younger writing. The podcast also discusses the themes of intimacy, truth, and understanding in Elisa Gonzalez's poem 'To My Twenty-Four-Year-Old Self', as well as the struggles of being truthful with friends and the unbridgeable distances in life.

14:49

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Elisa Gonzalez

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Quick takeaways

A poem can capture the vast distances and feelings of isolation we experience between our past and present selves, emphasizing the power of self-reflection and self-acceptance.

The poem explores the inability to fully bridge distances, both physical and emotional, highlighting the importance of genuine honesty and self-awareness in forming authentic connections.

Deep dives

Intimacy with an Older Woman

The poem explores a 24-year-old's intimate connection with an older woman living in the opposite apartment. The 24-year-old seeks to bridge their isolated feelings through sex, but acknowledges that it doesn't fully overcome the distance. The poem reflects on the changing perspectives of the speaker over time, as it is addressed to the 24-year-old self by an older version of the speaker. There is a longing for honesty and self-knowledge, questioning why the truth was concealed and why the 24-year-old felt embarrassed. The poem contemplates the importance of authentic connections and self-acceptance.

Reflection on Evolving Poetic Style

00:53

In Relationships, Stay Present or Remember Well

01:16

Introduction

3min

Reflections on a Poem About a 24-Year-Old's Isolation and Struggles

6min

The Pursuit of Knowledge and Self-Reflection

6min

Our lives are filled with distances, the physical spans that we travel but also the stranger, vaster expanses between our past and our present or between feeling anchored and connected and feeling terribly alone. A poem can capture all of those in a way that a map can’t, as Elisa Gonzalez superbly demonstrates in “To My Twenty-Four-Year-Old Self.”

Elisa Gonzalez is a poet, essayist, and fiction writer. Her work appears in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Paris Review, and elsewhere. A graduate of Yale University and the New York University MFA program, she has received fellowships from the Norman Mailer Center, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Rolex Foundation, and the U.S. Fulbright Program. She is the recipient of a 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. Her debut poetry collection is Grand Tour (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2023).

Find the transcript for this show at onbeing.org.

We’re pleased to offer Elisa Gonzalez’s poem, and invite you to read Pádraig’s weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound book, or listen back to all our episodes.

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Poetry Unbound

Elisa Gonzalez — To My Twenty-Four-Year-Old Self

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Intimacy with an Older Woman

Unbridgeable Distances

Reflecting on the Past and the Present

Reflection on Evolving Poetic Style

In Relationships, Stay Present or Remember Well

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts