Lady Death

Part of an interview with poet Kate Evans and interviewer Faridah Hasanzadeh-Mostafavi:

F: How do you see Lady Death?

K: I see Lady Death as immensely personal. She belongs to each one of us. People who don’t want to accept this fact spend a lot of time trying to make death belong to other people. Perhaps I do see violence in our world as lodged in a deeply psychic space. Those in power who think nothing of dropping a bomb to kill others are in denial about their own mortality.

I also see her as a being who propels creativity. At some level, most creativity is inspired by mortality, I think. We make things because we know at some level our time is limited. Mortality is essential to the creative impulse. And unfortunately, it’s also essential to the destructive impulse. That’s a conundrum I want to think more about. It’s not one to be solved, only to be grappled with.