Whats your name?
Clementine Morse
Where are you from?
Brooklyn, NY!
What’s your sign?
Scorpio sun, gemini rising, cancer moon
What’s your occupation?
Preschool Teacher and also a grad student at the moment.
What’s a core nyc memory you have?
Well once I was like 8 years old and holding my mom’s hand right by the West 4th St. station and saw some guy taking a shit on the street. That definitely stuck with me.
But on a more positive note, I feel really connected to memories that remind me of the expanse of Manhattan and its grid, even though I’ve always lived in Brooklyn. Like once when I was home from college I walked from Penn Station all the way to my parent’s place in Carroll Gardens. Also driving down the West Side Highway with my family after being upstate and absorbing all the different architecture, the water, and trying to figure out what the Hustler’s Club might be. Also wandering around Washington Square Park and St. Mark’s Place with my friends as a teenager. In those moments I knew I was around all these adult transplants, and I knew it was really sick that I was growing up here.
What’s your favorite way to exercise and be active?
For the last few years I was super into long distance cycling + gravel biking when I lived in California. Now that I’m back in NYC I’ve been doing a lot of hot yoga.
In terms of just bein active, I feel super super grateful to have a job that keeps me outside, touching grass and moving my body every day, or I’d lose my mind.
What’s an exercise you would like to get more into?
I want to have the discipline l to really get into running! Especially trail running... the running/hiking combo just seems awesome and right up my alley.
What does your poetry inspiration come from?
My poems usually initially come out of something I’m feeling in the particular moment that I’m writing, but then they end up bringing in all kinds of stuff that’s been floating through my mind. I think music lyrics inspire me a lot. Whatever I’m reading at the moment inspires me. I also get a lot of inspiration from eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations lol
Does nyc affect your poetry in any way?
It’s funny cuz when I lived in LA a lot of my poems were total LA poems. But New York feels so ingrained in me that when I’m here I don’t really feel like an observer/ visitor of the place, so it doesn’t show up as obviously in my poetry. But I think a more general NYC sensibility affects my poetry in ways that I probably don’t even realize.
What makes someone a New Yorker?
Hmmm I mean, I think if someone’s lived here for like 8 years they count. I don’t think there can be any particular criteria, because New Yorkerness is really all about variety and mishmash. Growing up in Westchester def doesn’t count though haha
Is there something you think is the same in every New Yorker?
There’s a begrudging flexibility to every New Yorker. Like everyone puts up with a degree of discomfort every day and that makes us tough, but also weirdly willing to work together and be kind when it comes down to it. We’re all on top of each other, so we don’t have a choice.
What’s a cliche about New York that’s true?
It’s dirty as f. I’m actively disgusted every day :)
Also that the people here are New York-centric. Like I think we all think of it as the center of the world.
What’s a cliche that’s not true?
That everyone is rude. Rudeness is relative...
What’s something you miss every time you leave New York?
I miss the feeling of being stranded in New York. Like when you’re in the city and it’s 2pm and you have to meet someone at 6pm so it doesn’t make sense to go all the way home so you end up walking around or eating something new or in a bar you’ve never been in before or catching a movie or running into someone. You can’t really do that in most places. Not with the same fullness + spontaneity.
What’s the coolest thing about being from New York?
I feel like I’m able to have a richer experience of a lot of art because I feel tied to/at least acquainted with the place where it was made. I think it’s really cool to be able to absorb all the NY-inspired and NY-based art and culture, like books, movies, music, etc. that was made here or about here and to already know it so intimately. Being from NY makes me feel connected to a cultural history that’s a lot bigger than me.
What’s your favorite restaurant/coffee shop/bakery in Carroll Gardens?
Mazzola Bakery on Henry St. has bomb cinnamon rolls. Fave restaurant is Frankies. I worked there as a hostess for a bit and the people and food are both just great. My favorite bar is Bar Great Harry. I like it because it’s like... not cool.
Who is your New York icon?
Maybe Eileen Myles, because her book Chelsea Girls is just such a good becoming-an-artist-in-New York type of story and to this day she’s this eternal East Village character. Maybe Lou Reed because he’s got the most NYC attitude and sense of cool I could imagine. Also my grandpa who grew up in the Bronx. He was an art critic and a real old school NYC intellectual.
What’s your favorite movie?
Tie between Breaking Away, Badlands, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape
What’s a book recommendation you have for everyone now?
My fave book of the summer was Flashlight by Susan Choi. Fave book of all time is either Stoner by John Williams or Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth. I recommend those to anyone anytime.
