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The Rest of Us with Dana Tenille Weekes
The Rest of Us podcast explores rest as self-liberation for advocates and professionals who are losing themselves to the demands of work, loved ones, friends, strangers, and this dizzying world. The Rest of Us cultivates a community through honest reflections, conversations, and laughter for people willing to embrace rest differently.
The Rest of Us with Dana Tenille Weekes
Poetic Interlude - Jae Nichelle reading "Sci-fi Black Lead"
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What are some simple things we overlook with each blink? How do we share apples with no urgency? In this Poetic Interlude, Jae Nichelle shares her poem “Sci-fi with Black Lead."
Creatives, including poets, show us how to embrace our humanity and act on our truths. We in The Rest of Us community view this as a deep connection to one’s own agency — our definition of rest.
Settle into the work of Jae Nichelle and even explore your own creativity, which we define as liberatory rest.
ABOUT JAE
Louisiana-born Jae Nichelle (she/her) is the author of God Themselves (Andrews McMeel, 2023) and the chapbook The Porch (As Sanctuary) (YesYes Books, 2019). A graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, Jae won the inaugural John Lewis Writing Award in poetry from the Georgia Writers Association and was a finalist for a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship. Her poetry has appeared in Best New Poets 2020, Washington Square Review, The Offing, Muzzle Magazine, and elsewhere.
Her latest book, Grownfolk Blues: a musical in poems, is forthcoming (Host Publications, Fall 2026).
WEBSITE: Learn more at www.jaenichelle.com.
PUBLICATIONS:
Grownfolk Blues: a musical in poems (Host Publications, Fall 2026)
God Themselves
The Porch (As Sanctuary)
breaking, broken (A Short Film)
Visit Jae's website.
Say “hello” to Jae on Instagram @croptopassasin.
You can also visit therestofuspodcast.com to read Jae's poem and reflection prompt, along with other featured poets in the Poetic Interlude community.
PODCAST TEAM
Host, Dana Tenille Weekes
Producer, Annabelle Oh
Editor, Sagheer Muhammad
Content Manager, Annabelle Oh
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Until next time, rest, my friends.
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Welcome to the Poetic Interlude as part of the Rest of Us podcast. Each poetic interlude holds space to remind us that creative expression is a portal to rest as liberation. Creatives, including poets, show us how to embrace our humanity and act on our truth, not fear, in this present moment, which we in the Rest of Us community view as a deep connection to one's agency. Our definition of rest. Let's settle in. Welcome, my friends. I am your host, Dana Tanil Weeks. In this poetic interlude, poet Jay Nichell reads Sci-Fi with Black Lead. Louisiana-born Jay Nichell is the author of God Themselves, Andrews McMeal 2023, and the chapbook The Porch as Sanctuary by Yes Yes Books 2019. A graduate fellow of The Watering Hole, Jay won the inaugural John Lewis Writing Award in Poetry from the Georgia Writers Association and was a finalist for a 2023 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Fellowship. Her poetry has appeared in Best New Poets 2020, Washington Square Review, The Offing, Muzzle Magazine, and elsewhere. Jay's forthcoming book, Grown Folk Blues, a musical in poems, will come out this fall by host publications. I am so excited about Jay's book, and I just absolutely love host publications. So say hello to Jay on Instagram at Crop TopAssassin. You can also visit Jay Nichelle at www.jnachell n i cle dot com to learn more about her. You can also visit the restofuspodcast.com to read Jay's poem and reflection prompt along with other poets in the poetic interlude community. Let's settle in.
SPEAKER_00My name is Jayna Shell, and I will read my poem Sci-Fi with Black Lead. Sci-fi with Black Lead. Epigraph. I've never seen a hero like me in a sci-fi, FKA Twigs. The movies are wrong. Time is circular, meaning the future is just us older in the past. We are naked, we don't understand science, we never did, and I love you. We've seen all our terrors before, so we rebuke excess. This is enough. Gather sticks, set fires, be together. Our families have finally met. We are still here. You bring back apples to share with no urgency in your walk. Where are the battles? Behind us, where we don't look. Where are the men? We don't need answers, but the ocean is clear, gas flame blue. So we ask, have we ever seen ourselves? Look. You black woman, still here. Me, black woman, still here. How did we used to live? Always on our toes and ready? One might think the hunted would seek revenge. We did. We rebuilt our homes and our feet. We are the heroes. We are still here. Only. No one needs to be saved. Thank you so much for receiving this poem. As you do so, I invite you to settle into the following reflection. You can think in silence, do a free write, draw, or even craft a poem of your own. This poem imagines a moment in time where all of the small things are more than enough. What are some simple things we overlook with each blink? How can we see ourselves in the smallest of things? Apples to share with no urgency in our walk, for example.
SPEAKER_01Thank you for listening to this poetic interlude. Remember, we are all creatives, whether we believe it or not. And creativity itself is a source for what we in the Rest of Us community call liberatory rest. Want to listen to more poetic interludes? Visit therestofuspodcast.com or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Until next time, rest, my friends.