Poet and gardener Aristilde Kirby reflects on growing up in the Bronx and rural Georgia, describing how early influences like video games, mythology, and music shaped her understanding of gender and identity. She discusses choosing her name, her relationship to myths, and the role of fantasy and meditation in her writing practice. Kirby speaks about childhood isolation, family dynamics, early dating experiences, and the sense of freedom she found in nature. She shares her experiences of financial precarity during college, exploitation in graduate school, and the challenges of navigating institutional spaces. Kirby also describes building community in New York through poetry readings, queer social networks, and her evolving relationship to writing and performance as a way of making meaning in the world.