Today we’d like to introduce you to Christopher Pineiro.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m horrible at being brief, but I’ll try to give a little summary of the road so far. I’ve always had an overactive mind, a spontaneous imagination, and a tendency toward talk. My parents were serious about things like education, but they let me be me (when I allowed it).
I made college and university a bit more of a roundabout journey than it probably needed to be, but then again, the process brought me to where I am today. In short, I eventually found myself studying English literature at FIU, graduating, and becoming a high school English teacher (I’m not working now, but it’s been my profession for the better part of the past five years).
Walt Whitman has a beautiful poem called “Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking” where he sort of invents this myth for how he found his poetic voice as a child from a heartbroken bird crying into the night, searching for its lost mate. I guess you could say I washed up on poetry’s shore in a similar vein. At the end of a five year relationship, I took my therapist’s advice to start journaling. I went to my spot at Surfside Beach to sit with everything rocking and crashing inside me, and poetry is what I left with. Three poems.
And I continued for a while, filling up my notebook at odd moments during the day and evenings. Occasionally I would share what I’d written with friends, but I kept it mostly to myself. Something important to note is that, during this time, I began reading other poets. Mostly dead people, but I tried my best to read widely. Shakespeare, Shelley, Whitman, Ginsberg, and many, many more. I also read books on the craft, like Mary Oliver’s.
I also started to spend more time out–mostly at kava bars and such–and slowly I grew my tribe. It was during all this that I met my now partner, Kat. It’s a cliche to say I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today without her, but, yeah. She’s incredibly well-read, and as our relationship was blooming I shared some of my poems with her, and she’s never stopped encouraging me to keep writing. Her confidence in me is everything, and I can always count on her to give it to me straight–if I write a sucky poem, she’ll let me know, and I need that!
Last year, I decided it was time to branch out and share my work, so I made my poetry page on Instagram (@christhepoet) and started sharing my writings there and on Facebook. I was seriously not the type to do this sort of thing before this, so it was a big and scary step for me, being so vulnerable in front of my friends and family on a regular basis. I worried about it being narcissistic or cringe or whatever, but Kat helped me chill out and I just went for it.
I started attending Miami Poetry Club workshops (shoutout Micah & Jose & Sten & all my Rhyme Rebels!) and reading at open mics. I read at an event the Biscayne Poet hosted at Sweat Records with a very, very dry mouth from the wine that was supposed to calm me down (it didn’t, but I made it through the reading anyways!). What I found is that there is a poetry scene here in Miami–if you’re willing to find it–and that I was welcomed with open arms. I love how inclusive the community is, and my Miami poets have been so, so supportive.
I write poetry any way I can–notebook, laptop, voice recordings, whatever. Well, I’d collected some typewriters, which were mostly gathering dust, but which I decided would be a nice reprieve from the screen I stared at all day at work. I started writing poems on my typewriters at the kava spot I frequent, and my friend Hector saw me and suggested I join him at the farmer’s market at Legion Park, where he sold coffee with his partner, Cristy (shoutout to No Signal Coffee!). Poetry and coffee just makes sense.
I’d seen a video once on a guy who wrote poems on a typewriter at central park who made a bunch of money, and I knew about The Biscayne Poet’s storied career as a typewriter poet, but I had no idea whether I’d have the chops to write on the spot like that. But I took the plunge. I bought a canopy tent and table, and the next morning I set up at the market. Kat was there and my good friends Mark and Alain, and Mark made a purposefully grungy spraypainted FREE POEMS sign that I consider a holy relic now.
I don’t remember how many people I wrote poems for that morning, but I managed to garner some big reactions and something like $50 in tips. Receiving anything for my poetry from strangers felt magical, and the way I was having these intimate moments with strangers was profound. I was hooked.
That first month, I was still finding my speed, and sometimes I’d have a queue of people wanting a poem. I didn’t want to say no to anyone, so I was letting people who didn’t have time to wait give me their information so I could mail them their poems, and I did just that. I kept a lot of them waiting a while, but I mailed out a bunch of custom poems. It was kind of crazy, though, so I found a healthier balance when I started telling people to come again next week if they didn’t have the time.
After one day at the market, one of our patrons asked if I worked events like weddings or parties, and asked my rate. I’d wanted to do this, write for hire, but I wasn’t sure how to break into it, and so this was like the thing just falling into my hands from heaven. It turned out this patron ran an entertainment agency, Aura, providing talent for parties and such, and she was interested in offering my services to clients. It really brought things to the next level for me (shoutout Tatiana and the Aura family!).
So, between work contracting with Aura and things The Biscayne Poet and others threw my way, I found myself writing all over the place. Joia Beach, the Intercontinental, the Miami Book Fair. I went and made myself a little website (christhepoet.com) to advertise my services, I settled on the moniker “Chris the Poet” (nice and simple), I made business cards, and I’ve just run with it. I still have a ways to go with the business and marketing side of things, but, after about a year of writing professionally, I feel pretty good about it.
I just worked a swanky party at the Moore in the Design District and it’s looking like I’m about to confirm some more jobs for next month. This is the time of the year when people want poetry, I guess. I’ve also dipped my toes in leading workshops these past couple of months. I was privileged to lead two poetry workshops for elderly veterans at the VA hospital–I can’t describe how rewarding that felt. Really wonderful.
Last thing: last year, I set the goal for myself to get into FIU’s Creative Writing MFA program. I read work from some of their faculty–Richard Blanco, Campbell McGrath, Denise Duhamel, Lynne Barrett–and I became absolutely dead set on learning from them and working towards my goal of becoming a professor and a great writer. I got in, I’m in my first semester right now, and there’s no place else I’d rather be.
I might write you a poem as a party favor, but when the party’s over, I’m still going to be reading, writing, and talking poetry. I’ve made this little fire, and I’m going to keep it going. It’s what I love to do.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Every other day is a struggle, if not every day. I’m not always the most Type A as it were. Sometimes I can be capricious while writing for people and certain people just feel really grating with their entitlement or flippancy. There are days where the brain fog is too thick for me to even bother writing, let alone working on things like my website or marketing. But at the end of the day, this whole thing has manifested itself so organically, and so much of it has felt like it was meant to be, and that’s helped me maintain this bigger picture faith in the whole enterprise. I’m supposed to be doing this, and if today isn’t my day, tomorrow will be.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a poet, writer, and educator. I’m probably mostly known in the community for my typewriter poetry, and for doing a lot of it. I think in this first year I’ve written between 700-800 bespoke poems for people on my typewriters.
I’m proud of everything I’ve accomplished in the field. Becoming a paid, professional poet with my own brand is still crazy to me. Being accepted into the FIU MFA program was big.
But actually, that stuff is just fluff in some ways. I recently tried a session where I did some deep trance work with someone I wrote a poem for at the farmer’s market (shout out to Kristen Soller – insidevoicehypnosis.com). She asked me, while I was under, what I was most proud of myself for, and what came to mind were these moments of deep connection and healing that I’ve been able to achieve through the poetry.
Earlier this year, I lost a friend. His name was Nyles Lantin. He struggled with his mental health. He ended his battle on his own terms. We were all devastated, and I decided to repost a poem I had written in celebration of his guitar prowess on my page. A family member of his from out of state found it, and because of that we were able to coordinate to meet with his parents for a day of celebration and remembrance of his life. I brought the original copy of that typewritten poem in a frame, but when I got there, his parents already knew me. They were so kind. And his father gave me a big hug and told me that he had read my poem for his son over and over and that he loved it. He asked why I wrote it.
I’m getting shaken up thinking about it right now. All my love to the Lantin family. Never mind anything else. Never mind how I’m different or not different to anyone else. That moment is what I’m proud of. That’s why I write poetry. That’s what matters.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
There’s a season for everything. Plant your seeds. Do it with no promise of what will grow, or who you’ll be when you reap what you’ve sown. Honor your seasons, and be gentle with yourself.
Pricing:
- Typewriter Poetry: $150-250 per hour (Reach out for a quote)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://christhepoet.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christhepoet/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christopher.pineiro.756143
- Other: https://google.com/maps/place/Chris+the+Poet/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x270da58acc041c10?sa=X&ved=1t:2428&ictx=111
Image Credits
Jesse Denis (only for the black and white photo of my hands on the typewriter keys)
