Dr. Infini Lionne is a contemplative poet and passionate reader who captures the quiet reflections of the soul. With a love for the written word since childhood, she transforms fleeting thoughts and emotions into evocative poetry. Her debut collection celebrates the multiple versions of oneself, inviting readers to reconnect with their inner child, embrace growth, and honour the journey of becoming. She shares her works publicly on Instagram at @dr.infinity_san.
The Literature Times: Your poetry reflects nostalgia and self-reflection. What inspired you to explore the theme of reconnecting with our childhood selves?
Dr. Infini Lionne: Every year seems like a new journey ahead. New year resolutions land up piled in a junkyard in the corner of our minds; Not that it was ever intentional, not adhering to a disciplined lifestyle and rules..!? But rather, it is simply not that easy to stay on one straight path always. And the more difficult and unattainable, one thing is, we as humans tend to pursue it just the same with our stubborn selves…! At times, the idea of giving up and not bothering to wake up every morning is much more tantalizing to the soul; instead of genuinely putting in real effort. Yet, every single morning we do get back up and freshen up to continue on with our daily chores and professional obligations. “Reminiscent Reticence” stemmed from this basic idea; as a reminder to myself, as to how far I have truly come in this journey of adulthood. I can never truly go back to my old self yet, I am content as who I am since I wouldn’t reach here if it weren’t for the push given by my past self; by each of our past selves….
The Literature Times: How did the concept of “celebrating every version of you” develop into a full poetry collection?
Dr. Infini Lionne: Isn’t it so…? Shouldn’t we applaud every version of our own selves in existence…!? Be it a toddler, a child, a teen, an adolescent, an adult or a geriatric..!? At every phase of my life, I have been coaxed into adding to my collection with varied themed poetic content. I had never truly intended or planned for it to actually become an actual book, but since I got the courage to..? To finally share my content with the rest of the world…!? I thought, Why not!? Let’s contribute the pieces hidden away in my notes penned over the years into an actual poetry collection; and this time..? Without any shame or doubts, to stay my hand…!
The Literature Times: Your work evokes both serenity and introspection. Do you write with a particular audience in mind, or is it purely personal expression?
Dr. Infini Lionne: To be honest, I never have a set goal or plan in mind while voicing out my thoughts or penning my words into a particular verse or excerpt… It simply happens..! Sometimes, the writer’s block is acute and stays… But, once that block is temporarily released and the flow of thoughts and vocabulary is ceaseless; I just go on typing/writing without any end goal in mind… So yeah, I would say my way of writing is more of a self-expressional one rather than having a target audience in mind pre-emptively…
The Literature Times: Many readers resonate with the idea of “felicitating yourself with grandeur.” How do you hope your poetry encourages self-acceptance?
Dr. Infini Lionne: “I am not enough…” “She is so cool, beautiful and much more confident, than I can ever be…” “How are they so brilliant at whatever they do…!” “I wish I were a genius too..!?” “I wish I could have some real accomplishments to my name someday…!?” “I wish I could make my parents TRULY proud, someday…!?” “Am I not worthy of love, at all..?” “Am I really that annoying, as they say I am..?”
So many negative thoughts, insecurities, vulnerabilities; intermittently pour in through the neural recesses at odd times of our lives. Sometimes, we might be the closest to success; yet, these emotions would try and generate doubts in our heads, self-blaming would become our second nature…! And we would not even be aware of how to proceed next… But, would we really be so clueless if we genuinely learnt to accept our flaws as the most honest reflection of our own selves…!? In fact, is it really wrong to be so clueless…? Isn’t it, practically called, being human…!? We aren’t robots given binary constructs for perfect execution of orders. We are humans, solely because we are prone to err… So, if at all we fail a few times, or we don’t know a certain skill or an answer; all we need to do is ‘Learn it’… So, what is there to be so shameful about…!? It is normal and acceptable, not to be perfect; that just gives us the incentive to, try harder to achieve our goals. Thus, we should genuinely learn to accept even the deepest and darkest part of ourselves; for that ultimately helps us to rectify our mistakes and become the best version of ‘US’…
The Literature Times: Your poems often invite the reader to pause and reflect. What role does mindfulness play in your writing process?
Dr. Infini Lionne: I don’t really think before I write. It is like a natural flow. Once I start, I dunno how to stop even.. That’s actually a flaw on my part, because I struggle with sticking to any fixed word limit. If there is any emotion or thought in my head, I simply phrase it out without a stopper to it, to clear my own mind out of any troublesome matter… It can be said that the pad becomes my best friend and a makeshift therapist this way… More or less, many people out there must be like me… Who share their true selves through writing rather than through speaking, in that way, we may have more chances to relate…
The Literature Times: You recently began sharing your work on Instagram. How has the digital platform influenced your connection with readers?
Dr. Infini Lionne: To be honest, I am such a private person that there are times when I genuinely get scared of sharing my write-up posts still… I am still getting used to the idea of openly interacting with the public on social media.. It is a work in progress.. But I hope that I shall be able to once I am much more successful professionally in my life… For now, sharing my books out there through my account would have to do, I guess..!?
The Literature Times: Were there specific childhood memories or experiences that inspired the poems in this collection?
Dr. Infini Lionne: Sort of…? Yes, there were certain memories and experiences that gave this cumulative collection.. For example? “Golden days…” has been dedicated to my maternal grandparents; they were a crucial part of my childhood; they basically raised me whilst my parents were busy with their study phase and were struggling… I dedicated this to my grandpa after he passed away… I was not confident ever about my write-ups, it always felt inadequate in comparison to all the best writers out there.. And I know, it is still deficient.. In fact, there is nothing to be ashamed about if my writing still needs to improve.. It just means there’s all the more reason to keep trying and to finally start sharing… That year, when I decided to share this particular poetry; my aunts only encouraged me saying that there is no one single way of expression, every person has his/her own way of dealing with grief and that’s alright; Likewise, every writer or poet has his/her own writing style and that (the variety and uniqueness characteristic to every individual) makes the reading worth it…
The Literature Times: How do you balance vulnerability and universality in your poetry to make it relatable yet intimate?
Dr. Infini Lionne: To be honest, the reason I am able to create poetries is because I pretend to be perfectly poised and balanced during the day… I keep my problems to myself and struggle with the idea of asking for help in general.. Maybe, it is because I have had to be the sensible child while growing up.. But, in reality I am not as balanced as I pretend to appear.. Somehow, my closest people already know, yet, they have enough confidence in this facade I outwardly present most of the time… My poetries are the most intimate reflections of me as an individual, with all my weaknesses, wishes, wants and streaks… Basically, they portray the unit, I as a person, selectively decide to hold back… As a result, sometimes, it may feel that these words are ensuing from the mouth of a person with multiple insecurities… But, then insecurities in themselves are a universal attribute since every person has them… Maybe, the type may vary depending on the person but everyone possesses their own fears and vulnerabilities with their own modes of dealing… This way automatically the balance is maintained between the tone, gesture and the universality of these verses I have composed…
The Literature Times: Writing can be a deeply private act. How did it feel to share your work publicly for the first time?
Dr. Infini Lionne: With some of my work, I still hesitate… But, it …. genuinely made me feel ecstatic when my “REMINISCENT RETICENCE” was first launched globally… It felt like… “Finally, some Thing of my own, is out there officially, in the market…!” It felt like a form of personal accomplishment, that I can’t fully explain.. My heart swelled up with joy, like literally and I just felt so much at ease back then; as if something is finally going right…!? I dunno… that’s the best way I can phrase it.. I guess..?
The Literature Times: If readers could take one message or feeling away from your book, what would you hope it is?
Dr. Infini Lionne: “It is okay to be subdued… It is okay to be shy.. It is okay to be afraid in a crowd… And, it is absolutely okay to feel, not ready, to share….! Because; some day, in some futuristic world when your older self would peer back into you; she/he would say that it is alright since I made it for you… So, now, You !.. Can genuinely rejoice” I am not saying that we should not at all try to progress.. But, for some people the definition of progression and growth may turn out to be different, relevant to their personal conditions, financial constraints and time… Even though, some times when we look back and feel regretful about the time we lost not living out, not learning everything that we should have, not doing everything that we could have, as children; It is not like we have truly lost… It is just that back then, we were simply Not..ready… And now, both mentally and physically.. We are… So, as adults we have a stronger rein over our choices, to relearn whatever we previously lost out on, make adequate memories or pick up new skills; and become brand new individuals…!?
