Fredericton poet explores vulnerability in new book
Tallas Munro's collection of poems is called Lion, after a friend's stuffed animal
Tallas Munro knows about vulnerability.
The 28-year-old New Brunswick poet and actor remembers having to leave his Grade 4 classroom with a brown paper bag because he was having an anxiety attack.
"I was like, 'Oh, gosh, what do I do? How do I get over this?'" Munro recalled. "And I thought, 'Well, I'll do the worst thing that I can think of,' which is standing in front of 300 people and [reciting] lines from memory.
"And that seemed to help stabilize a lot of those feelings and those emotions."
Years later, Munro remembers the first time he saw his roommate's stuffed animal, wondering why his friend of five years had kept it hidden all this time.
That same month, he saw a stuffed animal that belonged to another close friend. Its name was Lion — the name Munro would give to his latest book of poetry.
"We're so selective about our vulnerabilities, and rightfully so, but it just wormed its way in my mind and I was thinking, you know, when we're a child, our parents teach us about vulnerability," Munro said.
"But what is the first instance in which we project our own vulnerability to someone or something?
"I think it's a stuffed animal."
The idea of vulnerability inspired Munro's latest poetry book, Lion, published through Ace of Swords Publishing Inc.
Munro, originally from Rexton and now living in Fredericton, said he spent two summers at Theatre New Brunswick, working with kids who spent their formative social years in pandemic lockdown. He noticed that many of them struggled with making connections and with being vulnerable.
He felt a similar thing happening within himself.
"You're working, you're acting, and then suddenly nothing," Munro said. "And how do you open up those channels again to where you're connecting with another person organically?"
The poems in his book came first, Munro said, but the theme makes itself clear over time. For this book, he said he originally wrote more than 300 pages, but he whittled the work down.
And while some of the poems have deep personal meanings, Munro said he believes readers can interpret them how they wish.
"I believe that when you write something, and you put it out and it's publicly available, it doesn't belong to you anymore," Munro said.
"People have their own interpretations that they'll bring to the table, and in a way, through their own interpretation, they connect with you as the person that made it.
"My interpretation is irrelevant, or my intention, rather, is irrelevant. What you get out of it is the truth."
A message to his younger self
As a child, Munro said he would write about anything and everything. He remembers going on long drives and writing about the fields and ditches he'd see along the way.
Even if the things he wrote didn't make sense, Munro said it helped develop his writing skill and allowed him to later write about deeper things he was feeling.
Looking back at the boy with a brown paper bag trying acting for the first time or writing about those ditches and fields, Munro said he would tell that young boy to keep pursuing his art, despite everything.
"People may not understand you," he said. "That's something you'll have to live with, but it's worth it.
"It will save your life, and it will continue saving your life."
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