Started by “actual living poets” Dorothea Lasky and Alex Dimitrov, the new Twitter account Astro Poets is everything anyone could ever want from the internet all in one 140-character space: astrology by poets for everyone.
Mercury Retrograde is here. Spread love, be a hoe, order every drink. We're all going to die. Just do everything.
— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) December 19, 2016
For those who don’t know, I’m obsessed with both astrology and good writing which is why I can’t get enough of this account. Lasky and Dimitrov are funny, charming and masters of their form. The Twitterverse is so lucky to have these two and I am so lucky to have had a chance to ask them a few questions about their absolutely magical collaboration known as Astro Poets.
Dorothea Lasky and Alex Dimitrov
We've been born on this truest evening, November 26, 2016 in New York City. A Sagittarius babe we are & we love our planet & all the signs.
— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) November 26, 2016
Cathy de la Cruz: What made you start the Astro Poets Twitter account?
Dorothea Lasky: The account was started on a whim one night. Alex had put a poll on his Twitter asking his followers whether he should date a Taurus or a Virgo that night. I voted for Taurus and that prompted Alex to ask me if we should start an astrology Twitter account. I said yes and he put a poll up asking people if we should start one and lots of people voted that we should. So we did. We both agreed going into it that the largest goal was to bring people some laughs during what has been a bad year.
Alex Dimitrov: I think we’re both pretty funny people and also we both really get… how do I say this… human nature. We finally decided to share that in a more public way. I mean we both have so much going on in our lives, this is kind of a side project that speaks to the entertainers and prophets in us… but it might turn into other things!
Here's the thing. @DorotheaLasky & I want to bring u joy. & I'm getting laid by mostly boring ppl (mostly). Hence @poetastrologers was born
— Alex Dimitrov (@alexdimitrov) November 27, 2016
CD: Is the Astro Poets account part of a larger collaboration or project between the two of you?
DL: We’ve been talking about doing a collaboration together for a long time, but I think we were waiting for the right one. When we first met we started a Twitter account called “Firesigns4life” (we are Aries-Sagittarius), but the tweets were mainly inside jokes. And we definitely didn’t have any larger projects in mind when we started, but now that we’ve begun we do have some in the works.
AD: Yeah, we are working on some things, we’re thinking, we’re texting. I love collaborating with Dottie specifically because our creative energy is incredibly compatible. I knew this from the beginning, mid-conversation, during our first conversation (back in the spring of 2011 at a party after a reading). You know there are people that you see for the first time and know those people are going to be important in your life. That’s what happened. And we both believe that there is more going on than the reality which we all see, which we perceive. I think we’re definitely both plugged into several other realities.
That Capricorn you love is looking up 3 additional sources to confirm the reference they're about to make in the sext you're about to get.
— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) December 17, 2016
CD: You seem to have gotten thousands of Twitter followers overnight. Did that surprise you, or did you know the world was ready for some Astro poets guidance?
DL: I feel somewhat surprised by it. I knew that people loved astrology, but I guess I underestimated how much they love it. Also, we had no discussion beforehand on our tone or what to post—we just started individually posting and telling jokes we might tell each other. So, it is surprisingly wonderful that so many people find it entertaining and/or cohesive.
AD: It’s great, and our followers are cool and kind of like us. I think they get where we’re coming from. I mean I was a weird goth kid growing up who read Plath and Dickinson and didn’t eat his lunch. We’re speaking to those kids and a lot of others, I think. Everyone wants to be understood and astrology helps with that.
Leo: I saw a ghost once
Friend: that was just your soul
Leo: what
Friend: exiting your body forever— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) November 28, 2016
CD: What’s next up for Astro Poets?
DL: We’ve been doing our Twitter for less than three weeks, so the immediate goal is to just keep posting and developing the scope of our voice and seeing what makes people laugh and want to engage with us. I think that we would ideally love to give astrological advice, too, and need to figure out what might be the best way to do that.
AD: We have some things up our sleeve! I don’t want to say too much but 2017 is going to be a wacky and eventful year in terms of the stars and in terms of us!
Poet Conversations
Gertrude Stein (Aquarius): A rose is a rose is a–oh whatever.
Robert Frost (Aries): I choose the road I can set on fire.— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) December 13, 2016
CD: Anything else you want to tell us about you and/or Astro Poets?
DL: That we love you, Sagittarius interviewer and Weird Sister! And that we are so happy that people are liking our Twitter and that we love you all! I’ve always been a little bit ashamed of how much astrology means to me, because a lot of times people kind of tease me in my everyday life that it’s not real. But I know that it is and it has given me lots of hope and love that lots of people out there believe in it, too.
AD: I’m over here like waiting for a Sagittarius or Aries man. Like holler at me, ok? Ok.
Stay away from them!!!!! They can't handle the Sag.
— Astro Poets (@poetastrologers) November 27, 2016
CD: As you’ve already seen from my late night public Tweets proclaiming my love for you (or lack of love for everybody else), Astro Poets–I love you too. I love you too. <3
Alex Dimitrov & Dorothea Lasky
