How a Sacramento poet is defying the odds as he builds a name in both music and words

Friday was just another day for many people in Sacramento.

Eyes opened from underneath warm blankets, coffee percolated, teeth were brushed and another day in the capital city began. For poet Andru Defeye, Friday was anything but typical. It was the kickoff of the final round of auditions in front of a panel of judges before Sacramento announces its newest poet laureate.

Previously named the city’s emerging arts leader in 2018 for his nonprofit work with Sol Collective, Defeye is no stranger to the kind of anticipation before a big live event. While that kind of pressure alone would be daunting for anyone, in this instance, there is an added layer. Defeye taking the title of poet laureate means he would go down as the youngest winner since the program’s inception in early 2000; making this officially a dream come true. A dream that acted as a light in some of the darkest moments Defeye experienced over the course of his life.

“My life has been a lot of crazy moments, twist and turns that brought me here. It felt a little out of my reach until now, but somehow I’m here. I have quite a few bucket list items left to check off the list, but to be the poet laureate of the city I love? If you had asked me 10 years ago if I really thought I would ever be here … the answer would have been a solid no,” Defeye said.

Art in all its forms have been a part of Defeye’s life from a very young age. A self-proclaimed nerd, he could often be found with his nose in books of all forms; from the pages he filled with poetry, the drawings he left scattered along textbook margins, to the well-worn words of Ginsberg and Thompson that filled his mind with inspiration while their pages filled his shelves. Like a salve on a burn, he found healing through the ability to express himself through art; and when you’re born with fairly rare Eagle-Barrett syndrome, healing is no easy feat.

A congenital disorder that affects 1 in 40,000 children, Eagle-Barrett (also known as Prune Belly syndrome) is characterized by the child lacking formed abdominal muscles at birth. It can also affect the development of the child’s internal organs — primarily the kidneys and lungs. While most babies were wrapped and quickly tucked into their mothers arms, Defeye was rushed to operating tables and placed under surgical lights. After years of procedures, medicines, doctors and the occasional emergency surgery, Defeye defied the odds and managed to come out the other end, healed.

“You know all children are a miracle but what he went through is on a different level,” his father Mark Bell said. “One of the doctors we went to said that he may never walk depending on how things went. Unbeknownst to that doctor, my son has always been a fighter. I knew it from the first time I visited him in the NICU. It was his hands. Even as he sat in that incubator with no human touch, his hands were constantly reaching out for connection. He was constantly trying to pull himself up and out of there.”

From near death at birth to a leader in the arts community, Defeye shows no signs of stopping. Grouped among three of the top poets in the city in a no-holds-barred literary death match is already an accomplishment. But that isn’t the only thing he is working on. With two albums having come out in the last 18 months, Defeye’s musical talents have recently earned him a SAMMIE nomination for best emcee and hip hop. On top of that, he is also working with a founding member of The Wailers, Dr. Devon Evans, for an all-ages show on Feb. 13 at Cafe Colonial entitled “Rebel Music.” The Wailer will host a Q&A for all in attendance on topics ranging from healing through music, the power of words and the stories and lessons learned along the way.

That’s what comes to the forefront in all of his work. Defeye’s desire to use his words to help through the tender process of healing. In the end it worked on himself as much as others.

“Zero forbidden goals has always been the motto, and the biggest goal that I’ve had for the past few years has been to heal,” Defeye said. “To heal through my music. To heal through my poetry. To heal by giving myself a chance to figure out what I needed to work through. All of it brought me to understand what healing really takes, and beginning to heal is what brought me here.”

This story was originally published February 9, 2020 at 4:00 AM.