M.W. Jaeggle : part one

M.W. Jaeggle’s writing has appeared in The Antigonish Review, CV2, The Dalhousie Review, Vallum, and elsewhere. He is the author of two chapbooks: Janus on the Pacific (Baseline, 2019) and The Night of the Crash (Alfred Gustav, 2019). He lives in Vancouver, on unceded Coast Salish territory.

How does a poem begin?

A poem begins as a perception that breaks the normal, unnoticed flow of things. Something I have experienced interjects into the rhythm of my day and promptly declares, “I am significant.” As I give more attention to this rupture, as I question its significance, I recognize my thinking making the sort of associations that I experience when reading or hearing poetry. These associations then travel to a notebook where they sit for a while. When I return to these associations with sufficient time, then I’m shaping the perception and its attendant thoughts into a poem.