Catrice Greer : part five

How does a poem begin?

It seeds itself. It blossoms or it sings its voice as a whisper or loudly.
It may be a single thought or a stream.

For me it is all of these things, a frequency and I ride it obediently where it asks to fly, swim or dive.
I am an assigned steward and work hard to pull the weeds to retain only the story. 

Basically, I hear my poems or sense them. That is how most begin. I can and sometimes do write from a prompt in a workshop.  I have a literary skillset I work hard to study and learn over decades so some of that is a strong foundation and allows this intuitive freedom in the beginning. As with all crafts, skill, editing, knowledge, form are foundational necessities.

Catrice Greer : part four

How important is music to your poetry? 

Music is the foundational frequency of many of my poems. Some of my poems are part lyrics and part spoken word. My page poetry has lines with lyrical undertones. 

The music is another way to let my poetry come alive. 

Catrice Greer : part three

What poets changed the way you thought about writing? 

Toni Morrison “Honey and Rue” song cycle. — I always knew poetry was music to a degree. But Morrison taught me that there are no limits and no boxes for me as a creative woman. She led by example. 

TS Eliot — long form stories can be interesting and dense, but on target.

Tracey Chapman - masterful storytelling via her lyrics

Wislawa Symborska - Her skill, her mix of humor and realism.
Andrew Marvel - Be unconventional and do it your way. 

Sonia Sanchez - she was my introduction to spoken word after many years of studying and writing traditional poetry.  I learned that using my voice in interesting ways on the page and in performance was possible and freeing— My poem MommaMendsUs is a spoken word performance poem.  

June Jordan - said I can be powerful. Her poetry taught me to speak of social issues with personal power.

Maya Angelou’s work -  Taught me that  I can empower myself and others with dignity

Sitkala- Sa’s work taught me lyricism and spirituality can exist comfortably in the work

Jamaica Kincaid’s poem “Girl”. Taught me that there was room to speak of my Caribbean cultural influences and familial relationships via that cultural reference and lens. I learned that vernacular and identity had a place in poetry. I learned how to take up space on the page and let the work exist as it needs to speak intuitively. 

Catrice Greer : part two

What do you feel poetry can accomplish the other forms can’t?

For me, poetry is like a zoom lens into a snippet of life or an amplified emotion.
Other forms of writing I participate in have other functions to tell a story through a different lens. 

All forms of writing are equivalent, valuable, and important to me. Some resonate more with my way of storytelling than others.  Writing in general can be a form of healing, introspection and documentation in many ways.

Catrice Greer : part one

Catrice Greer is a Baltimore-based writer and a 2021 Pushcart Prize Nominee. In November 2020, she served as a Poet-In-Residence for Cheltenham Poetry Festival (UK). Her poetic work explores a range of topics about the human condition including mental health wellness, trauma, healing, sciences, nature, astronomy, transcendence, spirituality, identity, heritage, and cultural ancestry.   She is published in local publications, online journals, and international anthologies. Currently, Catrice is Co-Editor of Lapidus Magazine (Lapidus International, UK), Guest Editor for IceFloe Press (Canada), and a Guest Poetry reviewer for Fevers of the Mind (USA). 

How does your work first enter the World? Do you have a social group or writers group that you work ideas and poems with? 

I may share a WIP (work in progress) during a small writing workshop.  However, most of my work is unseen. I am very private. I am the only person that edits and reads my work and prepares it for publication. It is helpful for me, because I need to hear the voice that gave me the poem.

When ready to publish a collection, I will carefully choose one or two skilled, trustworthy editors to trust who believe in my work, and appreciate me as an artist and as a person.