Damien B. Donnelly : part five

How does a poem begin?

Very often, for me, a poem begins when a fleeting visual image triggers that box of collected words in the mind, immediately forming an opening line or repeated phrase from the poem that's about to unfold. Most of these triggers for me are intimate, personal starting points that later leap out into a more generalized expression in order to draw the reader in, as if revealing a secret before letting the reader take hold of the lines so as to connect the poem with their own personal experiences. I am a constant picture-taker, always snapping photographs wherever I go, possibly trying to capture these moments of visual beauty in the same way that I capture later a poem on the page, everything is fleeting and sometimes poetry is my way of just keeping up and reminding myself of what I've seen before it's gone. The poem begins just before the visual fades. In the same way that sometimes I take a break from writing and paint until I’m inspired to write again, it is a constant circle of one thing ending and another taking flight.

Damien B. Donnelly : part four

How important is music to your poetry?

For me, the musicality of poetry is essential. Since I started Eat the Storms, the Poetry Podcast, back in July 2020 and have been sharing my own poems along with my guests and have also been reading much more at spoken word events, my poems have become more like songs to perform. And with that, I have come to understand they have certain breaks, refrains, choruses that come back again. Each has its own rhythm, not only in their sound, but also in their structure, in their visual form on the page. The sound of how the words are spoken for me is vital to get across the emotion, to demonstrate the force, to be as the clear as the break of the last line. I was a very shy child and took a long time to find my voice. My poetry has equally taken many, many years to come out and find its confidence but slowly it is finding its place on the stage and its lyricism under the light. 

Damien B. Donnelly : part three

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

Poetry, for me, gets to the essential quicker than any other form of writing. I'm currently working on a fictional novel and have written many short stories but the excitement of poetry, its uniqueness and also perhaps its greatest challenge, is to cut away all that is decoration and retain only that which is necessary. I'm a big musical theatre fan and know that some people question why they have to sing in the middle of a Play but, for me, the singing comes because simply speaking is not enough to convey the emotion, singing takes it to another level, accompanied by the music. Poetry, in a similar sense, is an extension of prose, a way of catching the light, of drawing attention, of saying look at me, both my beauty and my fragility, the shimmering way the words flow when contrasted against how few words there are to protect. A poem stands naked on a stage, there is no cover up, it simply is. We may not always understand it but it's definitely hard to ignore it.

Damien B. Donnelly : part two

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

For me, personally, writing is constantly a work in progress, looking for the voice and realizing that even that voice itself, when found, changes quickly. When I was younger, I had the impression that I had to write like others, like classic, beloved poets, I had to follow their style and their frame. The older I get, the more I realize the world is big enough for many types of frames and individuality is so much more exciting than conformity. When you grow up adopted and looking for the handle of sexuality’s closet, you learn to give yourself time to figure out who and what you are. My poetry is developing in the same way. Right now, in my 40s, I'm interested in the development of my own voice, where it has come from, what has altered it and where it is heading. Today, I am trying to be less of a control freak and this applies also to my writing of poetry. I now realise that a poem doesn't have to have a beginning, middle and an end. Sometimes a burst from the light midway through the first half is all that is needed and the rest of the poem can be edited back from overdone to just enough to attract attention.  

Damien B. Donnelly : part one

Damien B. Donnelly, 45, returned to Ireland in 2019 after 23 years in Paris, London and Amsterdam, working in the fashion industry. His writing focuses on identity, fragility and connection. His daily interests revolve around falling over and learning how to get back up while baking rather delicious cakes.

His short stories have been featured in A Page from My Life from Harper Collins Ireland, Body Horror from Gehenna & Hinnom and Volume 3 of Coffin Bell. His poetry has appeared in many publications online and in print including Eyewear, The Runt, Black Bough, Barren Magazine, Impspired, Neurological, The Adriatic, Fahmidan Journal, Prismatica, Anti-Heroin Chic, Fevers of the Mind, Bealtaine and 2 Metre Review. His debut poetry pamphlet Eat the Storms was published by The Hedgehog Press in Sept 2020 and he followed that up with a Stickleback micro poetry collection Considering Canvases with Boys in January 2021, also from The Hedgehog Press. He is the producer and host of the weekly poetry podcast Eat The Storms on Spotify, Apple, Podbean and many other podcast platforms. His pamphlet, co-written with Eilin de Paor, In the Jitterfritz of Neon will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press later this year. He is currently working on his 1st full collection which will be a poetic/photographic diary of his years living with Paris.

His poetry and photography blog is https://deuxiemepeaupoetry.com/ where you can buy his poetry collections

His podcast website is https://eatthestorms.com/

His Instagram handles are @damiboy and @eatthestorms 

His Twitter handle is @deuxiemepeau

His Tiktok is @eatthestorms and his YouTube channel is https://www.youtube.com/user/deuxiemepeau

What are you working on?

I’ve just finished working on a conversational poetry pamphlet, a poetic duet with fellow Irish poet Eilín de Paor. The collection is called In the Jitterfritz of Neon and will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press later this year. We wrote this collection during Covid, 20 poems sparked by memories of nights out, recalled at a time when we were asked to stay in. I'm very proud of this collection, which we emailed back and forth to each other and expanded on over zoom meetings, each session igniting something in the other person so it became a game of creative tag. Right now, I am working with a mentor, Anna Saunders, acclaimed poet and Director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival, to finalize my first full poetry collection called Enough, inspired by my years living in Paris. The collection is supported by The Arts Council Ireland. The collection is divided into 6 parts as I look upon the city of Paris as if we were in a relationship, exploring all the glitter and the guilt that slipped in, later. At the end of the year I will focus on a collection based on my experience of returning to live in Ireland after 23 years abroad, triggered by thoughts of other countries, other cities, other streets I found rooms in while trying to retrace my former footprints here, in my home country where I still feel like a foreigner. The collection will be loosely titled Back from Away and will be supported by the Fingal Arts.