john compton : part five

How does a poem begin?

mostly spontaneously. i used to sit and try to write in the beginning of my poetic life and usually i would wait long enough i'd get upset and write some drivel. just to say i wrote a poem. 

now i just let it come to me. a word, a sound, an image or line. it bursts into my head and i begin to write. i let it overcome me. with doing this i don't just sit waiting. with the time i do sit, it is for rereading poems and editing. 

letting the poem come makes it more organic. less puppeteering. 

john compton : part four

What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?

the editing. i worry i will end up destroying the poem. the poem needs refining but also i usually love everything about it. 

i am the poet who edits each line as each line is written, as the poem comes. the edits after several days are the ones that tinker my brain.

small edits are different. using the word "the" too much and thus having to remove it is easy. but a line that really brings a powerful punch and having to remove it because it is something that doesn't quite fit, that is much harder. the lines i love but are not relevant to the poem. i always try to tell myself how can i work it in even though i know there is no hope. but i worry the line may never see the light of day otherwise.

john compton : part three

Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?

yes. my poetry has grown and the knowledge of what i understand with poetry has grown. when i first began writing poetry i knew very little of what i was doing or what poetry was. i enjoyed the words. now that i have been writing poetry for over 20 years i not only enjoy the words, but the look of the words, the sounds, the definition. i enjoy creating an expense ecosystem with few lines. i enjoy the manipulate of creating. the abstract and metaphor.

john compton : part two

How do you know when a poem is finished?

when the poem tells me it no longer wants more length. when that last line bursts and to add anymore would be to ruin the whole poem. there is no definitive answer for me to this question. sometimes i am afraid if i move forward the poem will no longer be what it set out to intend. after i take a few breathes, i begin editing.

john compton : part one

john compton is a gay poet who lives in kentucky with his husband and dogs and cats. his 3d full length book is the castration of a minor god [ghost city press; dec 2022]

What are you working on?

i am currently working on my fourth full length collection "the calling hour & an exposition of the dead." it is a collection of poems about the dying, dead and death — in various forms and stages. it is finished as a collection, now i am in the editing process. 

i am also working on promoting my third full length book the castration of a minor god [ghost city press: dec 2022]. it is the first book that i will be able to hype up with poetry readings, send to reviews and awards and be that real type of poet!