How does a poem begin?
Sometimes it is a thought, an opening line, or a hook that can be employed in the poem. One begins tentatively, but soon, a certain force overtakes one, and the poem takes a form of its own, many times far away from the original idea.
How does a poem begin?
With a word or phrase that sticks in my brain for days. I know I need to get it out, and often it’s as the opening line of a poem — then I let the poem grow from there ☺.
When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?
Recently, we felt out of hope at our house and pulled out a couple of Mary Oliver books to soak in her nature poems. She’s not a poet I read very much, but we definitely needed her poems then. One of my favorite poems is from Dorianne Laux’s Facts About the Moon. I love the simplicity and grace of the language as well as the varied sentence length. I’m drawn to it because I see myself in every line, especially “I never wondered. I read.”
Moon in the Window
I wish I could say I was the kind of child
who watched the moon from her window,
would turn to it and wonder.
I never wondered. I read. Dark signs
that crawled toward the edge of the page.
It took me years to grow a heart
from paper and glue. All I had
was a flashlight, bright as the moon,
a white hole blazing beneath the sheets.
Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
Yes. Less people should consider themselves poets. It's a slush avalanche of meaninglessness. Poetry is a trifle; it's "poets" that feel they must be important. It's self-serving and egocentric. Poetry is something you read when you sit on the toilet. Leave importance to shaman, and their little adjuncts, doctors. I remember in my youth submitting by post and waiting three months or more for any response. Spoiled kids, these days. And really, who gives a damn? In the long run, it just doesn't pay. Unless you're Shel Silver-stein.
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
In a forty-year writing career, I have written in various genres: journalistic pieces, interviews, reviews, etc., but inditing comes the most naturally to me. I can work on a poem for twelve hours and more without it exhausting myself. No other kind of writing does that to me.
What poets changed the way you thought about writing?
Many poets have influenced me a lot over the years. Some particularly influential poets for me have been Olivia Gatwood, Melissa Lozada-Oliva, Rebecca Salazar, Conyer Clayton, John Elizabeth Stinzi, Adele Barclay, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Kyla Jamieson, Ashley-Elizabeth Best, and Theresa Estacion. Some of the most important things I have learned from these poets (a non-extensive list) have been that women’s stories are worth telling; painful experiences are worth exploring with kindness and a gentle touch; it’s okay (in fact often encouraged!) to sit in the places that make you feel weird/uncomfortable/gross because you might find the best things in those places; poetry has incredible political and social power; and that poetry does not to be left-centred — you’re free to move over the page in whatever ways feel right.
Why is poetry important?
It’s important to me personally because it’s the only place I am completely honest about who I am and what I’ve experienced—I have a contract with the poem to be forthright and unapologetic. In a larger sense, a poem links poet and reader; the writing and reading both lead to connections that resonate in a way that feels unexpected yet universal. With details (whether real or imagined), a poem can convey the intricacies of current events or personal histories—and a good poem will keep the reader from shutting down or rejecting the truth. Poetry invites us to challenge convention by raising questions no one’s thought to ask and by reveling in new forms, unusual sounds and syntax, and various visual formats. No matter where a poem lands on the narrative-lyric continuum, its storytelling, word play, and emotion link us to previous generations, to our humanity.
