How important is music to your poetry?
Probably more important than I realize. Like I said, it was how I discovered poetry and creative expression. I might even be a music fan more than a poetry fan. At least sometimes it feels that way. Almost every time I write there’s music playing, all kinds of different music, and I think that at the very least there’s some influence there in the rhythm, diction, imagery, and feeling at the centre of a poem.
It’s also a big part of how I read and perform poetry. Live music can be soft, loud, energetic, atmospheric—why can’t a poetry reading be like that? I try to treat poems like songs and use my voice and body to perform them (at least the best I can). It feels better to do it that way.
When a person is reading alone they can let the book grow in their imagination because they take their time with it and pay attention. Live readings aren’t really like that, so music helps me think of different ways to engage an audience. Maybe it’s a failure but I’m going to keep doing that.
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