How did you first engage with poetry?
I assume we’re talking about writing poetry. I had been writing novels and short stories until my husband’s unexpected death in 2018,. After that, I began a serious practice of meditation that led me to poetry, or that’s how it feels. The first poems I wrote arose from meditations and so-called automatic writing, and some of those appear (refined a good deal from their original) appear in my collection, She Has Visions. There is something about grief that demands poetry: I think that’s why elegies are one of the oldest forms. Also, there’s a welcoming community in poetry that I really enjoy — I’ve made several great friends in the world of poetry. .
But as a reader, I came to poetry as a “child actress” who memorized many Shakespearean sonnets and was, yes, Puck in Midsummer’s Nights Dream. So I grew up with the rhythm of poetry in my head. I think memorizing poetry gives us a more visceral connection with it. I still enjoy reciting poems aloud when no one’s around, it’s a secret comfort.
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