How does a poem begin?
A subtle prodding by the invisible world, in the form of feeling drawn by, noticing, paying attention to something; an angel's quiet whisper.....essentially, by a state of receptivity to the muses. In homeric times it was acknowledged that true poetry comes through the writer from beyond. One must have utmost reverence for this mystery, and above all a great deal of love, in order to be open enough to receive it.
Why is poetry important?
For the same reason that beauty is. Because it will save the world - I do not think Dostoevsky was wrong. Someone said "beauty is the world seen through the eyes of love"- Roethke said it something like this: Art is what undoes the damage of haste. E.B. Browning called it "the life within life".
How important is music to your poetry?
Poets once were bards - there must always be music in poetry. To me, it is requisite that a poem reads with musicality. My first love was music and song, and I am extremely drawn by the heart and depth that lives in ballads and folk music in particular. In all genres of music, the best examples are doors to an experience of the world that is immersive on all levels of being. Music is empathy, which poetry is as well - they are two streams which pour into the ocean from the same mouth.
When you require renewal, is there a particular poem or book that you return to? A particular author?
Wallace Stevens "The Idea of Order at Key West" never fails me. Oh blessed rage for order, pale Ramon!
Tennessee Williams, Annie Dillard, Wendell Berry, Rainer Maria Rilke, Clarisse Lispector, Rabindranath Tagore, Dylan Thomas, Hermann Hesse, R.W. Emerson, Owen Barfield, T.S. Eliot....any of the above do the trick - these are just the ones that come to mind immediately...of course there are more.
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What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
Having enough hours in the day to take note of all the words, lines, that want to come through; the time it takes to transcribe from pencil and paper onto the computer, given I never learned how to type; keeping adequately organized with a zillion Word files.
