Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
Yes, it has. I used to like writing about emotions—or perhaps I thought that poetry was about—or should be about. But as time went on, I realized that this did not satisfy me and that my poems needed to be grounded in time and place—but particularly place. I think setting is important. Of the poem—and of the poet while she is writing.
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
The most difficult thing about writing poetry is… not writing poetry—the dry spells when nothing is happening. They can be depressing. This is when some poets turn to writing prompts, but I don’t seem to be able to write from prompts. I did do a lot of that in college when I studied with Kenneth Koch and David Shapiro, and of course I’ve used prompts in my own teaching, so I see their value. I just can’t do them myself at this point, the way I’ve never been able to do “role play” at a job interview. It feels artificial. So, I just have to suffer through the arid periods. It is often reading that eventually gets back to writing.
Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
I have always been an image driven poet, so I had little capacity and interest in developing the musical side of poetry in terms of rhythm, rhyme, meter. I also was a poet of the page; in other words, I felt poetry was something you wrote that someone read silently to themselves on the page. Now, I think more ‘three-dimensionally’ about poetry – it’s still all about words – but ‘words’ spoken, performed, read, sung, translated. This wider understanding of the ‘word’ has expanded my view of poetry since I began writing it.
Has your consideration of poetry changed since you began?
I came to poetry from outside the genre, knowing (truly) nothing about it. I wrote into the walls of my heart, into the noise I was holding. I wrote to pause with how I feel, and to describe and maybe let it go. My early poems were narrative. Now that poetry is less new to me, but no less magical, I strive for that and the integration of greater details, musicality, questions and confusion. My goal is to chase outer attention, risk, losses, our place in the ecosphere. I need to be in it, shattered by it, even.
What do you feel poetry can accomplish that other forms can’t?
Poetry is the abstract art of writing. There’s really no limit on what it can or can’t accomplish. It depends on what the poet would like to express. Poetry is all about finding new ways of expression. The limit does not exist, in short. I really love the work that’s being done in the dark poetry genre right now. Lots of interesting risks are being taken and turning out in surprising ways.
What other poetry books have you been reading lately?
I’ve been reading a great number of poetry books lately, but one that has intrigued me a lot is Christian Wiman’s book Stolen Air, his translations of poems by Osip Mandelstam.
What do you find most difficult about writing poetry?
Right now, it’s time and enough quiet mental space to feel creative. I have kids, who are both learning at home during the pandemic, and a job I also do from home. I’m most creatively productive when I’m feeling rested and calm. This hasn’t happened in months. But in more “normal” circumstances, the most difficult part of writing poetry for me is trying to avoid treading the same path repeatedly in what I write. I seem to address the same topics or ideas, even when I don’t intend to, or use the same language or similar metaphors in different poems. So, finding ways to recognize and avoid falling into these poetic ruts can be a challenge.
