My Poetry and Me (feelin' like an interview)

the jenneddin interview

At what age did you first start writing poetry?
—:—:—I wrote my first traces of poetry in fourth grade, when I was nine. It started out as bits of rhyming couplets and slowly grew to much longer and more elaborate pieces. The earliest poems I remember writing were about innocent little things I thought were beautiful like: why the sun shines, what the best candy is, and wondering if I could fly if I wiggled my ears fast enough. Later in March of my fourth grade year when I was ten I received my first excellence in poetry award and my poem, “Under My Bed” was included in a collection of poems written by local, elementary-age writers and I was asked to read it aloud at a convention. I was so excited and since I had never done anything like that on stage before (except for school plays, concerts, and Odyssey of the Mind) so I asked the coordinators if I was allowed to use props and they said, “Why not?” Hearing the great news I had my mom help me construct a short, rectangular cardboard box into a fluffy, little bed that I could wear as a hat. And because I was the only child to ever incorporate a prop into his reading, they featured me in the pamphlets and made me go last(instead of when the rest of the kids from my school went) so it made the occasion that much more special.

Which poets influenced you and why?
—:—:—When I was younger I regrettably didn’t pay much attention to who the authors of what I was reading were but the most influential one I remember from my younger days is definitely Shel Silverstein. “Where The Sidewalk Ends” still is one of my favorite books to get feel-good inspiration from. Nowadays however I’m more into reading the writings of poetry greats: Robert Service, Edgar Allen Poe, and Emily Dickinson whose poems often cause a gag reflex (a good one though) of ideas to pour out of me and I have to start writing instantaneously just because of how quickly they’re coming and I fear that I might lose a few if I don’t imprison them on paper fast enough. And even though Emily is undoubtedly great there’s really nothing quite like reading the poetry of a friend of your’s or just someone you admire as a person because being able to hear an author’s take on his/her own writing is indeed a blessing that allpoetry has taught me never to take for granted. So both my real-life and online-life friends are a huge source of inspirational influence to me and you couldn’t pay me enough to ever give them up.

What draws you to express yourself through poetry?
—:—:—I’m always seeking to have great conversations with people I know about things no two other people have ever had a conversation about and no matter how many of them I actually get to have… I’m always, always, always hungry for more. I view my poetry as a sort of way to communicate with myself in a similar way. The great thing about poetry in comparison to the discussions I crave so badly is that the poetry becomes permanent when it’s created and if I play my cards right, they can live on longer than I ever could have intended for them to. But also I like to write poems and stories because I sometimes need to challenge myself and prove to myself that I can still be creative no matter how old I get (I have a mild Gerascophobia). And to anyone who has ever written poetry for others to see knows how good it feels to receive a compliment of how much your writing meant to, made sense to, or just completely amazed them. So if you’ve ever felt that at least once it really is no surprise why you’d want to continue to write new things just to try and outdo yourself, or to out-impress one of your favorite readers.

What type of poetry do you write?
—:—:—I write all types of poetry. Most of it is extremely fictional because I’ve come to realize that an exaggerated, made-up story is that much easier to make interesting and end up keeping the attention of today’s wishy-washy, wayward readers. I’ve found different ways of incorporating my true feelings into strange or fantastical situations by using metaphors to either insult a person who’s been bothering me by creating a villain or to transfer some of my angst into a struggling superhero or martyr depending on my mood. I’ve written in many different experimental styles and forms to try and further my poetic abilities and I’ve written both really short poems (like one-liners), and super long poems (which are mostly free verse). I have collections of poetry that are: anger inspired, dark and horrific, about love and friendship, guesses about death, and of course a whole mess of self-pity and self-explaining bits of poetry that I’ve plucked out of my old middle school “diary/journal” that I used to write in.

What are the most exciting elements of poetry to you?
—:—:—I’m very, very fond of poetry that rhymes and seems to carry with it a melody of its own because it’s one thing to go on and on prose-like and drop random thoughts onto a blank page and take them as they are… but it definitely takes a certain amount of talent to match words together in limited stanzas to ensure the absolute best choice for creative and coherent hidden messages. I believe that whatever the topic, all poetry should achieve the “3 C’s”. First it should "captivate" the reader to want to read more, then "carry" the reader with as much flow as possible, and finally it should "completely amaze" the reader with an ending that will leave him breathless. An outstanding ending is what a poet should make certain they have before hanging a poem out to dry. But, if I had to pin-point one single, specific element of poetry that I find most exciting to come across, it would absolutely HAVE to be the same thing I look forward to in the movies I watch….. and that’s “shock”. If nothing else in the world of things poems can do, if they shock me or cause me to perform a double take of some sort where I’m left dumbfounded, then it will become a poem I will forever love and forever remember.

Do you think of your Muse in personal terms? Are there times when the Muse is most prone to visit?
—:—:—I think my muses are similar to most author’s. Whenever I’m feeling an extreme emotion and it hurts to keep it locked away or becomes impossible to swallow with the rest of my “instinctive retorts”, I just write, write, write, write, write. I wouldn’t say that I write what I dream because I only very rarely remember what the specifics of what I was dreaming about were. But I would say that I love to look at paintings, drawings, and photographs and to try and imagine story-lines for either what caused the painter to paint it or if it’s a painting of a person or people I like to extend long backgrounds for what makes each one feel and look the way they do in that particular moment. So I guess you could say I mooch off of other people’s muses until I’ve connected and compiled enough different ideas together until it has become something totally original. But I think I’ll have to wait up on naming a “muse of my own” until the biggest IF of all happens or not. I want my soul mate to be my muse and since I haven’t found her…. It’s a little hard to sacrifice that position away so thoughtlessly.

I'd like to hear about one or some catalyst experiences you've had.
—:—:— allpoetry.com/Column/1283682

What are some of the surprising comments you've received?
—:—:—I’m always thrilled and surprised to get any comments at all but the ones that caught me most off guard were the ones I received on my poem titled, “Dilapidation”. It’s only twelve short lines long and is all confusing to read because the words have been switched around. But I first got a comment saying, “Woa! This is undoubtedly one of, if not the, best poem(s) I've seen on this site.” and then another saying, “one of the best works on this site.”... and then, ”really caught my attention, you're very talented”. I wasn’t even expecting any reviews at all for it since it was written with such simple words and only took about a few minutes to come up with. But it was indeed a wonderful surprise to see that people enjoyed something I thought I knew they all would definitely hate.

What is your step by step for composing a poem?
—:—:—I don’t really follow a strict process for most of the poetry I write. I know that I probably should, but I guess I feel that it’s best to first see how it comes out and then to figure out what should be done with it after it has emptied onto the page or into the computer. For the most part I just play around with the words, the order of the stanzas and the length until I feel it’s as good as I can possibly make it. Then I listen to the critiques I get and obsess over why it’s something I didn’t pick up on myself earlier.

What is poetry NOT to you?
—:—:—To me, poetry is NOT something you can tell another person the do’s and don’ts of. Poetry is something you feel in your bones and do because it’s what you want to do. I was a terror in high school because I despised being instructed to conform to a certain repetition of bland paragraph clumping. In all honesty, it was murdering my poetic soul and I wanted so badly to hurt all the people who pretended that inspiration came from being told what to be excited about, how to express yourself, and how long you have until it’s late and will receive points off. And it didn’t help me grow fonder of my teachers when they would keep, steal, or “lose” sole copies of the poetry I would turn in as homeworks either(which just so happens to have happened with my artwork too: a sculpture, a few paintings and about a dozen drawings that went to an art show but "mysteriously disappeared"). Poetry is not something one can be a master at when you’ve always followed exactly what you were told… you need to be a little bit of a rebel and be open enough with yourself to not fear or regret anything that you feel or have hiding inside of you. Poetry is not what should be expected of, it's something you must trust in and allow to lead you on a journey of discovery into the endless possibilities of words and ideas and have no scale of best and worst… but different levels of “why?”, “where?”, “how?”, and(my personal favorite) “what if”.

Please take a few lines from the best poem you’ve written (so far) and tell a little about it.
—:—:—{these are excerpts from, “Sapphire Soul”)

“I wish you could see
The things that I've come to know,
The hypocrisy of the blue jay
Painted to look like the crow."

“Drowning in darkness,
Your innocence stolen,
Dreariness endures in the sea
That you're drenching your soul in.”

—:—:—About seven months ago I decided to write a letter to myself to try and get to the bottom of my most elusive inhibitions and to finally confront them once and for all. I think the poem was a complete success and is a symbol for my coming to an unspoken appreciation for accepting myself the way I am; wishes, fears, lies, insecurities and all.This interview was an entry in the contest... allpoetry.com/Contest/638542