About “Three Years Gone,” “My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…”, & “Three Wishes”

1. What was your motivation for writing “Three Years Gone,” “My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…”, & “Three Wishes”?

Three Years Gone was written to commemorate the anniversary of the death of a dear friend, one whose absence is palpable, and whose presence is felt in my home and in much of what I do. My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…came from the fact that my mother had a huge crack across her tongue (I attribute to a lifetime of tasting hot food as she cooked – especially her weekly pot of tomato sauce). The piece started with that seed and became a surrealistic homage to her secretive nature, flavored by how her being a divorcée in the 50s made her the subject of gossip. Three Wishes is an expression of my fatigue, frustration, and impotence that arises from the ineptitude and inaction that bombard the world.

2. What challenges—if any—did you have writing your poems?

Every time I confront the blank page is a challenge: firstly, not to have expectations, and to (hopefully) get out of my own way so the poem can let me know where it needs to go. Secondly, I’d like to write beyond what comes easily, which is not to say I try to make it more difficult than it needs to be, but rather, push the writing past what is comfortable. If it’s making me sweat, I may have hit upon something.

3. What is your favourite line—if any—in “Three Years Gone”?

this is what we are / good at: moving westward toward the sunset, 

4. What is your favourite line—if any—in “My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…”?

the eyes of women / who talked about her behind their hands.

5. What is your favourite line—if any—in “Three Wishes”?

a down duvet / softer than Congress’ reaction to Tyranny

6. What do you want people to walk away with after reading “Three Years Gone,” “My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…” & “Three Wishes”?

Ideally, what I want when I read a poem is one of two things: to have the speaker express a common experience told in a unique way, or a singular occurrence told in a way that makes it completely accessible to the reader. If a reader was left with either of those experiences from any of these pieces, well, that would be wonderful.

7. Is there anything else you would like to talk about regarding “Three Years Gone,” “My Mother Had the San Andreas Fault…” & “Three Wishes” that hasn’t been asked?

It hasn’t escaped my notice that I have three poems included in this collection, two of which have titles that begin Three. Is there any significance? I can’t imagine any, but it hasn’t escaped my notice….

Reading

1. What are you currently reading?

Matthew Specktor’s memoir, The Golden Hour: A Story of Family and Power in Hollywood, Ann Patchett’s novel, Tom Lake, and Nightfall Marginalia / Poems by Sarah Maclay.

2. Do you have a favourite book? If so, what is it?

Impossible to choose only one, so I’ll say  I always have a copy of the collection, The Midnight Raymond Chandler, on my bedside table. Additionally, I can’t choose between All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and Colum McCann’s Let the Great World Spin. As a teenager, I was enchanted by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.

3. What is your favourite poet or author, if any?

Top three at the moment: author/poet Barbara Kingsolver, author Ann Patchett, poet BH Fairchild.

4. Do you gravitate towards reading genres outside the ones you write?

I do. I love well-written sentences, whether they’re in novels, historical biographies, essays, songs, etc.

Writing

1. Why do you write?

I write for myriad reasons: sometimes it’s a self-examination, a way to grasp what my place in the world is at a given time, sometimes it’s an attempt to be in the moment and to fully appreciate it, sometimes I write to honor a person, an idea, an ideal, and on rare occasions I am fortunate enough that I am moved, compelled or driven by something that I must write.

2. What do you love about being a poet?

I absolutely adore being able to authorize a reality that may or may not exist, but feels True. Being able to distill an expression of ideas and actions into their most potent form is real delight.

3. What time of the day do you write, and do you have a writing routine?

I’m especially fond of writing in the wee hours of the morning when most of the world around me is asleep. I don’t have a routine, though I go through periods when my writing time is structured. Those are my most productive periods. 

4. Where do you get your ideas from?

From the world around me, from the headlines, from my life, from your life, from nature, from the past, from dreams, from the gods, and from the what if store.

5. How long does it take you to write your projects?

I have poems I’ve been working on sporadically for years – I’ll go back to from time to time, but they’re not complete. Carolyn Kiser said she’d put an incomplete poem in a drawer for a few years before she was ready to go back to it. On the other hand, I have a few poems that spilled out onto the page almost whole– little gifts from the muse that took lots of living before they arrived on my doorstep. I like to write a draft in one sitting, but the revision process might take anywhere from a few days to a few years.

6. What advice would you give to other authors/writers/poets? 

Just write. Read. Listen. Pay attention to what’s around you, pay attention to what’s inside you.

7. What project(s) are you currently working on?

I have retinitus pigmentosa, which is a congenital degenerative disease affecting the retina. My current project is a full-length manuscript of poems touching upon the gradual deterioration of my eyesight—how it affects me, how I perceive what’s around me, and how I make my way in the world.