for Robert Creeley
I have yet
a name for this
sadness. Step off
the 111 bus
onto the overlow
road. Of all things
in my little world.
The shadows
that glide
the Atlantic, far
outside the
choices
I have made. Have made me
a fixed point, my face attached
to the phone. I don’t care
I say to no one. Every
8:00 AM. In a minute
I’ll forget more ocean
than what these sea-
gulls will ever see. And
there is power
in this. Hunch
the morning
into a black box, walk
across the empty
lot into the near-vacant
school. Not sadness
I say to no one.
Defiance.
Questions and Answers
“
Is there a specific moment that inspired you to pursue poetry?
Growing up, there was a lot of poetry in the house; I can still recited some of Ogden Nash’s pieces. However, one moment in particular was when my mother read “Horatio At The Bridge” by Thomas Babington Macaulay. It must have been when I was about six or seven, and at that moment I understood how the poetic word could entrance and hold a person.
How/Where do you find inspiration today?
Inspiration comes to me either through mini-revelations in my day to day life – via my senses or snatches of memory – or through the more arduous task of sitting for hours and trying to lure it out. For a long time now I have been thinking in terms of manuscripts; this adds a layer as to how my inspirations are interpreted and used.
What inspired or motivated you to write this poem?
The poem “I Know a Man” by Robert Creeley caught my attention. While reading an anthology of his collected poems, I researched the Black Mountain Poets and decided to incorporate their principles into a poem of my own.
What poetic techniques did you use in this poem? How much attention did you pay to metre and rhyme?
I incorporated the principle of projected verse, a convention utilized by the Black Mountain Poets. This principle calls for every line to be a “unit of breath”, and where one “perception” should immediately follow into another “perception”. I, of course, modified this form to suit my personal vision for the piece.”