IHOP Interview

The Interview for IHOP
-re my poem Truest Sight

A.) INSPIRATION: What inspires you most in life? When and where do you find time to write?

Writing is something I find the time to do anywhere. I write in my head a lot and then scramble for paper to capture it. I keep saying I�m going to get a little voice recorder so I can break it down verbally. But as of yet, I haven�t. I have written poetry on post it notes, on the backs of newspapers, on my books I have laying in my car. One time I had this line going through my head and absolutely nothing to write on while driving some where I wrote it on my thigh. Sometimes when you are a writer at the very core of who and what you are, you just find a way to express regardless of the situation.

My biggest inspiration to write more than the dead end sentence has always been Paul Westerberg, the front man for the Replacements. He writes like no other human being. His lyrics are lines of laundry whipping in the wind. I am greatly inspired by my friends. I have been mostly inspired by my biggest poetic friend and ally, Dark Sage, also known as Dark Soul. He and I have been trading our poetry and inspiring each other for the last two years. My friendship with him has had a profound effect on my personal writing. When you write with the knowledge that someone you admire as a fellow poet will be seeing your words, you are pushed farther than you would be otherwise. When you have someone following your progress, it makes you strive to always go farther and farther.

What inspired you to do this piece?

Some poems that you write you have no real recollection some time later what exactly you were thinking about. Other times it�s a picture that you see in future days and you remember exactly where you were, how it formed itself and who and what it�s all about.

I went to the House of Blues. I was very upset because of a lot of events at the time. At the time KC and the Sunshine Band was playing and there was all this great artwork. I have a friend who is an artist. He and I have the strangest most prolific conversations. I was so sad, so bereft. The person I was with at the time, he kept disappearing and coming back handing me drinks to pacify me. I was just beginning to have the feelings of something impending coming on. I had to concentrate on a conversation that I had with my friend Greg just to keep my sanity that night. I still can�t hear a KC song without crying.

Greg and I still talk. We talked heavily for a 6 month period in my life. A very difficult 6 month period. Our conversations were intense. He and I still talk. At this point he�s in a band called �Music Hates You� and is playing in GA. When he calls me now, which is not often at all, not often enough, but now we barely have to speak to know how the other is. We just formed something that has no words. I�m not in love with him. I don�t want to sleep with him. He�s just someone that never made me sorry about any aspect of the relationship we have. It�s a surreal friendship. I wrote about a dozen poems during that time that are entirely different than most of my other stuff. I know it was because of him. I know he forever changed the course of how I write. He added color to a white canvas. He had influence.

Two days after you contacted me about this poem, he called me out of the blue to tell me he�s going to have his first art show in Atlanta. His name is Greg Carlson. Watch out for him.

B.) STYLE:
What is your writing style? Do you consider yourself a poet or not? Explain your answer.

I didn�t always consider myself to be a poet. That�s a title that sometimes seems so generic. With the onslaught of the Internet and the popularity of personal websites, poetry forums, and the like, the general public has jumped on the bandwagon of throwing a few words together and proclaiming themselves to be a poet. I didn�t want any part of that trend. If someone asked if I was a poet, I would simply say, no I am a writer. In recent years and with some minor successes with my poetic side, I have since changed my viewpoint. While there are self proclaimed poets that are just writing diary entries at best, I know and recognize that what I do is different than that. I am a poet at heart. I will always write.

3.) LIFE: What quote do you live by? Define the word LIFE in your own terms.

�There is no future in the past.� I have a lot of scars. I used to concentrate so hard on them that I couldn�t allow myself to enjoy life and all that it has to offer. The word LIFE means breathing, living, moving forward, finding your true self. I have to struggle to let go of my past, but when I have done it I know that my life is much happier and fuller. It comes in brief moments, that dreadful �remember when� emotion. It is then that I write it out and put it to rest. You have to look forward to tomorrow. Which leads me to my other quote,� It is always darkest just before dawn.� When the dark comes, I wait anxiously for that beautiful dawn that is coming soon.

4.) ADDITIONALS: Do you have any additional insights about anything else? Comments, perhaps?

One of my best pieces of advice I got was �get a diary�. Write your diary entries there. Write poetical everywhere else. The greatest thing that we can do as a writer is read. Read other people�s things. Read other amazing writers. Pay attention to what you like about them and what you don�t like about them. Let the amazing writers seep their brilliance into your veins. Keep an open mind and don�t get stuck in any comfortable place as a writer. There is always a greater tomorrow to write your life towards. There is always someone that will write better than you, but there will never be a voice like yours. Write with your own voice, it will always be unique and beautiful. Be true to yourself and your words will line themselves up into a name all your own.