of the day. So I try to spend my off-hours during the week reading
and then carve out time for writing (or at least trying to) on the
weekends. I am one of those types who can’t stand a soulless draft,
so if the magic isn’t there when I’m trying to write, I shelve it and
come back to it when I have something worth saying.
Do you have a publication philosophy? How important is it to publish,
to read and share your work?
I think a poem is meant to be shared and to engage an audience. So
if you are doing the work, share the work. You never know who you’re
going to reach, and it could be a necessary, life-giving exchange
(that’s been true for me – poems have given me a language for many of
my experiences).
To tackle that question from a pragmatic angle, if you’re trying to
make a career of poetry, of course publishing is important. But that
doesn’t mean it’s everything. I’d even argue it’s better to carefully
place your poems with journals that align with your values than to
just get a poem placed wherever.
Beyond your poetry as a body, you’ve done a lot of work examining
poets and their pets. What have you learned through that process?
Namely that creating poems is emotional labor and many poets have
found their pets take some of the edge off that process. It also seems
like a lot of poets are eager to talk about this relationship and to
honor it. I’m glad to give a small place for that to happen.
For our final question, what do you wish we had asked you?
I’m always happy to talk about my dogs. I wish you’d asked me why they
are so cute so I can say in earnest that it’s because they are made of
CLOUDS and DREAMS.
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