When did you start writing the poems in The Disinformation Phase?
These are poems from the last five years.
What themes do you address in your writing?
My poems are concerned with the joy and sorrow of being human in the wonder and majesty of this life. My poems are searching and they don't even know what they're searching for. They're really funny and really sad, usually at exactly the same time, which is against the laws of physics. They're this way over and over again—as a consequence, the laws of physics lie in ruins at their feet. So they give us a hint that—yes! —we can travel faster than light. Their metaphors are mixed up. They're drunk on pop culture. They're little forts adrift on the breeze and they sing their song all night long.
Do you treat religion and scifi themes equally?
My poems are walking contradictions. They're a Bible you can read in hell, they're a comic book you can study in heaven. A religious icon is my wingman when I'm rolling into a bar and the Nightlife is there, right in the corner—I would give up all I have for five minutes of conversation. The flying saucers are here—they're in the sky. My poems walk out to the front yard and flash a mirror, "I'm here, don't be afraid, we can be friends."
How long does it take to come up with the "word-inside-of-the-word" lines, like "Why is justice just ice?" and "Why is just one year / in yearning?"
Those constructions just come to me quickly. I don't reflect on them. Words are like air to me.
What is the cover image?
The cover is an old school collage. I have piles of old books that I find the images in—then I cut the images out with an x-acto knife and glue the images together. The collage is assembled entirely by hand. The collage is a poem. My poems are collages. In my art, I try to make Mystery palpable—a breathing presence.
Rupert Wondolowski called you “the Emily Dickinson of Mars.” What does that mean to you?
Emily Dickinson is one of my favorite poets. Her poems are so beautiful, and she was completely unknown in her lifetime. I hope my poems approach the tragedy found in her poems. But these days are not her days. We live in the galaxy now.
No comments:
Post a Comment