An Interview with Hosho McCreesh

Welcome everyone to an interview with Hosho McCreesh. I asked if he would be so kind as to let me interview him about his chapbook 37 Psalms From The Badlands published by Kendra Steiner Editions and he happily obliged:

What was your first introduction to poetry that you can remember?

It would have to be 2 things: Music in general, but Bob Dylan’s music specifically & the readings of Yeats my father recorded on his own albums. That’s where words first had real power for me. I also loved the tune the Tennessee Stud. I remember wanting to know what things I heard meant…I’d hear an interesting word that I didn’t know & wanted to understand it. Having moved on to rock, I remember calling a radio station when I was about 8 or 9 years old, requesting “Dirty Dees And The Dunder Chee”—I didn’t know what “Dees” were, nor what a “dunder chee” was, but I was pretty sure that’s what AC/DC was singing about & I loved that song! My father spent many years on the road making music—& he does Yeats readings superbly—a tremendous voice for it. The Fiddler of Dooney, The Lake Isle of Innsfree, The Hosts of the Air…they were just magic for me, still are, actually.

Which poet (living or dead) would you willingly buy dinner for to learn more about him/her?

Lots, I can’t decide which—from Li Po, and Issa, to Whitman and Bukowski. But it would have to be outside the realm of a “meeting an idol” kind of situation—with all that stupid, uncomfortable energy, & the dull questions I’d surely want answered. Better if we were bumped off the same plane or something & the airline gave us meal vouchers. I once had a terrific dinner with a beautiful older woman just this way. She said I could run away to Peru with her, that she’d give me her $400 voucher towards the price of the ticket. I was on my way to visit family, otherwise I might’ve gone…it would’ve been quite an adventure! But those poets are, most obviously to me, so much more than just the sum of their work. The spirit of each of them lives & breathes in their lines even still…it’s really easy to see compassionate, bright, wise, & funny people beyond the work. Of course, there’s a handful of folks writing now that I hope to someday meet as well.

When did you start writing and when was your first poem published?

I always remember writing, & I even think a wonderful teacher, Kay Goodman, helped me place something in newspapers when I was in 7th or 8th grade. I remember writing Shakespearean sonnets to girls in high school. I’d say it was college where I started writing seriously. It wasn’t until after college that I really discovered the small press, but I’d been writing poems & stories for a while by then. I can’t be sure where my first poem was published—it might’ve been The American Dissident; editor G. Tod Slone published quite a few early pieces and was a kind, early supporter of my work.

What does your family think about you being a poet and about poetry in general?

My family is terrific. They buy my books, they sell my books to co-workers, they try to talk people at supermarkets & drive-thrus into buying my books—they are really out there pushing for me…which is just terrific, because I hate that stuff. It embarrasses me, but I owe it to the publishers that gamble on my work to get out there & hustle my mystical snake-oils! When I didn’t have a reliable computer, my aunt & uncle let me store all my work on their machine, let me monopolize it when putting together submissions until all hours of the night—heck, they even let me steal their stamps! It’s terrific to have such love & support from them.

For your book, 37 Psalms From The Badlands how did you come up with this collection of poems and the title?

Bill Shute of the terrific & varied KENDRA STEINER EDITIONS wrote me & asked if I’d be interested in writing something for his NEXT EXIT series—which, for readers unfamiliar with it, is a somewhat anonymous mix of two poets with different but hopefully complimentary styles, with poems titled only by CITY, and STATE, no direct indications who wrote what. I was honored & told him yes, definitely—as I’d recently seen the terrific books Bill had put out by both Christopher Cunningham & Luis Berriozabal. I remember this being around mid-December & I knew I had some days off from work coming up which would afford me some time to just sit & write. Bill gave me 2 months to write them, &, much to my surprise, I wrote the 6 poems he requested in about a week. I shipped them off, & Bill was really pleased, so he asked if I’d like to try to putting together a full suite of poems—& we were rolling. I’ve long believed that giving New Mexico the Japanese “breath poem” treatment was something that just made sense & so, after years of wondering how, the PERFECT opportunity really just arrived at the right time. I’d been reading lots of haiku, had been obsessed with Mike Kreisel’s sublime FEEDING MY HEART TO THE WIND from Sunnyoutside, & I’d BEEN experimenting—specifically using torn scraps of paper as my page size, telling myself I had to write a whole poem on 1 sheet…then, telling myself I had to get 2 poems on 1 sheet. Anyhow, I felt like I was finally at the point where, as a writer, I could try something larger working in really short form. So that was the origin. As for the title, I wrestled for days with it. I was careful not to call these haiku—as haiku is far more controlled, & the rules more regimented. A few, loose-knit forms began to appear as I wrote & instead of trying to wrench them all into a certain form or look on the page, I just let them each be what they were. They weren’t SONGS, they weren’t ODES, or BALLADS, there just wasn’t a word for what they were that I liked, & I tried a lot of different titles. I then started goofing with some more biblical terminology like “scripture” & “verses” & stumbled on to PSALMS & it finally felt right. I wrote 37 PSALMS, & they fit perfectly on the 6 pages I sent Bill Shute—it was a lucky coincidence that 37 is probably my favorite number. As for the BADLANDS, well, sometimes I call New Mexico the BADLANDS—so once I settled on Psalms, the rest just fell into place.


Obviously your life in New Mexico has influenced these poems. Where in New Mexico do you live and how many years have you been living there?

Actually I’m born & raised. I’ve lived my entire life here—except when I’ve been traveling. All told, I’ve spent about 1 year overseas—meaning the other 34 years I’ve happily lived in New Mexico. It will always be home. I’ve lived all over the state. In fact, the whole design of NEXT EXIT 8 is what I’d call a kind of autobiography by city…using invented narrators, & metaphorical situations that echo my life in each place. PSALMS is written specifically for New Mexicans, full of things they will easily recognize. I’m surprised it’s sold as well as it had beyond the American southwest—surprised & flattered.


What about the landscape of New Mexico inspires you? I lived in El Paso for five years and loved the mountains and deserts of New Mexico myself. Do you draw your creative energy from the scenery there?

I surely do. I just love it here. It’s a really beautiful place, though one that can be hard to recognize or know. As a landscape, as scenery—the clash of earth & sky is amazing. But more so than that, there’s a palpable kind of danger here, a kind of desperation. Many places don’t have cell phone reception; many roads are long & lonely. If you break down out here, depending on where you are, it could be a while before someone finds you. It’s also an interesting place culturally—a combination of centuries old Spanish & Mexican influences, the native Indian tribes, immigration up from South & Central America & through to the last vestiges of the American Old West. There are trees rumored to be older than Jesus, & churches older than America—all still standing. I think that is just mind-bending.


May I post poem #21 (my personal favorite) and how were you inspired to write this poem?

Thank you for the kind words. That one has won over a few folks, actually. Watching & helping my Mom & my aunts peel chile was the sole inspiration for it. It’s something distinctly New Mexico—the smell of the fire-roasted chile every year—it’s glorious. But the chile does get into your hands where it will subtly burn for days, in particular when the sun shines on your hands…sort like pepper mace burning days after the fact. The visions of my family, hunched over the sink, peeling & sacking chile…I don’t know…it’s just powerful for me. The kitchen is the heart of the house, family get-togethers year round—food, fun, drinks, playing cards or games…like many of the PSALMS, it’s just a kind of snapshot I needed to write down.


#21
The women’s hands;
watching them peel chile,
the way it still burned days later
in the sunlight—

still burns
years later
in your mind.


What is your favorite poem and may I post it?

That’s a tough question, to single them out, because, for me, it’s the accumulation of images, feelings, vivid sights, sounds, & smells—that’s where the greater picture starts coming into focus. But I suppose, if I had to pick (out of these first 37) I’d say either Cabezon or the descansos…those two stand both individually, as well as work effortlessly in the larger framework—not to mention capture what most of the entire collection is hoping at capture. Cabezon is an old volcano cone about 60 miles west of Albuquerque & a descanso is the Spanish word for the little crosses you see along side the road—to mark the place where a soul left the earth. I’ve long been enamored with both. I hope to use this collection as the cornerstone to a much larger piece—one I plan to work on for the entirety of 2008. There are a lot of PSALMS I’ve written since that also feel as complete as the two I mentioned.

#4
Cabezon
& crows picking
At roadkill—

beautiful, all that
remains.


#17
Three descansos,
a tangle of milkweed,
& fifty miles of empty blacktop—

behold, a sacred place.


What is your favorite sound?
Two jump immediately to mind: 1) wind through trees & leaves 2) the sound of a family get-together through an open window.

What is your least favorite sound?

Anything loud, mechanical, grinding, the hum of electricity in wires, cell phones.

What do you think of the Guerrilla Poetics Project?

I dig the GPP. I think it’s a really inventive way to extend the reach of the small press. Even your friendliest neighborhood bookstore simply can’t gamble on copies of every chapbook or small press rag out there—so, instead of trying to pick & choose, they just refuse to stock them. But a fine, letterpressed broadside, given freely to unsuspecting readers—that’s a fine way to grab their attention. $25 for 24 broadsides is a damn good deal, any way you slice it. Logistically, I also really dig the notion that, together, we can accomplish things that, alone, we could never do. I mean, for example: to have a fine little poem by Kathleen Paul-Flanagan found in Ask The Dust by John Fante in Göteborg Sweden…c’mon, how cool is that? I often marvel thinking about the different figurative & literal fingerprints on each broadside—poet to designer to printer to operative to unsuspecting findee, the miles some broadsides travel to end up in the people’s hands—it’s a really cool artistic lineage, the completing of a circle…a metaphor for human interconnectedness. & with every member now able to both submit poems & help decide which poems are printed, it’s about as democratic as a publishing project can be! But, even aside from all of that, the broadsides are just terrific little pieces of art. I like to imagine a long white hall lined with them, one after the other, in nice little matching frames!


What other hobbies/work do you do outside of poetry?

I paint—watercolors & oils, I’m trying to learn how to letterpress, I’m learning how to make paper. I’d love to learn how to sculpt, work with ceramics, photography, I’ve worked on occasional short films—heck, almost anything artistic interests me. But selling any of it does not—so there’s the rub. I would love to be able to design & build things—from an adobe house to a Japanese garden in my backyard. I love to eat, drink & be merry as well—though not always in that order.

Finally, what would you like to accomplish for your own poetry in the next two to five years?

5 years is such a short amount of time—so I’d have to say just keep evolving as a writer, being more deliberate & restrained with line & language. If I can, that will help me keep placing quality work with committed people. I’m excited about the small press again—& you have to ride that energy while you have it. Because there will be long, lonely stints when you’re not writing well, when you’re struggling to place work even when you feel you are writing well, or when life comes at you from all directions at once & the last thing in the world you want to do is sit down at the typer. I never want writing to feel like a job—I always want it to be something I do for the pure joy of it all, of figuring out how I feel & putting it down on the blank page. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to continue riding the uber-talented coattails of these masterful independent printers & publishers like BOTTLE OF SMOKE PRESS, CENTENNIAL PRESS, HEMISPHERICAL PRESS, KENDRA STEINER EDITIONS & SUNNYOUTSIDE. I am really honored to have placed work with most them—they are each fully committed to their writers, & they just do beautiful stuff.


Thank You Hosho!
You can learn more about Hosho McCreesh and find his poems on the GPP Poets Page on the Guerrilla Poetics site, please use the link on the sidebar.


Also, please note that you can purchase his book and many other fine poets’ work at Kendra Steiner Editions (KSE) headed by Bill Shute. You can purchase one book for $4 of 3 for $10.00. I chose to buy 3 chapbooks for $10.00 and enjoyed every one of my picks. Next week I’ll be featuring Chris Cunningham’s chapbook from KSE titled Next Exit: Five. I’ve included the link to KSE below so you can check out the site and I sincerely hope you purchase some chapbooks, you will not be disappointed! Each chapbook is hand-numbered, and if you ask real nicely, I’m sure the poets will be happy to sign them as well…

Check it out at:

http://kendrasteinereditions.wordpress.com/


Thanks for reading, please support the poets, small and independent presses, and please stop by tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Poets in your pocket

This isn’t a new site but it IS National Poetry Month and on April 17th is Poets in Your Pocket Day is the 17th. In order to prepare you in time, I have provided this link for ideas and inspiration for the 17th!

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/406

Thanks for checking in, please stop by tomorrow for an interview with poet Hosho McCreesh…

Weekend Up-Date

Starting today, I am going to cease posting on weekends. Around this time of year I become highly involved with my dance troupe and need the time to practice and sew costumes. So for now, Mondays are Poetry Sites (blogs or web-sites) and Tuesdays will be Featured Poets days. Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays remain unchanged. Saturdays and Sundays will not have posts until after August 1st/ 2nd.
Thank you for continuing to visit my blog and understanding my need for some extra time on weekends…

Poetry Tips Question 5: How do you keep submitting after many rejections?

Jim Murdoch:

I've been receiving rejections for thirty-five years and it never gets easy. The bottom line is: grow a think skin and grow it quickly. Most of the time it is not personal. There are so many places to submit that if what you write doesn’t suit on then try somewhere else. I make a point of keeping a large number of poems and stories out there. Once I get a few replies back I send a few more out normally at the end of each month.

Barbara Smith:

Remember it's the work, not you. Look for a sympathetic editor - i.e. one who publishes work similiar to yours. Do workshops regularly to keep honing and sharpening your critical eye. You do get lucky eventually and one thing leads to another.

Rob Mack:

You’ve got to be persistent. I don’t submit much, I only submit my best stuff, and I only submit to magazines I really like. That cuts down my options quite a lot, but I’ve found it does increase my percentage of acceptances. I’d be lying if I said that rejections didn’t bother me – sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t – but you’ve got to shrug them off.


Juliet Wilson:
The list of what to do is simple. Type up your poems in a clear, legible font on plain A4 paper. Proofread. One poem to a page, please: give them room to breathe. Write a brief covering letter. Be polite, but don't try to butter up the editor. Your poems should do the talking. Mention briefly any previous successes, publications and / or prizes. Make sure you include an SAE and sufficient return postage with your submission, and make sure that your envelopes are a decent size (A5). Be patient when waiting for a response. A gentle email nudge after two or three months (unless the average reading time is stated as being much longer) is usually acceptable.


Ben Wilkinson:

Unwavering belief in my own genius. Seriously? Because sooner or later you'll crack it, or before that, you'll find an editor who offers you some kind, encouraging words out of their otherwise busy, often tiring and sometimes thankless job (bear in mind that almost all poetry magazine editors have other jobs as well). The best favour you can do for yourself in terms of avoiding rejection (aside giving up writing poetry, which isn't a half-bad idea) is to subscribe to as many poetry magazines as you can and get a feel for the sort of publication that includes the work you admire. Then send your very best poems to that publication (before you seal the envelope, ask yourself – would I publish these poems?). Whatever you do, don't send off poems on a whim to a magazine you've never read and know little or nothing about. That's just an invitation for rejection, not to mention a waste of stamps. The simple fact is this: if you're going to write poetry, you're going to have to learn to be pretty thick-skinned. Learn to take criticism, but only when it comes from the people and places you trust. Keep reading. Then read some more.


Cuitlamiztli Carter:

One would hope that after numerous rejections, a poet would find somelike-minded artists to review her or his work. But perseverance iskey, and one must realize that editors receive a staggering amount ofpoetry, and also an editor can be as idiosyncratic as the folksattempting to woo them. A good poem might not connect with a certaineditor, and blind luck may put three or four of those editors in a rowduring a poet's submission process. So, take the Apostle Paul's adviceand persevere.


Hazel B. Cameron

Cut out or copy any good words and comments from the rejection note and paste them in a book to create your very own positive rejects. But do take on board any useful advice and ignore everything else.
Keep a good rota of poems out there so there is always one you’re waiting to hear from, that way you always have hope.


Thanks again to all of the contributors, this is the last piece for the questions for the audience series.

*Also, for those who guessed right about the truth behind Poet Hound’s April Fool’s Joke, your poem will be sent in the mail shortly. For those who guessed wrong, well, better luck next year… That’s right! I’m not giving away the answer unless someone else blurts it out on their own site. So you’ll just have to find out some other way…
Thanks for stopping in, please stop by tomorrow…

Octopus Magazine Open Submissions

Octopus Magazine is reading Full Length Manuscript submissions between now and April 30th, so if you have a book waiting in the wings, now is your chance! Must be between 48 to 100 pages long, with two cover pages. One cover page should only the manuscript title, the second should have all of your contact information including the title. There is also a ten dollar reading fee. Include an SASE for notification only, and please check out the rest of the guidelines by using the link below.

http://www.octopusmagazine.com/issue10/main.html

Best of luck to all of you submitting your precious gems and I hope you will stop by tomorrow for another Poetry Tips Friday!

Tomorrow I will reveal the results of the April Fool’s Joke

Poems Found By Poet Hound

http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/terry_l_kennedy/acony_bell.shtml
Terry L. Kennedy’s “Acony Bell”

http://www.27rue.com/Summer_2007/14.htm
Kristin Abraham’s “Gender-Specific Wings”


Thanks for stopping by, please come by tomorrow...

April Fooled?

How do you like the new photos?
Here’s your April Fool’s Challenge:
Can you guess whether Poet Hound is a Cat owner or Dog owner? The dog’s name is Duchess and the cat’s name is Truman. The dog is female, the cat is male. If you would like to take a guess and shoot me an e-mail I will respond as to whether you are correct or not. If you are correct, I’ll offer to send you a hand-written poem via snail mail if you are willing to include a mailing address. (Offer not available to those outside the U.S., sorry folks, need to save some pennies). You must respond by THURSDAY April 3rd via e-mail poethoundATblogspotDOTcom in order to get the hand-written poem offer. Otherwise, I will only confirm via e-mail whether you are correct or not. Either way, an interesting twist, isn’t it? Good luck, and hope you have a great April Fool’s Day.

Hint: I only own one animal, one person asked if it was a trick question and perhaps both? Nope, only one or the other...
Thanks for stopping in! Please stop by tomorrow for Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Site Up-Date

I’ll be up-dating the Poet Hound site shortly with up-dated photos of yours truly, stay tuned!

Also, sign up on Poets.org if you are interested in getting a Poem A Day for National Poetry Month in April! Use the link below:

http://www.poets.org/poemADay.php


Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow…

Walter Dean Meyers

Walter Dean Myers has been publishing poetry from an early age but it also known as a playwright, musician, and novelist. I picked up his book of poems titled Here in Harlem poems in many voices published by Holiday House New York. These poems are written from the perspective of people living out their everyday lives whether they be laborers, artists, children, etc. from Harlem. Many of the poems have accompanying photos or memorabilia.
The poem titled “Willie Arnold, 30 Alto Sax Player” is written as though the speaker is playing his instrument in the background and has repeating stanzas like a chorus. A few of the lines in the chorus go like this: “Hot notes sailing/Like soulful birds/Song without words” and throughout is the tune, consisting of “be-bops.” It is a great poem because of the energy just like the alto sax would be playing and wonderful lines such as “As I’m blowing/Really flowing/Up to the moon/With this sweet tune.” I believe Mr. Meyers captures the voice perfectly.
Then there is the poem much more like prose titled “Clara Brown’s Testimony Part II” where a woman recounts her childhood in Harlem auditioning for the Cotton Club with her sister. “When it was time for us to show our stuff, we did it with style! You hear me?” the woman recounts, and as she continues the story you find at the end from the piano player’s mouth “I’m sorry girls…But they only hire light-skinned girls to dance here.” The story in the poem breaks your heart like it does the girl who auditioned. While I wouldn’t call it a poem, as it looks like it has been broken into paragraphs, it is a poignant story to capture a reader’s heart.
To find out more about the poet and his work, please utilize the link below:

http://aalbc.com/authors/walter1.htm

As always, thanks for reading, please come by tomorrow…

Poetry and Poets in Rags Blog

This blog has a news ticker which I like watching the headlines run as well as commentary on all things poetic worldwide. Please check it out at:

http://poetryandpoetsinrags.blogspot.com/

Thanks for checking in, please come by tomorrow for another featured poet…

Poetry Tips Question 4: What are the appropriate steps to take when submitting poems?

Jim Murdoch:

Make sure you read the guidelines thoroughly. Some sites are very fussy. Always keep a record of what you've sent and when (and also how long you can expect to wait for a reply).


Barbara Smith:

What Jim said. Pay attention to what you're supposed to do and be very thorough with that last proofread. And then do it again.


Rob Mack:

First, check out the magazine to see if your poems will fit and, also, to see if you like the magazine (no point in having poems published in a zine where you dislike everything else). Stick to the guidelines. Stick to your own vision – write what needs to be written, not what you think a magazine editor might like to read. Then, afterwards, do step one again.


Juliet Wilson:

Read the website or journal you want to submit to, find some of your poems that fit, follow the guidelines carefully and send your poems off. Then wait patiently.

Ben Wilkinson:

The list of what to do is simple. Type up your poems in a clear, legible font on plain A4 paper. Proofread. One poem to a page, please: give them room to breathe. Write a brief covering letter. Be polite, but don't try to butter up the editor. Your poems should do the talking. Mention briefly any previous successes, publications and / or prizes. Make sure you include an SAE and sufficient return postage with your submission, and make sure that your envelopes are a decent size (A5). Be patient when waiting for a response. A gentle email nudge after two or three months (unless the average reading time is stated as being much longer) is usually acceptable.


Cuitlamiztli Carter:

Read the journal or website you're submitting to, or if it's ananthology either look for previous volumes or just look at the poetrythat the editors themselves have written. Once you're sure that yourpoetry isn't completely out of bounds form what they would like,follow their submission information after carefully proofing yourmanuscript.Also, do some deep breathing exercises before you seal the envelope,and tell yourself "My confidence as a poet does not hinge on this onesubmission..." a few times. Don't pin all your hopes on thatsubmission, and make sure your cover letter is suitably humble withoutbeing self-effacing. No one likes a braggart; no one respects aself-loather.


Hazel B. Cameron
a/ Check they are open to submissions.
b/ Read and follow the guidelines.
c/ If possible, read a copy of previous issues. The poetry library can help here.

Thanks to the contributors and thanks to you for reading, please stop by tomorrow for another poetry blog…

Frogpond Open Submissions

For those of you who love to write haiku and other eastern forms, the submissions period is open until April 15th. Frogpond is published 3 times per year, and I copy and pasted some of the details:

The Submission May Include Any or All of the Following
1. Up to ten (10) haiku and/or senryu2. Up to three (3) haibun 3. Up to three (3) rengay or other short sequences4. One (1) renku or other long sequence5. One (1) essay6. One (1) book review
Submission Periods
1. February 15 to April 15 (Spring/Summer Issue)2. June 01 to August 01 (Fall Issue)3. September 15 to November 15 (Winter Issue)
Submission Addresses:
George Swede, Editor Box 279, Station PToronto, ON M5S 2S8Canada
Email: gswede@ryerson.ca
Please use the link below to be absolutely sure you have everything correct.

http://www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond.htm

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by for more Poetry Tips from the audience!

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15433
Audio poem of Gwedolyn Brooks’ “We Real Cool”

http://lumiere.net.nz/reader/arts.php/item/1454
Joan Fleming’s “Monday in the Library”

Thanks for reading, please stop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions

Donors Choose

This site is amazing in that it connects teachers who need funding for special projects in their classrooms to people who are interested in donating money for a good cause. If you’d like to create a love of poetry from an early age I urge you to go to the site, type in “poetry” and fund a poetry-related project for any of the worthy teachers and students here in the USA. Not only will you be making a tax deductible donation but you will also help instill in students a love of poetry in that will continue through adulthood. Find out more at:

http://donorschoose.org

Thanks for reading in, please stop by Wednesday…

Mark Doty

School of the Arts by Mark Doty is not a book for the faint of heart or for those who are uncomfortable with reading about homosexuality. Having said that, this book of poetry is an excellent read if you are open-minded. Mark Doty takes on the ideas of death, gardening, film makers preventing him from walking his dogs in the usual path, and much more.
In the poem “Heaven for Helen” Mr. Doty describes his friend’s contentment with the idea of passing on and being a part of everything, while the poet himself struggles with the idea of becoming “one” with items such as diesel fuel and egg cartons. It certainly produced a smile on my face upon reading it, and I love his virtuous description of his friend: “Helen/would take the greatest pleasure/in being a scrap of paper,/if that’s what there was to experience.”
I also think the poem “Oncoming Train” points out our darker side, collectively, in our humanity. This poem describes the idea of restraining oneself from jumping in front of an oncoming train not out of a wish for death but because of (and these are Mark Doty’s lines) “…the idea of simply stepping out of forwardness/--that moment is the clearest invitation and opportunity.” Often there are moments where you wonder what would have happened if…? If you’d stepped out into the busy street without looking, if you’d gotten on that plane that crashed and is all over the news, if… The list could go on forever.
The poems in this collection challenge the readers to face the sometimes taboo, sometimes darker sides of life. Don’t worry though, there are also softer poems, funny poems, ones about giving a friend a flower to plant in his garden, or stripping down to nothing during a photo shoot out of adrenaline… In all, the book is lively and certainly won’t leave you bored. I hope that you will find Mark Doty as interesting as I do.

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=1842

In the meantime, I insist you stop by tomorrow for a site that you can utilize to instill a love of poetry in children if you dare….