Joshua Gray
DC Poetry Examiner, Examiner.com
Member, Takoma Park Arts and Humanities Commission
www.joshuagraynow.com
www.examiner.com/poetry-in-washington-dc/joshua-gray
What do you want from poetry?
I want poetry to remain a living language. I don’t really know what this means, other than to say that “dead” can be one of several things. Poetry has stood the test of time. It has morphed. It is voice and feeling. It is yoga, meditation, prayer. These are the qualities of life. The ancient Greeks differentiated between bio and zoe — bio was tangible life from birth to death; zoe extended further, to the soul and spirit. I see poetry as zoe.
Where else does poetry have to go? Popular culture. It contends with it, rather than blends in it. Letterman and Leno will invite Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt on their show. Colbert and Stewart will have historians and politicians. When was the last time a Billy Collins or a Rita Dove came on Ellen or made it on a segment of Entertainment Tonight? That’s what I want from poetry, but it has to come from the people. Then, maybe then, poetry will not be a spring-time curriculum subject in school, but it will make its presence known and felt the entire school year at every primary and secondary grade level.
Who was the first person you can remember who approved of you as a writer. What did he/she say or do?
Well, the first person really was my father. Both my parents were, but because my father was the stay-at-home parent until he divorced my mother, I associate him with the main influence. But if parents can’t be the answer, then I will have to say my fifth-grade teacher, Lainey Nixon. Just the other weekend I was going through some old school papers my mother saved of mine, and I came across this note:
Josh:
I always know your pen
Will lend
A special view.
By old chimney
Dilapidated World
You spun life rich-textured.
The world plays best
In suspended disbelief.
I remembered when I read this how encouraging she was of my writing. I think she was the first teacher who expressed her belief in me as a writer. It’s funny, I always thought I hated poetry until my Modernism undergraduate class. But after reading these creative writing papers of I’ve found, I realize I used to love poetry. Somewhere in high school I grew to hate it. It took William Carlos Williams and a single red wheelbarrow for me to fall in love with it again.
What’s the nicest thing that’s ever happened to a poem you’ve had published?
It was edited. I now have had two different editors edit two of my poems, and in both cases the poems are better because of it. But the gift is not that editors improve my poems, it’s that they see the potential in my work with just a little extra effort, and they are committed enough to the poem that they are willing to make that effort themselves.
How do you characterize your poetry for someone who’s never read it?
Eclectic. I refuse to be pigeonholed into one school or style. I am always trying something new, or something I haven’t done in a while. I write very formal poems as well as very free. I tend to focus on the music of poetry though. If it’s formal verse, the music is ingrained in the poem. If it’s free, I often alliterate. People say they hate alliteration but what they really mean is they hate poets who alliterate too much. Alliteration is something I am always looking at, Consonance tends to be simple to see and hear, and that is usually what is overdone. Assonance is where the more subtle alliteration comes in. I strive for a perfect balance of both. Of course, there are so many other types of music in a poem that I will employ, but alliteration is a key component in my free verse. Someone recently told me one thing they like about my poetry is my use of internal dialogue. I was never conscious that it was a trait of my poetry, but once it was mentioned, yes, I like using a lot of internal dialogue.
Is there one poem you consider a signature poem? Why?
Again, my poetry is to eclectic for me to assign a signature poem, but if I had to choose one, it would have to be “Song of Cyclops.” It’s a persona poem, which I enjoy writing, and it has a good balance of alliteration; but more importantly, my own sense of humor comes out in Polyphemus, the poem’s character. Oh, and there’s that internal dialogue thing again.
Who is a poet you’d love to have dinner and conversation with?
On the contemporary side, Rita Dove. I am fascinated by her poetry. I just saw her in October 2011 at a reading, and her stage presence only solidified my feeling that she is a class act person.
If I could choose a dead poet, it would have to be Edward Devere, the person I believe authored the works of William Shakespeare.
Do you live a balanced life?
What is a balanced life? I think I did once, relatively, but since 2009 it got ruptured by cancer and the economy. I believe I have come to live a more balanced life again. But if the work week consisted of 6 hour days, which I have always thought would be perfect, my life would be even more balanced.
What is better: sex or writing poetry?
Writing poetry. Sexual orgasms have a half-life measured in seconds, poetic orgasms have a half-life measured in weeks. Sex traditionally requires the presence of a partner, poetry traditionally does not.
(Note: Questions prepared by Grace Cavalieri)
