A Literary webzine of international level that focuses on poetry, fiction and many more from south Asia and around the world

When did you start writing poetry?

I remember my 7th grade poetry anthology; Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle and Other Verse really sparked by in

terest and entertained me. It is a charming book of verse well suited for children. I still keep a copy of it on my desk. Sometimes when I am in need of inspiration, when a particular concept or feeling seems to complicated to communicate, I open it and read a few poems.

What made you put your first poetry down on the paper?

I was always a sensitive, thoughtful and introverted child and I think that these were traits that drew me to poetry. I was also an avid reader. I think that this also contributed to my interest in poetry. Haiku was the first poetry I remember writing in 7th grade. I think that is particularly well suited for children. I remember how much I enjoyed writing it.

Why do you opt for expressing yourself through poetry?

I have described poetry in several poems: In Salome Dancing for Herod: “Lust is to love, what poetry is to prose.” and in Random Walks Under The Aspen Trees: “…an ounce of poetry is worth a pound of prose.”

I began writing poetry soon after I took a rather boring job at the telephone company. I always had a clean piece of paper in front of me and one day I simply began writing poetry. I think I started writing to occupy my mind and pass the time. It did both, and soon I was caught up in expressing myself in verse.

What makes a piece of writing poetry and not any other forms of literary art?

I think I just answered this in the previous question. I think the difference is one of intensity. Poetry simply has more mass. It has more density than other literary forms.

In your poetry, the poetic persona repeatedly refers to a female character. Is there any connection of her in your real life situation?

Yes, that is Mary. My wife of over thirty years now. When we met, I was sixteen and she was fifteen. We were both in our second year of high school. I think most of my poetry was written about her. I think that in order for poetry to be authentic it must deal with the realities of daily life. I view my poetry as a journal or diary of my emotional life.

What is the most essential quality of a successful poetry?

I think reality and honesty are essential ingredients. It is a reality that is filtered through the eye of the poet. Just as a prism filters light into its various wavelengths so too do poets portray reality impressionistically. I portray reality as a poet based on my own unique frame of reference. I think that a poet views the world like a physicist views the universe; both see things in relativistic terms.

Do you think of readers while writing? Should a poet take into consideration the readers at the time of creation?

Oddly enough, I do not consider the readers as I write. I am focused exclusively on the subject and crafting a poem that communicates key concepts in novel and new ways. I am preoccupied with creation and I am working solely in the moment. The process is all engaging and I am very absorbed in translating some aspect of reality that touches me. Many times during editing and revising, I may consider a poem from a reader’s standpoint, but at that time the poet and the reader are very near identical.

Let me quote some lines of your beautiful poem Alter Road.

"For they are to me the poorly dressed reminders

Of a past troublesome and grim

Of days when childhood rested on me

Like an affliction both serious and dire"

(Alter Road /Cloud Boulevard)

Would you tell us something about your childhood and the past life?

My parents had a troubled marriage that ultimately ended in their divorcing when I was in my early teens. My grandparents raised me. They were turn-of-the-century immigrants from Lebanon. They came through New York’s Ellis Island prior to 1910. For me growing up they were a living connection to the past.

I grew up on the eastside of Detroit, not too far from Altar Road. My family was poor, and as I child the emotional fall-out of my parent’s marriage permeated the atmosphere. I often say to myself that I am not responsible for my childhood, however I take full responsibility for my adulthood. Childhood for many, perhaps myself included, is more of a victimization than an upbringing. Childhood presents each of us some unique problems to deal with. I had my share. What is unique about my childhood is the extent to which it is captured and crafted in poetry.

Is it so that you prefer electronic media over print media?

I do prefer electronic media to traditional ink and paper. My background has always been in high technology, hardware and software, so my preference has a history. I think that electronic media offer multimedia flexibility that allows the integration of audio, video, graphics and animation as well as text. Currently I work mostly in text, but the transition to true multimedia expression is just off a bit in the future. It will be like the transition from silent movies to ones that have speech, music and sound.

What is the impact of Internet on
poetry?

The Internet favors poets and is truly the ideal medium for poets. It allows flexibility in format and presentation that were never possible before. Poems are traditionally short compared to prose and I think this lends itself to the Internet where it is not always comfortable or convenient to real longer works. Poetry for most of the past century has been an art form looking for its media of expression. I think it found it in the Internet.

Poets have to toy with same words used countless times by the poets and writers over centuries. Yet, they seem to be different and fresh each time they come up with new piece of writing. How do you take it? How do you maintain balance between the use of language and a journey towards new consciousness?

New consciousness is part of every human life. I think you can also call it growth. New consciousness come first and then its expression. It is often a struggle to determine what is new the consciousness or its expression. In many cases old concepts can be expressed in new and novel ways, and at other times a novel concept can be expressed in common or unadorned language. In each case I am struck by the creativity of language or concept.

Novel language often extends the real estate and reach of consciousness and concepts. In some cases stretching language leads to new expression of what are for me new concepts and ideas. What I find that works particularly well for me is to place the subject or persona (me) in unusual pr novel situations and environments and simply working with my reaction to it. The feelings are real and genuine and so is the expression of them. I think in particular I have done this with the Exodus Poems where I explore my reaction to reading the Book of Exodus and in Detroit Poems where I return to the house where I grew up.

Do your poems undergo revision? Is it necessary for them to be crafted?

During the actual creative process of writing I do delete a line or word here or add a line or word there. I may work on one poem for hours, but when I am done, I am done. I rarely revise poems after the initial writing process is over. I have always worked that way. If something gets changed it gets changed early on rather than later on. Poets work and craft their poetry in different ways. My way is simply how I work, stylizing and crafting my own artistic expression. It is very much my style and my voice. Other poets may craft their work very differently based on their own elements of skill, spirit and style.

How do the postmodern poetry differ from the modern?

I think postmodern poetry is what expressionism is to cubism or abstract painting. Modernism in poetry was in vogue when my grandfather was a young man; I think that there is a 50-year lag from when a popular school of expression is formed and when it is widely accepted. I grew up on a steady diet of Modernism. But if you count the decades on your fingers you’ll see that Postmodernism may have 10-20 years until it reaches its popularity crest and becomes the steady diet of future school children.

Who are your favorite poets and writers? How have they influenced you?

When I was a teenager I discovered Richard Braughtigan and was very taken with his work. Now in my maturity I read Thomas Merton and Philip Larkin. Although I enjoy reading their work I can’t say that they influence mine in a discernable way. I think that although I like reading William Carlos Williams, Wallace Stevens and D. H. Lawrence, I can’t say that they influenced my writing. I think we all read poets who write like us. It is that affinity in approach and style that draws us to the work of other poets.

Is any of your e-book going on print?

No, the Internet is the perfect media for poetry and I am basically a new media poet. I don't feel compelled to publish my poetry in traditional ink and paper. I know that many poets still have a preference for paper publications and give them much more legitamacy than electronic forms. I simply don't share their leaning toward paper publications.

Have you read any Nepali poet or writer’s work? If not any other country’s writer or poet from South Asia?

I regret that I have not read much Nepali poetry, but I invite everyone to send me some or recommend some for me to read. I would like to change that and educate myself by exposure to current Napali verse. I have read classic Chineese and Japanese verse. These have been very popular in the English speaking world for the last 100 years or so. There is a treasure of Asian poetry that needs to be translated and published widely in English.

What difference do you see in the Asian literature and yours?

Asian verse is simple and unpretentious. It lacks many Western devices and as a result it strikes me as more genuine and honest. It is unadorned and its minimalism is so beautiful.

Would you like to tell anything more about your poetry and experience as a poet?

Poetry has changed my life a great deal. It has been a constant craft that I have practiced all of my adult life. It is a much maligned art form for reason that can be discussed at great length. Poetry and poets are undervalued and appreciated. They work in obscurity and without recognition, and that in itself is rather poetic. You must work at poetry out of pure love for the art form. It reminds me of what European painters in the last half of the 19th century experienced. Every poet must have a day job. I'm not complaining, I have been blessed by working for many years without distraction in an art form that I truly love.

Thank you, Doug, for managing time to answer so many questions.

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