Poet Interview, David Greshel

Interview #57, with pop-culture junkie, David Greshel!

Describe yourself in 5 words:

Creative, Dreamer, Listener, Pop-Culture Junkie.

Share a short excerpt and blurb of your work (10-100 words):

watch the silhouette fade away to the inside of a distant shadow as we creep along the expanse of this haunted night…..footsteps tread lightly as we walk among the dwellings of the left behind….tension dimly lit by the last sliver of a dying moon….will the past undo the things we’ve often hoped for with their whispered resolutions and uncertain dreams….troubling this sleep we often never rest…compelled we wander on…..not quite lost but never really found…

Share an excerpt of your favorite poet’s work (10-100 words):

Sirens

Midnight
criminal metabolism of guilt forest
Rattlesnakes whistles castanets

Remove me from this hall of mirrors
This filthy glass

Are you her
Do you look like that
How could you be when
no one ever could

Jim Morrison

We just featured Matthew Andrako the other day who’s greatly inspired by Jim Morrison! Did reading a poem first spark the desire to write poetry, or was it an experience?:

I think it was a bit of both really. My grandmother wrote poetry and she used to read some of them to us when we were kids. I think that was my first real exposure to the form, but I didn’t get the desire to write my own until much later on. That came from a Jr. High English assignment, and I discovered that I really enjoyed reaching inside myself to pull out these ideas and emotions that I had a hard time really getting out in other ways.

That was kind of like what I experienced with journal writing :) What goal do you seek through your poetry?

I think more than anything I want it to mean something. Not just to me, but to everyone who takes the time to read them. I want everyone to take a piece of it with them because it speaks to them, maybe in more ways than I even consciously intended. I remember reading Morrison’s work outside of The Doors, and also works by Rimbaud, William Blake, Baudelaire, Bukowski and Kerouac and being completely moved by them. They spoke to me on many different levels and enlightened experiences that I might never have but could somehow relate to. Those are the same things that I aspire to. Money and Fame might be nice, but Poets are generally not famous until after death and the last bookstore I was in had their Poetry section reduced to four shelves in the corner by the bathroom so record sales figures are clearly not there.

Yes, I do sometimes think that commodity production is costing society its soul (and its ability to appreciate good things like the arts). Please share your #1 tip for poets/writers:

Don’t be afraid of your influences. It’s ok for those to shine through your work as they helped you develop and aspire to the work you’re doing. Don’t be afraid to grow beyond them either and become your own voice. Don’t let the fact that Publishers aren’t knocking down your door to promote your work stop you from putting it out. If you’re happy with it, there are plenty of DIY options available to help you share your dream with the world.

ITA — that DIY aspect is one of the best things about the Internet era. Your websites/blogs/etc:

* My book on Amazon

* My Blog

* * * * *

Much thanks to Dave for stopping by!

Poet Interview, Kezia Jones

Interview #55, with poet and preacher’s daughter, Kezia Jones!

Describe yourself in 5 words:

Loyal, Humble, Loving, Sensitive, and God-Fearing.

Share a short excerpt and blurb of your work (10-100 words):

Labels, Tags what is it all 4 2 show

the world you aren’t poor

status symbol of the struggle

a product of your time

proof to the world that u

can shine bright yes u a star

Gucci, Louis, Prada is your light

the label of success

growing up juicy couture

we find our true religion in jeans

and we rock our republic

while our world is falling apart at the seams

but at least we are somebody and we can afford the right things

this is what we struggle 4

these labels and tags have become the American dream

Very nice ;) Share an excerpt of your favorite poet’s work (10-100 words):

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.

— Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson

Did reading a poem first spark the desire to write poetry, or was it an experience?:

My diary is where I released my issues, let out my fears, and learned who I was it was where I first wrote poetry and learned I could express myself through my poetry.

I can totally relate to that :) What goal do you seek through your poetry?

To inspire people to go after their dreams and to seek spiritual connection.

Yes, materialism is not the same as spirituality (and if people can’t understand that, well…). Please share your #1 tip for poets/writers:

Write from your heart.

Your websites/blogs/etc:

www.facebook.com/mytestimonymydiary

www.twitter.com/Queendown4life

www.amazon.com/Kezia-Jones/e/B0080JDV54

* * * * *

Much thanks to Kezia for stopping by!

Post-Literate Society

[Pic from Obsolete Gamer]

I did a Google search for “fan fiction knock-offs” and came across the following post: Amazon’s Kindle Price Punking | Mike Cane’s Blog.

I noticed the following quote in the original post:

I don’t know where the hell real writers go from here.

And the following comment in the comments section:

“Real” writers, that is, professional, competent scribes with impeccable syntax and a proven devotion to the printed word, will cease to exist. We’re heading for a “post-literate” future…that’s what some of the wannabes out there are insisting when they’re taken to task for their juvenile, inept scribbling. Phooey on stuff like good spelling, graceful sentence structure and all that muck (they say). Fan fiction rules the day, knock-offs of popular franchises, erotic fantasies of non-penetrative sex with a vampire.

Welcome to the New Age, populated by morons with only a superficial knowledge of anything outside their favorite vanity mirror.

Followed by a later comment:

I find that “among illiterates” Canetti quotation particularly vicious, and bearing little relation to reality.

It’s the kind of thing a boot-licking intellectual would use to put down people who, for all their foibles, are generally more sincere.

Speaking for myself and “in my own experience” ONLY (throughout this blog post) — I think both sides of the spectrum hold true. ‘Both sides’ referring to those who care about good art, and those who don’t.

A post-literate society can be defined as a hypothetical society in which multimedia technology has advanced to the point where literacy, the ability to read or write, is no longer necessary or common.

I do think we have “progressed” to being a post-literate society, but I also think that art (like humanity) has the power/capacity to evolve.

I don’t think despair and aggravation alone are going to solve anything. I used to be quite cynical in the past, till I started making a conscious effort to put my ego aside to see what it is I really wanted — and would like to — accomplish with my life and work.

I’ve stopped fighting “the artist” in me (it’s something that’s always going to be there, no matter what). Life is never easy for an artist. But I’ve never wanted to die a penniless artist, so I continue to view the whole situation as an interesting challenge for me to “keep up” with society, while still staying true to my inner artist.

The literacy level of society may change. The technological aspects of society may be different across various eras. The popular fads change and are replaced by new disposable fads.

But I think the underlying aspects of humanity remain the same (i.e. everything that the 7 deadly sins and 7 virtues cover).

For the artist in me, I derive fulfillment from engaging something that matters to a person on a deeper level. I truly believe people have become tools of “consumerism,” which is a perspective which perhaps allows me to operate with both sensibility and compassion (I work well with opposing forces).

The wrong (superficiality) has become right (the norm). That doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for humanity (quite the contrary, in fact).

Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print. I think the real writers (those who write for some kind of purpose other than to make money) may have to shake off their attachment to the label of “real writer” so as to better be able to “infiltrate”/engage via a route/method that suits a post-literate climate. This way, the focus goes back to society on the whole (and what people hunger for on a deeper level — not on the level they’ve been made to believe “is right” as a result of the mass media + consumer capitalism).

Good art resonates with some innate truth. And it can’t, if the focus is on the artist’s ego, at the expense of a message that could be delivered to others. Yes, technicality and skill will always be important to an artist. But that shouldn’t be the sole area of focus, for the sake of being able to call oneself a “real writer/artist/etc.”

It takes talent to engage others, whether on a superficial or deeper level. I just happen to be more interested in the latter :) After all, bad art is forgotten by the viewer in the amount of time that it takes to look at something else.