What Is Lost, What Will Never Be Known
by Mark Danowsky
The pileated woodpecker returns to the dead white walnut.
I am reminded we keep the dead with us
in memory, we replay their highlights.
When a person dies, we say we lost more
than their life. What does the pileated mourn?
My memory fails to serve and I mourn what I will never know.
There’s a mindful almost meditative quality to your work. Where do you find inspiration? What is the creative process like for you?
I cherry pick from my experience as well as from what I witness and read. What I mean is that I take what I want, sometimes out of context. I’ve always found this to be a fun way to learn and engage with texts and the general acquisition of knowledge. Poets need to stay curious, receptive. We need a touch of Peter Pan syndrome. Not everyone likes the cherry-picking concept. I’m not thrilled that I’m inclined to even mention Trump but he’s become a part our lives and we have to live with his legacy now. There was that time tweeted a Mussolini quote and, in defense, said, “I want to be associated with interesting quotes.” Taking material out of context is an easy way to get yourself in trouble, no question. A lot of people have had a lot of bad ideas. Some not so great people have had some pretty good ideas. This isn’t all that surprising. We contain multitudes – yada, yada, yada. I don’t know that poets necessarily want to be associated with the material they cherry pick from. It’s like when someone puts in their Twitter bio, “Retweets do not equal endorsements.” They do and they don’t. It’s important that, as famous thinkers have discussed, we learn to hold irreconcilable ideas in our head at the same time. We cannot default to black and white thinking. This is my permission, I suppose, to take quotes from unsavory figures and use them as you wish in your poetry. A good poet can spin anything into gold.
In addition to being a poet, you are the founder/editor of ONE ART: a journal of poetry and senior editor of Schuylkill Valley Journal. You also write a blog and have an editing service. What is your experience of being enmeshed in a literary life?
I’m in a state of constantly evaluating and reevaluating my situation. All artist types need to do this. It’s essential for time management. In recent years, it’s become increasingly important to me to become a good steward of the arts. My identity as a poet still matters a great deal to me; that being said, I feel it matters less to the greater literary community. This is understandable. As an editor, I seem to provide a more desired, more impactful service to the community. From where I am now, I can say that I’m good with focusing my energy on what I can do for the community. I don’t want to sound like a martyr or anything though. My life path has a lot to do with my choices. I would prefer to see most working poets/writers/artists focus on their personal work.
I once had the idea to create a writing schedule like a workout routine: Mondays and Fridays for editing. Tuesday and Thursday for composing new work. Wednesday for haikus. It did not end up working out. How do you juggle all the demands of being a writer? How do you find time to actually write?
This comes down to the type of person you are. Previously, I was the type of poet who wrote well on so-called “stolen time.” That is, I would be supposed to be working or editing and then a thought would pop in my head and I’d run with it on the page. This still happens from time to time. I’m not the sort of poet who is terrific at blocking off time to “be creative.” I’m not a big believer in the flow state for poets. Or, let me rephrase that, I’m not a big believer in the flow state as a required headspace for poets writing an individual poem. If you’re sitting down to assemble a collection, that’s a whole different skillset and you need to be able to hold a lot of the material in your head at once while uninterrupted. I’ve been interested in residencies and writer’s retreats for years, but I feel like most poets need something much different than, for example, longform prose writers. Poets who work on projects that require a great deal of research can probably benefit from a more traditional residency. I’m more of the type that just needs to be put in random places for little chunks of time to respond to whatever is happening to me. Not to pigeonhole myself but it feels like a form of neo-confessionalism.
Do you notice common themes emerging in your work? What are your muses?
Poets perseverate on the same themes. That’s an unusual use of that term, perseverate, but it feels accurate. We all have our special interests. Lots of poets who probably do not describe themselves as “nature poets” or “eco-poets” write about the natural world. We all have our favorite words and turns of phrase. James Longenbach once said that it takes a long time for poets to sound like themselves on the page. It sounds straight-forward but it’s not. It’s putting in your 10,000 hours. It’s incredibly difficult to sound like yourself on the page. Our voice(s), of course, evolve over time. That’s totally natural and fine. No one has to write pastiches of themselves to please some theoretical audience.
In your book, As Falls Trees, the poems in the collection center around the lives of trees. How did this collection come about?
Where can readers find more of your work? Buy your books?
When I lived in a particular space in West Virginia, there was a back porch that looked out on a forested area on a mountainside (because everything in West Virginia is on a mountainside). It would have been almost difficult not to write about the birds and trees because I was in such close proximity with the natural world. My personal life was very difficult at the time but I was also surrounded by a great deal of natural beauty. I think that, in part, explains how As Falls Trees happened.
If you’re interested in buying a copy of As Falls Trees you can contact me directly. I’m also available to field any questions about ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Schuylkill Valley Journal, and my editing service VRS CRFT.
Mark Danowsky is Editor-in-Chief of ONE ART: a journal of poetry and Senior Editor for Schuylkill Valley Journal. He is author of the poetry collection As Falls Trees (NightBallet Press). His work has appeared in Bird Watcher’s Digest, Cleaver Magazine, Gargoyle, The Healing Muse, and elsewhere.
“Catfish” John Wojtowicz grew up working on his family’s azalea and rhododendron nursery in the backwoods of what Ginsberg dubbed “nowhere Zen New Jersey.” Currently, he works as a licensed social worker and adjunct professor. He has been featured in the Philadelphia based Moonstone Poetry series, West-Chester based Livin’ on Luck, Mad Poets Society, and Rowan University’s Writer’s Roundtable on 89.7 WGLS-FM. Find out more at: www.catfishjohnpoetry.com.