Hello
Real Toads,
Bring two English teachers together with some coffee
and jellybeans, and the sky is the limit!
Kerry and I (Susan Chast) enjoyed talking –via email and chat—about her poetry
and the skies she loves. What follows is
different from the famous interview she did with Sherry Blue Sky two years ago,
so you may want to explore that one as well at Poets United "The Life of a Poet - Kerry O'Connor"
Kerry maintains two blogs: Skylover, her collection of Indie Poetry, and the newer Skywriting, her Experimental Phase. At both
she guides us to this profile information with its luscious love poem:
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa
I have
fallen in love with the sky
And made a
secret pact with the moon,
I lift my
face for the wind’s kiss
And fall
asleep to the sea’s tune.
I write
love-letters to the stars
And caress
the tallest tree,
I embrace
bright shafts of sunlight
And love
the rain that falls on me.
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa, is the red area on the map to the left. As Wikipedia describes it:
KwaZulu-Natal is a land of contrasts—mountains,
savanna, valleys, preserves, country, city, seashore—name it and you can find
it in this southwestern province of South Africa.
Kerry’s house is in the town Ladysmith in the
Ukhahlamba area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa:
Susan: Thank you for the pictures, Kerry. In what way do you connect with the spirit of Africa?
Kerry: The spirit of Africa is in the landscape, wildlife and in the people.
There is an endurance, good humour and strength which abounds across all
cultures and socio-economic group. This country has so many setbacks but
somehow we make it work for us.
Susan:
Have you ever lived elsewhere?
Kerry: I have travelled in
the UK, Europe and the US but have never lived anywhere else. I
am African by birth, though my culture is more that of my Anglo-Irish
ancestors. South Africa is an amazingly
eclectic society, and we enjoy all that this diversity has to offer, while
retaining our own way of life.
Susan: One of your poems that is very
African in spirit is “When Cows Come Home” from your blog Skywriting.
Kerry: I don't think the
spirit of Africa is the cows - they are an important part of African culture
though, so have become something of a motif in my poetry.
Susan: The wonderfully vivid imagery in “When Cows Come Home” reveals a yearly journey of
rebirth with ibis and sky and grass and graves and cradle. It’s one of the poems I’d like you to talk
about to distinguish your two poetry blogs: Skywriting and
Skylover.
Kerry: “When Cows Come
Home” is an older poem of mine, which I have never been entirely happy with but
it seems to have potential so I have never quite discarded it either. I wrote
the basic outline while driving home from out of town one evening - the sky was
amber, and the cows were going home under the thorn trees, and there really are
graves close to the main road which goes through an informal settlement about
ten kilometres from where I live. It was a scene which stuck in my mind vividly
and I wanted to bring it to readers in other parts of the world who might never
see this particularly African sight.
*
I removed it from Skylover, rewrote parts of it again and
republished it on Skywriting, specifically because it is an on-going
experiment, and as I had asked for critique, to which I wanted to reply and
that is the blog I used for conversational feedback.
Sometimes the difference between these
blogs is purely practical, though I have a specific voice which belongs on
Skylover.
Susan: How would you describe Skylover’s “specific voice”?
Kerry: I
find it difficult to describe the poetic voice, which I feel has become my
style. There is a touch of cynicism, humour but also an underlying belief in
our abilities—our propensity for hope, creativity, joy amid all the grief we
encounter, the struggling. People often use the word “beautiful” and I hope
that even in a darker poem, some beauty may be found.
Susan: And the poem “Pax: In Hiding” from
Skylover? You wrote it as part of the Blog
for Peace Day on 4 November 2012.
Kerry: I
thought the biggest part of the challenge in writing 'Poetry for Peace' was to
avoid cliché. I think of Peace as an illusive ideal that we search for, we even
know where it lives in human consciousness, but never seem able to attain it.
Therefore, in writing the poem I turned that idea around by personifying peace
and had people aggressively trying to break her door down, or sending armed
peace-keepers to protect her. Really, the ironies were already there.
Susan: In this narrative poem, you both personify and mythologize Peace/Pax so
it seems like a Wise One on a mountain.
The aggressive forces demand “Give Peace a Chance” but they will do none
of the changing. Pax retreats to nature
and responds, “In another Lifetime.”
What would those seeking peace need to do to coax her out of hiding?
Kerry: I believe a state of permanent peace is
contrary to man's collective character—that we work towards its attainment at
all is to our credit. The most important
approach towards a workable peace is teaching our children tolerance and
respect for the traditions and cultures of other people.
Susan: Agreed! It would be a huge step forward if the next
generations were better prepared than previous ones. I know we do a lot of that in our classrooms—it’s
not easy.
*
Which of your poems do
you feel particularly
reveals YOU?
Kerry: You do realize that I am at great pains not to reveal the
real me. Haha!
I take from personal experience,
certainly, but am seldom factual in my use of it. There is one piece, however,
which was a deliberate self-portrait:
Qué el agua me dio ~ A SELF-PORTRAIT
A
June morning –
Hot bath on a cold day.
The sunlight fell in dappled gold
across
My marbled legs.
I marvelled at the smooth
translucence
Of water,
How it moulded to my shape
And lapped at my painted toenails
Puddled in the dent of navel and
left trails like tears
Between my breasts.
The droplets on my arms sparkled
Like the rain of summer
But it was a winter’s morning –
A day to take stock of the years
laid waste,
To count all the bathtubs, bathplugs
of my life
To judge what time had done to the
girl’s body I had once owned
And never noticed.
On another birth day in June
The water gave me the gift of beauty
In the sheen of wet skin, wet hair
lying sleek on white shoulders.
Susan: I love this poem!
The morning and the bath are vivid, how they reveal the changed figure
is stunning. I like at the end that you
see beauty in the girl, in the woman, and in the birthright from parents. Your
poetry says a lot about you even though you avoid directly speaking of the
personal.
*
Your blogs also feature Quotes from Poets
at the bottom of each page and “Firefly Jar.”
I love the idea
of your firefly jar, little lives and lights that fly in and catch your
attention. How do you use this?
Kerry:
Please bear in mind that the words I
have collected do not belong to me. I have borrowed them from many sources. I
keep them because I feel the power they have as a kind of intellectual energy.
Susan:
"Intellectual energy”—I like that.
Kerry: Here's a line from
'The
Emperor of Ice Cream' by Wallace Stevens.
Of all the lines of the poem this one is the most semantically challenging to
my mind:
“Let be be the finale
of seem”
I understand it to mean this: Accept
that what seems to be is. And I like that way of thinking, and admire the way
it was said. Let be be the finale of seem.
Susan:
Are you able to "accept that what seems to be is"?
Kerry: Although I would like to “dwell in possibility” like Emily Dickinson, I
cannot escape the realities of any situation. I keep the quote to remind myself
to let be be.
Susan: What else is in the Firefly Jar?
Kerry: I have also saved many fragments
written by poets who have become my friends on-line. These lines (from a longer
poem) were written by a poet who went by the name Nounverber, whom I met in
2009. He no longer writes poetry, but we have kept in touch over the years and he
has given permission for me to share them. There is so little recognition for
contemporary poets, and I suppose on-line poets are especially vulnerable to
obscurity. I think it is a great shame that our work is ignored, when we are an
emerging school of 21st century poets: on-line is where it's all happening.
"Here lies a poet - bankrupt of his native
tongue, rich in regrets of the world -
with white blank lines of debt,
at peace & empty-handed, now mistaken
for dead sleeping in the
grass under shadows of God."
Susan: Beautiful. Was this in your mind when you founded Imaginary Gardens
with Real Toads?
Kerry: IGWRT began as a
closed community of poets at the instigation of Rob Lloyd (who was also the
creator of Poets United) but it didn't work so well with just the inner circle and
fell into disuse after a few months. I asked Rob if he would mind if I took it
over in about July 2011.
*
Although I have been
blogging since 2009, I found it difficult to maintain outside interest in my
solo project, or to communicate with other bloggers. I was a member of other
inter-active poetry websites like Poetfreak and Writers Cafe, which were very
much more interactive, but had other problems, one of which was too many people
vying for attention on the same space. Cliques emerged, and there were many
upsets and con stories which ruined the positive atmosphere.
*
I wanted to find a
happy medium: a small interactive site, closely monitored but shared by
enthusiastic people who would be willing to contribute in a meaningful way to a
group writing project. I think the site
has taken shape over the last 18 months. I kept my expectations flexible, and I
am very happy with where we are at present. Our success to date, and our
continuation as a group does not depend on one person, certainly not me. I am the
present coordinator, but any number of people could step into my shoes at a
moment's notice, and the site would not lose its momentum.
Susan:
I think the site would continue but would lose a lot without you. You have introduced me to many poetic forms,
poets and photographers. Your energy and
enthusiasm are contagious.
Kerry: The most important part is the
poets working together, as has become the main focus of RT (Real Toads). I
think of so many famous poets who were friends, and inspired one another to
reach for more in their writing. My
friend Nounverber, who I quote from above, for example, had a huge impact on my
writing. I was scribbling before he
began to comment on my work—back in 2009—and I simply worked harder to write to
his higher standards. The feedback is as
important as the writing exercise itself.
Susan: While preparing for this interview,
I re-read your comments on my own work and the personal challenge you set for
me. You cut to the heart of my intent
with fine insight and also draw out the details—the toads—that are essential to
it. I like the variety of prompts. I find I am wholly guided by them for days
and even weeks before I find one in me beyond the prompt. What is the role of prompts and challenges in
your writing?
Kerry: I have mixed feelings about using
prompts. I value the inspiration and the challenge of writing prompts and the
benefit of a link which insures that one's work will be read, but I think that
some of my best work has been a product of my own ideas, or need to write about
a certain subject.
Prompts are a big
help during busy times, and I like to keep my hand in otherwise I can go weeks
between writing anything.
“
Encounter,”
the gorilla poem I wrote this weekend, would never have written if not for
Hannah's prompt, and already it seems to have touched a lot of people who have
read it.
Susan: “Encounter” is definitely in
your voice. You are skilled at making
these surprise topics speak for you.
Kerry: Prompts keep me in practice, a
very important part of any writer's development. Writing is an art and a skill.
Susan: I like what you say about poetry in your poem
“Thrown to the Wind ~ A Triptych”:
To write poetry is to find the voice
Of the cool white wind as it stirs
I sometimes read your love poems “Fields
Left Unsown” and “Night's Rest,” as
commentary on the process of writing.
These poems are extremely sensual, and writing is too.
Kerry: I prefer sensual imagery to erotic, because poetry is
appreciated through the senses. I focus on touch, texture, sounds—the sort of
the things one sees when eyes are closed.
Susan: I love that: "sees when
eyes are closed"! No wonder I find
your relationship to poetry in your love poems.
I want you to answer my favorite of Izy’s questions from her interview with me:
“If an alien lands
on earth and asks you what poetry is...which poem of yours would you share with
the visitor and why that poem?”
Kerry:
I'd want a poem that would teach
an alien something of the human condition. Perhaps my latest gorilla poem
Encounter
would do the trick, since it might describe the way we encounter anything
foreign.
A warning that they shouldn't
expect too much of us.
We can't even
live in harmony with the creatures on our own planet without encroaching on
their territory or exterminating them—aliens don't stand a chance.
Susan: Haha! Good answer.
Kerry: Get back in your spaceship
and save yourselves. Haha!
Susan: Last question. Do you find writing more fun or more work?
Kerry: I do not find writing to be work, and I
wouldn't classify it as fun either, which would suggest I see it as a leisure
activity. Writing is just something I
do. There was a long time when it was something I thought about but didn't do.
I had to overcome a sort of possibility barrier and almost force my first poems
out of my pen. Now I find it comes quite naturally to my way of thinking about
the human condition, creativity and visualization.
