National Poetry Month Q&A
Q&A With Shay Every Other Sunday
April is National Poetry Month, and since poetry is one of my focuses as a writer, I thought I’d do a brief Q&A all about poetry this week. And, at the end of this post, you can enjoy one of my (not yet published) upcoming poems!
Q: What does poetry mean to you?
A: Poetry can be a really powerful outlet during trying times, and life is full of uncomfortable and painful moments. It can be really cathartic to take control of those overwhelming emotions and put them on paper in a deep and meaningful way through poems. It might not necessarily make the pain or feelings subside, but I think it helps to channel it in a way that brings a little more clarity or peace to the situation. Through any creative outlet we can learn things about ourselves and gain different perspectives that we might not have known were in us. Poetry, to me, is paying close attention to the world and a way to be present in our everyday lives through the power of words.
Q: What’s your favorite poem?
A: “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll. I have part of this poem tattooed on me. Even though it’s known as nonsensical and many of the words aren’t quite English, I love how the meaning and interpretation can be felt while not even using common English through the rhythm of words—whatever words they may be.
Q: What type of poetry do you tend to write?
A: There are actually so many different types of poems, and I’ll be honest, I don’t know the rules of all of them. Poetry hasn’t been my main focus as a writer, so I haven’t taken the time to learn all there is to it and explore all the different forms, but I have been experimenting and learning about it more for the past few years now since publishing my collection Bleeding Flowers. I tend to write free verse, which I suppose is obvious and expected as there are less rules with free verse. It also seems to be most popular for modern poetry.
Q: Who is your favorite poet?
A: Oscar Wilde.
Q: What song feels most like poetry to you?
A: Ugh, so many! Songs are essentially poetry, after all, and I am a huge music lover, especially deeply emotional songs that are on the darker side. I feel like I can’t choose only one, but a few that definitely reach deep are: “Scar Tissue” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Ghost” by Badflower, “Chop Suey!” by System of a Down, and “Broken” by Seether (Seether and Amy Lee version is especially emotional). But I could go on forever about songs being poetry.
Q: Themes you explore in your poetry?
A: I use nature as metaphor A LOT in my poetry, which I’m sure you have realized if you’re familiar with any of my poems. Sometimes when I’m feeling something particularly painful I’ll try to create an analogy from that internal pain to what it might be like if it were physical pain, and often use natural forces to do so. It’s a way for me to gain clarity about situations and in a sense reclaim what hurt me in a way that feels serene and beautiful. I also love all the sensory details that come along with nature. It’s peaceful and hopeful and brings a sense of much-needed calm to all the internal chaos.
Q: Poetry prompts for others to try?
A: I’ll share three prompts that I came up with now. Prompts are extremely interpretive, so see if any of the below spark an idea. If you try any of these out, please feel free to share them with me or tag me in a post on social media!
When was an angel not an angel?
Describe something in your spice cabinet (spice or not).
Write a poem that utilizes glass—imagery, metaphor, or literal.
Now, as promised, here is one of my work-in-progress poems from my upcoming collection (no release date yet, but stay tuned!) This collection is going to mostly focus on my selective mutism and social/general anxiety.
End of Silence (working title)
It’s silent
When you’re at peace
It’s silent
When you sink
It’s silent
When you drown
Perhaps,
When the silence
Is the end
It’s not so bad.
