Poet Patricia Wellingham Jones' Answers
1. In the early 19th century, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote: "Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." Regardless of how true it was in his day, it certainly doesn't seem true in ours. In her mid-life memoir, Fear of Fifty, Erica Jong quipped "No one bothers to kill poets in America. It is enough to let them rot in universities, undead." The question is: Nevermind poetry's impact on society, does poetry, at all, legislate (and by legislate I mean "regulate" and "determine") the way you are in and with the world?
I know I have learned to see better since writing poetry, starting 16 years ago. I notice more, watch situations unfold in terms of the poem it may be later, so in that sense it has much to do with the way I am in the world. I cannot speak to poetry's importance to others, for me it has enriched my life, both with the writing and with the poets I meet who become friends.
2. And on that note, to re-animate another great dead poet: "Is the world too much with us?"
Of course it is, but there's no retreating from it, we live in this world. To do otherwise means somebody else must provide all, which doesn't happen often and isn't really desirable. The world provides much of the inspiration for poetry, as well as the unwanted distractions which keep us from writing.
4. On that note: Should poetry be more mainstream than it is? If it was, would mediocrity prevail?
I think people should just write the best poetry they can and if others 'get' it, that's great; if they don't, well… As for writing for the mainstream, that's what greeting card verse is, and yes, I suspect mediocrity would prevail.
8. When you're really writing, do any of these questions matter?
No.
9. But, do any of these questions matter?
In my current frame of mind (husband died less than a month ago and I've spent a long time in a sort of Zen space while caring for him), they don't, much. I write because I must and because I love it, don't feel I must justify it to anybody, and if people like it, good; if not, OK too.
10. Has poetry ever taken you on a journey? Where to?
Of course, every time. Everywhere on the planet, way deep inside, out to the stars. Never know where I'll go and love the journey.
11. John Keats espoused the virtues of Negative Capability — a state of being at peace with the great mysteries. Wislawa Zsymborska said (and innumerable other poets have shared the sentiment) that poetry is born of a perpetual "I don't know". In your experience, is this an accurate statement?
Sometimes I feel that yet often my poems are about people and events happening around me, so I am more narrating a story than exploring an unknown, though I will say, the unknown has a tendency to creep in even when I think I'm simply a storyteller
14. It has been claimed that poetry has become dominated by a bunch of whiners, and that it is no longer saying much of import. Assuming that this is just categorically untrue, what are some of the most important things you've gleaned lately, either directly, or indirectly from reading another poet?
Actually, I'm forced to agree with that statement much of the time, especially with confessional poetry. This may have something to do with my age, have seen and read so much. However, I find many truths and deep questions wrestled with and fantastic beauty in both object and phrase in many of today's poets.
15. From writing poetry yourself?
I will not let myself whine! If a poem even faintly smacks of self-pity – out with it! Or at least revise the whimper out of it. I'm not at all sure my poems say anything important. At the same time, when I read in public, I often see people nodding heads or wiping tears and know something in those words and images slid deep inside. As for something important happening while writing the poem, yes, that's true. The creative flush, being lost in the work, getting beyond myself into something much huger and impersonal, that all feels very important to me. Sheer richness, a balance to the often mundane details of living.
16. Do you remember the first time a poem struck you, and resonated deeply? What happened there?
No, been too long. But there's an 'aha' feeling of recognition, of deep knowing, that comes from some lines, some words, some whole poems. Always comes.
17. Have you ever wanted to give up writing poetry? If so, what changed your mind?
No, because it fits my life so very well. I have fallow periods, but know the words will return. Plus, I write for myself, for my own completion, not for somebody else or a schedule or goal. My hope is that by not forcing poetry, ever, it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
18. Do you think poetry's loss of profile is due to society's overwhelming complacency, or do you think it's the other way around?
I suspect it isn't complacency poetry must surmount but the fantastic 'busyness' of modern life, and the technological dominance. That very technology is probably one of the reasons we see as much poetry around as we do, people needing individual, hands-on, real-brain work amidst the machinery.
19. What is the greatest discovery you have made via poetry?
The great joy of getting completely lost in the writing process; also the almost as good joy of finding a poem somewhere that carries me to a magic place. And the people! I have met some of the loveliest people in the world through poetry.
20. Might poetry function as a map of consciousness, written as we go, with individual poems becoming markers for others? If so, as a woman poet, do you feel any responsibility for your poems? Are you conscious of your readers?
Yes, of course poetry is a map of consciousness, of a poet's own journey through life, written as she goes. Some poems may well become markers for others. I do feel responsibility for my poems, in the sense that I want them to be as good as I can make them. I don't write for others, am not an ideologue, yet am aware that others do read my work, form their own opinions, sometimes even feel healed (they have told me so).
BIO: Patricia Wellingham-Jones, a former psychology researcher and writer/editor, is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Her work is published in numerous anthologies, journals, and Internet magazines, including HazMat Review, Red River Review, Rattlesnake Review, Phoebe, A Room of Her Own, The Raintown Review, Centrifugal Eye and Ibbetson Street. Recent chapbooks include Don't Turn Away: Poems About Breast Cancer (PWJ Publishing), Hormone Stew (Snark Publishing) and Voices on the Land (Rattlesnake Press). Her website iswww.wellinghamjones.com. EMAIL: comments@moondance.org