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Interview: Different Poets Tell of Inspirations and Rituals I

© Ashley T. Drye

Many people have written me, asking me to tell them how to write poetry. I find it very hard to reply to this, so I decided to use more sources than just myself, and maybe it could give people an idea. I will discuss the many different things that inspired these poets to pick up their pens.

The first poet that I asked was Ken Allen of Poetry and Society Today:

Me: "What first inspired you to write poetry?"

Ken: "I only started writing last year after reuniting with a lost love of 40 years previous...a school romance. I had kept her in my heart all that time. When I reconnected my passions exploded like a volcano and I started writing poetry to her. So I guess 'twas love that started me and unlocked my spiritual passion. This connection only lasted 5 months but during this time at 3.00 am one morning I got what could be described as a vision form God to write poetry for the AIDs issues."

Me: "Is there some kind of ritual or technique that you use before writing a poem?"

Ken: "Not for me, for this some criticise me. I have a visual mind that sees images clearly, almost photographic...I certainly can see a screen in my head just behind my forehead. I mull over the pictures and ideas and when the time is right it all comes out in a rush. Therefore I have no consitency and no regimen. I am trying to figure how to do that but the "muse" wont let me do it that way. That means I have long dry spells and then really wet one when there is a literal outpouring that I believe is spiritual...straight from God."

Me: "Would you be willing to share a sample of your work for us?"

Fade to Black
By: Ken Allen

Grandmother's arms
Nursing, rocking
Baby cradled
Tears flowing

Life force ending
Spirit passing
Aids infected
Child dying

Small round dark eyes
Not now seeing
What might-have-been
Dimly reflecting

No teetering steps
Words never said
Life not experienced
Baby's dead

Album empty
Memories none
Never existed
Images gone

Emptiness left
No tomorrows
Days now filled with
Heart sorrows

If you have tried waiting for inspiration to come to you, by sitting around, and it has not worked, maybe you could try a tactic like Susan Maree Jeavons of Child Abuse and Recovery.

Me: "What first inspired you to write poetry?"

Susan: "I began writing as a way to tell on paper, what I could not tell out loud. It was a panacea for the depression and hopelessness I felt as an abused child. Also, Robert Frost's beautiful poem, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy

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