“…and I was born, and raised, right here” were the last words spoken by Patricia Smith. The entire NJPAC theatre went silent. Breaths of the audience members were taken away for a good five seconds before an eruption of applause filled every corner of the auditorium.

It was Saturday night of the Dodge Poetry Festival 2012, and Smith’s poem, Skinhead, was the most passionate reading I (and I think I speak for my fellow classmates on the trip as well) had experienced yet. Her immaculate use of pronunciation and articulation of each word captivated everyone within hearing distance, causing them to be on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the finishing lines of Smith’s ever-so-famous poem. This was the first time I ever experienced this poem in person; YouTube videos will never do it justice, and after that night I became an even bigger fan of Smith.

With National Poetry Month in sight, that night at the NJPAC rings in my ears. I wondered what Smith has been up too since the Festival, last October. I emailed her to voice these questions, not expecting a reply, and was delighted when the “1” icon appeared over the mail app on my computer, signifying a response. Here’s what she said:

1)      Have you been featured in any other festivals since the Dodge Poetry Festival in 2012?

“I haven’t been involved in any festivals as large as Dodge, but I travel constantly. For instance, I’ve been featured in smaller festivals in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Seattle, Washington; Vancouver BC and Boston. A good deal of my time was taken up at a writing residency in upstate New York. I was given space, time and solitude in order to work on my writing. The experience was nourishing, and invaluable.”

2)      Are you working on any new poetry books? If so, when can we look forward to it coming out?

“I’m almost finished with my next book, although it may be some time before it comes out. I just had a book released last spring, and my publisher believes that if they come out close to one another, they’ll compete instead of complement. I edited an anthology of crime fiction stories that came out in November, and won an award for the story I contributed—so right now I’m dabbling with a book of my own short stories.”

3)      When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

“I first knew I wanted to be a writer when I was eight years old. My father, who was part of the Great Migration of blacks from the south in the 50’s, was a born storyteller. From him, I learned to think of the world in terms of the stories it could tell. And I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have discovered that exciting way to live my life.”

Being a writer sure is an exciting life, and I can’t until the next time Smith’s path crosses mine, to pour even more inspiration through her words into me.

–Makenzie Fields

The freshness of January is beginning to filter out with the rearing of February’s chilly-weathered days. As we writers sit, bundled in sweaters and scarves and rubbing our hands together for warmth, we know one thing is quickly coming toward us: the dreaded cliché love poems of Valentine’s Day. February is often a time where poignant prose can begin to slip into a gooey, gushy wreck of words. It is understandable for writers to feel the need to put their emotions on paper, but before we begin giving our poems away, we must make sure that they truly evoke what we intend, and we are not just simply writing things we have heard millions of times before.

I have found that a key to writing poetry is to not force your words. Poetry shouldn’t be regarded as something extremely strenuous—your words should flow naturally. Often times when I write a poem, I will begin simply by writing without thinking. This often leads to messy line breaks and confusing phrases, but those can always be cleaned up during editing. The most important thing to think about is getting out what you have to say. Each poem must have a clear intent. Otherwise, you will turn readers away because they will have nothing to connect or hold on to.

In my own poetry class, my teacher had us find lists of cliché words and then write a poem using every single cliché word in a non-cliché way. We used words such as “dreams,” “wishes,” and “shadows”—all words which are commonly associated with the same feelings in poetry. Dreams and wishes are associated with hope; shadows are associated with looming fear. This is an excellent exercise to try out when fighting against clichés. The exercise makes you turn words on their heads and examine the ways you are using them. The more aware you are of the words you use, the less likely you are to use them in typical ways. Inventiveness is always honored in poetry.

The main goal is to keep writing. When you write often and consume as much poetry as possible, your writing will automatically improve. Following these tips will surely prepare you with plenty of pieces to be able to show-off—whether it be to your Valentine, or if you hold off on sharing your work until April, when National Poetry Month will be rolling around.

-Raegen Carpenter, Poetry Editor

whipped orange flames
and amber skies shout black
Justice into hearts of Man
where Sodom Gomorrah’s
swift sleep bears single witness:
a woman who has only heard
stories of floods and fallen men
from which she reaped rewards,
Lot’s Lord has commanded
‘Do not look back
at the city running red
children all dead
perverted men fed
their Just desserts
you make take in the sounds
of skin-boiled crowds
man fallen down
but do not turn around.’
led by Lot’s hand
the desert woman
felt sobs filled with salt
seep through cracks
of her desert skin
not able to push through
who among them
was not Sodom or Gomorrah?
she remembered
a far thought—
it had been three years
since Lot had intermixed
his passions with hers and
truly embraced.
two years of prayer and
tears passed while
she glared at that gray
barren sky.
She would spend one year
learning to molt
from her skin.
Lot was too busy
speaking with his lord to
notice his wife turn around.