Every Tuesday in April, Trident Booksellers and Cafe is featuring a local poet for National Poetry Month. Each poet has chosen a prompt (just for fun); all poetry is welcome, unless it’s racist, sexist, ableist, et cetera. Then gtfo. Sign ups start at 8 p.m.
This week, Somerville resident Alex Vance will be taking the mic. Vance dropped out of college at the University of Miami to teach himself programming, which he says is now “what he does for the (Wo)Man.” He has been published in HTMLGiant as well as some other sites. His hobbies include listening to music on Spotify and watching movies on Netflix. He loves web applications, the web, and the Internet. Vance says that you can and should follow him on Facebook, Spotify, and Twitter (@shittyfuckhead).
How old were you when you started writing poetry?
I was around ten. I wrote two poems about peace which I thought would end all war and make me famous. I showed them to my parents who said, “Really great! Keep at it!” I’d put everything I had on those two sheets of printer paper, so I gave up for about ten years, then realized cool people were doing it.
What is your favorite word and why? Least favorite?
“Cumbersome” is my fave. Beyond aesthetics, it fits with my personal philosophy that everything’s too heavy and could use a pair of roller wheels. My least favorite word is “idiotic” because it describes me sometimes, which hurts my feelings.
What activity or scene gets you in the mood to write?
I read before I write seriously, to set my brain into a rhythm. It’s like drumming to a metronome before a show, or spinning a bullet through the grooves of a muzzle before sending it out on its own. Aw, doesn’t the bullet sound cute there? “Be brave out there on your own, little one. Momma gun’s right here, watching.”
How has your poetry changed, grown, expanded since you started writing?
I’ve learned to attack my ego. One of my favorite poets, Melissa Broder, advised me to take out the bits of my writing that jump out and sound “loud.” This is how I find the stuff I write to impress, but which doesn’t fit with my voice. It’s super fun and effective.
When you write a poem, do you think about how it will sound, or does that come later? Do you say poems as your write them?
I’m a baby when it comes to reading aloud. Sound grabs more of my attention with every reading I attend, but I don’t read my poems aloud until they’re pretty mature.
Performing to an audience does make me think about punchlines, by which I mean those little bits of audience reward that keep everyone’s attention. Punchlines include everything that “adds weight” to a line – humor, catharsis, wordplay, subversion. It’s not my natural inclination to write these, but without them an audience can turn on and eat you.
How do you celebrate poetry on a day to day basis? How do you incorporate it in your life?
I text nonsense to my friends, and email them stories from my life. Internet bard Steve Roggenbuck exposed me to the use of poetry in routine communication, which is a powerful concept for a world soaked in short digital messages. I use Twitter every day. Check out @shittyfuckhead, unless you’re scared, which I might be.
Physically, I go to more local poetry stuff than I used to. You know how you have to be involved in stuff?? I only figured this out recently, and am trying to catch up. Cantab’s open mic and this poetry series are making me gulp and go “wowie.”
How do you know a poem is finished?
I still work on five-year-old poems, so I’m the wrong person to ask. I do know there comes a point when attempting to improve a poem destroys it, which is a good time to take a one year hiatus. If you have more insight, please find and tell me.
Anything else you’d like to add about your experiences or about National Poetry Month?
Poetry is a way for people who like books to create & share art together in big, dank basements. I guess I always thought of it as a box of dead crickets at a natural history museum, rather than a box of live crickets available online. Please come and be a part of this, or @ me to talk more about this cricket metaphor.
[TRIDENT OPEN MIC POETRY SERIES. TRIDENT BOOKSELLERS AND CAFE, 338 NEWBURY ST., BOSTON. OPENS TUE 4.1, RUNS WEEKLY THROUGH 4.29. FREE & ALL AGES.TRIDENTBOOKSCAFE.COM/EVENTS]
