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Poet Z.M. Wise – Spoken Word and Spooks

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24677044Z.M. Wise is a poet, editor and poetry activist. He has been a written-word poet for almost two decades and a spoken-word poet for four years and is co-owner and co-editor of Transcendent Zero Press, an independent publishing house for poetry that produces an international quarterly journal known as Harbinger Asylum, with founder Dustin Pickering. The journal was nominated Best Poetry Journal in 2013 at the National Poetry Awards. He is also an Assistant Editor at Weasel Press. He has published four books of poetry, including: ‘Take Me Back, Kingswood Clock!’ (MavLit Press), ‘The Wandering Poet’ (Transcendent Zero Press), ‘Wolf: An Epic & Other Poems’ (Weasel Press), as well as a book-long confessional poem, ‘Cuentos de Amor’ (Red Ferret Press). Plus, he has a motto: POETRY LIVES!

To help celebrate the release of ‘Wolf: An Epic & Other Poems’ Z.M. Wise has been gracious enough to stop by for a brief interview:

HWA: With Wolf: An Epic and Other Poems, you’re working in the glorious tradition of the Epic Poem. What was the impetus for that? Please tell us a little (or a lot) about Wolf.

ZMW: The award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni made an appearance at the Austin International Poetry Festival this year and I was lucky enough to see her lecture and reading. She said a great many things during the lecture, but the one statement that stuck out was the following, “There is no such thing as writer’s block. There is, however, such a thing as not being educated enough.” Though I highly agree with this proclamation, I had found my own personal cure to writer’s block six years ago: my voice recorder. Writers often think their memory serves them well, but alas, it does not. Thanks to the voice recorder, I can orally jot down my thoughts for the next poem/essay I am going to write, whether it is the title, style, topic, number of stanzas/paragraphs, or what inspired it. Now, I am not saying they are gold. I look at these ideas as saplings, waiting to be written and sprinkled with ink blood so that they can eventually mature into final drafts. However, I digress. Wolf started out as a recording I completed during a moonlit stroll in December of the year 2010. I never expected to create an epic poem in the first place, although I wanted the piece to be lengthy. The wolf is my spirit animal and the werewolf is my favorite creature of all time. I wanted this poem to combine the lifestyle of wolves with werewolfism (I do not dare use the word ‘lycanthropy,’ since it is often attributed to the clinical condition). After editing it thoroughly, revising it numerous times, and adding/subtracting material, Wolf was completed. It combines fixed verse with free verse. I have always loved the art of epic poetry, whether it was the dream-induced Epic of Gilgamesh, the adventurous quest in The Odyssey, the philosophical points of view in Mahabharata, or a tribute epic like The Faerie Queene. The more archaic poetry is, the more I delve into it, although my contemporaries have certainly kept me afloat.

HWA: I’d love some background on you as a poet, especially with your Poetry Lives theme.

ZMW: With poetry, it started when I was a wee lad. I read the usual children’s poets: Jack Prelutzky, Ogden Nash, Shel Silverstein, etc. I learned the usual nursery rhymes, along with more mature literature (Gilgamesh, Odyssey, world mythology). As peculiar as this sounds, I understood poetry more than stories and novels. I absorbed it more naturally than the straightforward text that stems from fiction. Growing older, I wrote horror stories, comic books, song parodies, essays, and comedy routines. However, I always found myself writing poetry in between all of that. In high school, I wrote half of a book of love poems. Sure, most of them could be in the Hallmark category, but I felt that I had to transfer them from my system to the book in order to broaden my horizons. Unfortunately, it was stolen. Why anyone would want to steal a half-finished book of love poems with my dysgraphia-laden penmanship is beyond me. Luckily, I was able to recover a few of the poems I had typed out. After half a year of writer’s block, a tidal wave filled with creative ideas exited my mind like a defective dam, bursting after little restraint. Soon, I was testing the boundaries of the vastness that is poetry. I knew the word ‘limit’ had to be removed from my category. As far as the ‘Poetry Lives’ motto, it came to me in a dream. I was convinced that poetry was not dead, even if some of the most popular categories of literature were fiction. Modern poets are scattered around this blue-green sphere, whether they huddle close together in separate communities or live as wandering individuals. I remember someone crying out, “POETRY LIVES!!!” I knew the word(s) had to be spread right away. Whether I ask people to participate in this declaration or not, I make it known at practically every reading or event I attend, though I am not arrogant or obnoxious about it. People must know. There is an endless supply of articles that state otherwise, as well as articles that question the possibility of that belief. It does not just live, though. It breathes, exists, and guides us spiritually through life.

HWA: Where do you see the state of poetry in the horror genre today? Where do you see it going in the future?

ZMW: Poetry in the horror genre is also known as speculative poetry, like science fiction and other subgenres, but it holds a special place in my heart. I can identify with the real and fictional terrors that go bump in the night. I often find that poets who write pieces that are lined with a darker theme intertwine with life experiences, like many other genres of writing. It amazes me each time. A great deal of this work appeals to the youth poets and millennial readers, which is an entirely different audience on its own. Many say that the children are our future. To some degree, I believe that is true, even in the literary sense. There are a number of youth poets who write beyond their years. Part of this is due to easier technological access, but a lot of it stems from the intelligence and a faster maturing process. As far as the future is concerned, I do not think it is my place to predict. However, I am more than elated to see what direction it takes us in.

HWA: As an Editor, what are you looking for?

ZMW: Transcendent Zero Press started out as a quarterly magazine (which is still running) entitled Harbinger Asylum. Dustin Pickering, the Editor in-Chief, recruited me in 2012 as the Assistant Editor when he met me at a poetry reading. He took me under his wing after he realized that I shared the same level of passion for poetry as he did. There are some times where we have different themes attached to the magazine, while most of it requires a general submission. We started taking on full manuscripts in 2012 and turned it into TZ Press. We take anything that is out of the ordinary, whether it is mystical, mythical, abstract, metaphorical, symbolic, or cryptic. We have published a wide range of authors, from Usha Akella and Marcie Eanes to Ken Jones and Charles Bane Jr. The entire experience has been a thrill ride for me and I will continue to work with them for the rest of my days. Weasel Press, on the other hand, is a fairly new publishing house, operated by Larry Patterson (known more popularly by his pen name, Weasel) and Emily Ramser. Weasel Press offers a broad spectrum of work, including plays, novels, poetry collections, and short story collections. It has a couple different magazines attached to it. They are known as Vagabonds and The Haunted Traveler. The latter is more horror-themed, whereas the former is more generalized. Weasel Press often looks for works of a Beat Generation sort of theme. I consider it a true honor to share partnerships and friendships with the Editors of these brilliant publishing houses. It regulates and stabilizes emotion, as well as causes a bit of random turbulence. However, we cannot go through life without a few bumps in the road, now, can we?

HWA: As a poet, would you feel like sharing a poem or two? What are you working on now?

ZMW: It would be my genuine pleasure. Before I share the poems, I will explain what I am currently working on. It is a concept poem, but it is being split up into individual pieces. I shan’t repeat it at this time, for the work is not complete. However, I did finish writing/editing a book of flyer poems. When I am not writing in the conventional notebooks, I express my words on miniature flyers. I consider it a stress-free, therapeutic methodology when it comes to writing poetry. Some people write on napkins, clothing, and even fence posts. This was the second book of flyer poems I completed. Now, then…onto the poems! The first is an early poem that was published in my second book, known as The Wandering Poet. Ironically, I received a sense of tranquility whilst writing this one.

Darkness Ascends

The night falls with a whispering sigh.
Shameful, are we.

The salvation which you long for
flickers once, dies, then blown away.

By a velvet ebon oblivion,
all hope must sicken and be killed.

Your heart wants no more.
How could you tear us apart?

We are surrounded by mislaid souls weeping,
“We have lost our eternal light!”

(May 12, 2010)

The second poem is a piece that was included in Wolf, but it is in the section of individual wolf/werewolf-themed poems that were irrelevant to the epic.

Howls

Hear ye!
Hear ye!

When life gives you raw meat,
conquer it and mark your
territorial pissings all over it.

Laughing on the inside
is your most powerful ally.

Holding you ever so tight,
you cannot help but
yelp with the wooden ears,
eavesdropping on each
wakeup call and sleep reminder.

Let the reddened angel
take you over.

It is only a mask to
hide each sequence of phobias.

Howl, barroom rats!
Howl with orgasmic vulgarity.
Howl senselessly with no intention.

Out of focus…
The paparazzi flashed one
too many shots.
The tequila vomit method:
stay a victim.
Thirsty for each hydration,
blunt sewer creature.

Keep up the monstrous attitude.
So many other residents
in this neighborhood!
No idea if they possess good morals.

But, the moniker…
the alias…
one could not remember the
false identification card number.

Tell the reflection who this is.
Howls escape the clutches.
Howls of the undead animal:
sounds like nightmare incarnate.

(December 26, 2010)

HWA: How vital do you find organizations like HWA to horror poetry? Is there anything you’d like to see HWA do to promote horror poetry?

ZMW: Organizations like HWA help the ‘dark poets’ to unleash the inner chasm of oblivion to come to life before other readers’ eyes. It is truly remarkable for what they have done. David Cowen, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for some time now, has told me nothing but ‘incredamazing’ things about this fellowship of writers from the depths of darkness. I think they should keep up the grand work and never cease what they have believed in since the beginning. …hmm. There’s something I feel that I am forgetting. It is quite vital…quite essential…hmm. Oh, curse those ellipses. I know what it was, now. POETRY LIVES!!!

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