Q. Three of the poems in this collection have “my father.” Does your father also feature in some way in “Old Suits” or influence the poem? And, can you speak a little bit about that?
A. While my father doesn’t directly appear in or influence “Old Suits,” the themes of inheritance, aging, and seeking the significance in everyday items and activities are present in all four of these poems, as well as a fifth I submitted that got picked up elsewhere. These are topics I seem to return to again and again, in this case through poems about the grief I feel over my father’s passing, as well as a poem influenced by my long-time hobby of thrifting and reselling. So while “Old Suits” originates from a different place in my life, it converges in terms of what I’m trying to explore.
Q. Please share with us the theme(s) that connect these four poems together, and what makes them a collection.
A. I think all four of these poems examine ordinary objects or phrases, whether newspaper clippings, thrift-store suits, or favorite words, to see what they might represent beyond their otherwise mundane existences. I’m always looking for the smallest, most seemingly insignificant thing I can explore in a poem (I think the word “that” is my smallest to date) to see where it might lead or what insights it might reveal about the much larger topics of grief, loss, aging, relationships, and the passage of time that inform so much of my work.
Q. As a poet, do you put thought into how the poem visually appears on the page? Is there anything else you would like to share with readers on your process of these poems (or specific poem)?
A. Oh absolutely, I always strive for my poems to appear “well-plated” on the page and easily approachable to any potential reader. As Kim Stafford once said, I try to treat the poem like a cup of hot coffee and hand it to the reader handle-first. My dominant form is a single stanza with conventional punctuation and a slightly ragged right margin, and I try to avoid any formatting or unusual spacing that could be perceived as distracting, or might take the reader out of the moment I’m trying to create for them.
Q. What drew you to writing, and poetry, specifically?
A. I think like so many kids in the ‘80s, it was a mixture of Shel Silverstein and Robert Frost, part “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and part “Gathering Leaves.” I experimented with writing poems through high school but gave it up in college and majored in chemistry, only to finally return to it in my mid-40s. I like the artistry of writing poems. I like to sit down and make something, and I appreciate it doesn’t take any special equipment or ultra-fine motor skills, like painting or guitar picking. I still write all my drafts longhand and then type them up as part of the revision process.
Q. What are some inspirations/motivations that help you write?
A. I try to rely much more on motivation than inspiration, and the habit that works best for me is to sit at my desk every morning from 5:30 to 7 am before the house is awake and draft new work, brainstorm, read, transcribe, just try to immerse myself in the practice of poetry, and figure out what I want to write about, or at least what I am willing to write about. For me, I think having a set time and place for poetry helps my mind be more open than it otherwise might be.
Q. For those aspiring writers reading your work, what is a piece of advice on writing would you give?
A. It’s not new, but definitely regularly reading work by other poets. My favorite poem-a-day resources are Rattle, ONE ART, and George Bilgere’s Poetry Town, and I rarely miss them. I keep a notebook where I transcribe my favorites and make notes about what I like, why I think it works, and what changes I might make if it were my poem.
Q. Is there a craft book or a poet’s work you would recommend to anyone that wants to find inspiration in reading or writing poetry?
A. My all-time favorite craft book is Writing the Australian Crawl by William Stafford (1978), which I was first introduced to at an evening poetry class at Salem College in the early 2000s. It’s a wonderful collection of essays exploring his generous and inclusive views on the vocation of writing, and is chockfull of his trademark aphorisms, such as when you get stuck, just lower your standards and keep going. I return to it every few years and always enjoy his wisdom. His follow-up volume, You Must Revise Your Life, is also excellent.
Q. Do you have a favorite contemporary poet that not enough people have heard about? This is one of my favorite questions to ask as I love adding more poets to my TBR list.
A. So many. I’m constantly discovering new (to me!) poets and delving into their work. Some of my recent favorites include Daniel Donaghy, Julia Kolchinsky, Ron Koertge, Robbi Nester, and Faith Shearin.
Q. Is there anything you would like MSR readers to know about your poetry or you as a poet? What are you currently working on?
A. After my father passed away in 2024, the grief and compressed emotion of that experience really drove my writing, almost exclusively, all the way through 2025. But now that some of that urgency has subsided, my main focus is exploring what other topics I might like to write about, and I’m trying to cast a wide net in that regard. I have also assembled a chapbook (my first!), which includes several pieces included here in Mud Season Review, and have begun submitting it to contests and open reading periods. Here’s hoping it gets picked up and finds its place in the world!
Q: What are some of your other interests/hobbies besides writing?
A. Thrifting, of course, and all things vintage. Running 5ks and strength training. Native plant gardening. I don’t have much growing space here in Southern California, but enough to experiment with a dozen or so local species. Spending time with my wife and four kids.
