Linda Imbler responds

Linda Imbler: I was born in Texas and bred all over that same state. This Rock and Roll girl met and married a Classical music guy. Now that we are both retired, we build guitars. I also practice Yoga and Tai Chi because I like how both make me feel. Nature walks are Nirvana. I love animals. I’m an avid Sci-Fi fan, love horror movies that are actually scary and not just gratuitously gory. I really am a life-long learner and observer of the human condition. I love to draw, although I need some actual art lessons to get any good, so that’s still on my bucket list. I’m enchanted by the ocean and all its multitude of creatures. I love rolling hills and I’ve been to the mountains of Colorado, but as beautiful as the Rockies are, the sun sinks too fast for me there. So only visiting mountains is better, but put me next to an ocean and I could subsist on sand. My Casio-Meade telescope affords me a wonderful opportunity to observe the night sky (Re: Sci-Fi.) I’m late to guitar playing, but enjoy it immensely, and I have the best teacher in the world. I claim an R&R flag, but I'm also mad for the blues and have a deep appreciation for folk. I'd gladly give up my iPod if I could listen to live music every day. I read from a book every day and have an extensive library. I love to travel, attend concerts, go to movies, visit museums. I had planned on writing individual poems about my latest travel experience (Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois) but feel a book in the works from that trip! We moved to my husband's hometown of Wichita 41 years ago. I carried with me a box brimming with pieces of paper, napkins, etc. on which I had written quotes, phrases, musings, and recollections. I was an educator for most of those years. Throughout these years, I kept adding to the box. After retiring, I pulled out that trusty container and began sorting all those scribblings. Eventually, some coherent thoughts began to gel and I spent a few months developing and expanding on the ideas pulled from that box (Jan, 2015.) My first submissions were sent out in June, 2015, my first acceptances (I got 2 acceptances from 2 different editors for 2 different pieces in one day) came in October, 2015. I’ve self-published 2 poetry collections (Amazon.)  I have two e-books published from a terrific publisher at Soma Publishing. The books are available from many sources (somapublishing.com). I have a blog, listing everywhere I have been published, and some of my poems at lindaspoetryblog.blogspot.com.  A list of many of the books I have read, and more information about my writing and my thoughts on writing can be found at goodreads.com. Within the last few months, I have begun to accept invitations for poetry readings, write a foreword for someone’s poetry book, and edit several poets’ books. I’m working on a chapbook for the audience of a big poetry reading in July, and continue to work on my next poetry collection.

DV: Why do you write poetry?

LI: This is such an important reflective question. I will do my best to give it the consideration it is due. I suppose, first and foremost, it’s my way to make sense of the world and to organize memories. It helps me from feeling transitory. In some instances, writing allows me to memorialize some person, a thing, or some event. It doesn’t hurt to mention that it’s a terrific way to exorcise personal demons. If I wish to be truly creative, writing also lets me see things from another’s point of view. In several instances, I have practiced writing from a different point of view, and the results were quite astonishing. In my opinion, the best poets contribute to the beauty of the world through their various poetic styles. Poetry is music, bearing rhythm but without sound, that contributes to that beauty. Even if one writes political poetry, there should still be beauty therein. Case in point, my poem “Year Among the Stars” was written about pro-immunization for babies and kids. It is a beautiful poem that tells a sad story and, at the same time, gets the point across.

DV: Could you share it with us?

LI: Here it is.

April: Leo the lion

Most prominent constellation in this night sky,

And in like a lion

Comes Regulus Alexander,

All 7 1/2 pounds of him,

Wailing,

A glorious sound,

His grandparents buy him a star,

His namesake,

But to Rita and Alan

He will be known as Rex.

May: Virgo the Maiden

Marked,

Up there,

Rex’s teenage aunt

Holds this 1 month wonder.

He holds her finger

With strong grasp,

She doesn't want to let go, either.

June: Libra and her Scales

Noticeable in the night sky,

Rex, 2 months

Has gained some weight,

Peoples’ comments,

Beautiful, healthy,

A toothless, social smile

Makes others do same.

July: Scorpius the Scorpion

Easily seen,

One day shy of 3 months,

In this time of the stinging predator,

Rex feels the sting of the needle

For the third time in his life.

Necessary inoculations,

Beautiful, healthy.

August: Sagittarius the Archer

Extrusive in the deep dark,

Rex, adventuresome,

His 4-month old chin

Covered with puréed peas,

A mouth full of watery cereal

Grins, drools,

He points much is the archer does.

September: Capricorn the Goat

Stands out,

Rex, 5 months in,

A discovery of toes.

Rita worries what else

Might get tasted

As time goes by.

October: Aquarius the Water Bearer

Splendid and bright,

6 months of baths

Still haven't curbed

The desire to splash.

To Rex, it's funny

Slamming down

Small bath toys into the water.

November: Pisces the Fish

Obvious,

7 months,

Rex discovers more

Of what his body can do.

Arms and legs,

Flailing,

Simultaneously one way and the other.

December: Aries the Ram

Unmistakable above,

8 months,

‘Tis the season to be jolly.

Rex is this,

Barring diaper and clothing changes,

But Santa will still come

For this willful, little person.

January: Taurus the Bull

Such brilliance in this crisp weather,

9 months of yes, yes,

Now frequently no, no,

Becoming more stubborn,

He further explores,

Crawls,

To where he should not go.

February: Gemini the Twins

Striking,

10 months,

Routine checkup,

Silly Rex repeating silly things

To get attention.

He draws two-year-old twins

Into his world.

Two unvaccinated.

March: Cancer the Crab

Clear at night,

There it is,

Measles,

Horrible morbilli,

11 months of great health,

Then he suffers greatly,

Prolonged symptoms.

After

Further diagnosis,

Encephalitis.

April: Leo: Revisited

His parents

Have done all they can

To save him.

For this family,

The Vedic man

Spine and heart affected.

And when one night,

He who comes

And ultimately guides us all,

Picks him up in his arms,

Places him inside his star.

Rex does not burn,

Just continues to sleep.

On Earth,

Gentle April showers

Follow him into the ground.

May-May (eternal):  Regulus Alexander

Brightest, most twinkling

In the night sky.

DV: Yes, your self-critique of the poem is exactly right (generally, a difficult feat). I can understand, and even sympathize with, a lot of stupid things that people do and believe (and have my share of them as well). But the anti-vaxxers’ position is utterly beyond my comprehension. Have you had any personal discussions with any of them?

LI: I had some limited conversation with parents when I worked in schools. In my district, parents were/are allowed to exempt their children from immunizations for religious reasons. There’s not much a school can do about that. Luckily, there were very few of those. The new thinking that immunizations, religion aside, cause more damage than they help is rather frightening. But, it’s pretty much wheel spinning to try to reason someone out of what they were never reasoned into in the first place. Public policy is all that can keep old diseases from reemerging in our society. I do have first hand experience with what can happen when immunizations do not happen (or in this instance cannot happen.) This was totally not the parent’s fault. There was no immunization yet available for chicken pox when one of our first graders developed the disease and died from complications due to it. While still rare, losing even one child to a childhood illness is heartbreaking. As for Rex, his parents were doing everything right. If the twins had been immunized, little Rex would have been able to live long enough to get his next booster and all would have been well for him and his family.

DV: Did you actually start any poems about your recent trip? Do you have a short one, or an early draft, you can reveal?

LI: I have many notes, scribblings, and impressions, but nothing fleshed out yet. My schedule’s just been insane since I returned home a week ago.  I promise you an exclusive on the first completed poem. In the meantime, here’s a sampling of what I’m playing with on paper so far. Everything is really rough and subject to much editing or revision.

First impressions of the tour bus ride upon arriving at the pick up site:

It kneels before us, permitting passage

Like a great steel camel, it drops to its knees to be boarded

And so once seated, the great adventure begins.

What stories will be unfolded 

from the mouths of these 30 strangers?

What are their heartaches and dreams?

This is a soft introduction to strangers who will become more than that.

Me asking myself as we travel North across Kansas and pass many beef cattle in pastures and pens, will there be fewer cows in Kentucky?

Addressing the images of the Kansas cows:

The silence of sirloin (isolated cows)

A bovine penitentiary (cages/pens/bars) jailing beef behaving badly?

Do they have any idea of their fate?

To be cooked and laid on a plate?

Here are some teaser titles, one day to become full length poems:

The Haunting of Ramada Number 277

The Chicken Hawk Checklist

American Idol

Kentucky Woman (a tribute to Jackie DeShannon)

My Happiest Days Spent Here

Evergreen

I’m Not A Fan

Scottish Is As Johnny Cash

Telegraph Road

Adonis Salutes Winston Churchill

If I See One More Muffin

Clarksville, Kentucky

A Flood of Ideas

The Place of Fond Memories

On A Horse Carriage in Paducah

Wide Rivers

I’m planning an entire chapbook out of all this.

DV: Oh, you planners! I can only just imagine what the contents of that box must be like! Do you have a typical work routine -- regular hours, standard workplace, music or silence, “special underwear” -- that you need to be productive?

LI: Yeah, we planners are the scourge of the Earth. LOL! I’m no 9 to 5’er. Somedays I don’t write at all, I just mull things over. But when the need overtakes me, I go with it. I have a several stage process from start to finish. I keep a recorder on my nightstand and record images and lines as I 

dream them or as they tickle my brain while I am lying in bed. If I am in daylight, I grab notebook and proceed to write down the ideas like I did while on the bus tour. I actually do the majority of my writing in the dead of night, so most days are merely set aside for editing, submissions, and rewrites. How I proceed with each piece is quite standard from poem to poem: Basic ideas, usually including title, word gathering, first draft, then rewrites, as many as it takes. Finally, when I have said what I want to say in the way that I want to say it, I will take my handwritten papers to my Mac and use dictation to type out the poems. This is most important because my poems are meant to be read, but in addition, they are meant to be spoken, and they are meant to be heard. I wear anything from a ratty bathrobe to yoga pants so I can be comfortable at my computer during dictation. I am an absolute music freak, but I have to forego the music during the writing process, because I tend to move to music and it makes my writing illegible!

DV: Is writer’s block ever a problem? Have you ever figured out a workable solution?

LI: Ah, yes, that condition requiring some mental stool softener. My treatments are simple and effective for me. I switch gears and curl up with a good book and let the poem work itself out in the background of my mind. I leave the house and go experience something new that I could write about. What usually happens here is that a new experience often lends itself not only to new poems, but I can latch onto a way of looking at the current poem giving me problems. I sometimes take the poem and see if I can take the gist of it in another direction or write it in a different style. I consult my good buddy Mr. Roget if I’m stuck on one word. What I don't do is stress about the fact that my pen is not moving. I do things that calm my mind. That probably more than anything lessens frustration and saves my sanity! Using these approaches, I’ve never had to completely abandon a poem.

DV: I wish, however, that I could say that poems have seldom abandoned me. But sometimes they come back and we’re able to reconcile. It’s easy to connect your musicality with your wish to make your poems audible. And a lot of your poems are quite visual -- do you think your proposed drawing classes will enhance that quality in your poems, or do you think the two modes of creating are so different that they’re unlikely to have much effect on each other?

LI: What a great question!  I see so much in my head that I am unable to put into a drawing. It’s because I am a very technical drawer.  I have no style of my own when I draw say a tree or an animal. I see one of the many photos I have taken and I sketch it as true to the original as possible. Example: This is a dog.

The only imaginative thing I can do with my art at this time is to envision being able to place that dog within the situation that the poem describes the dog being in, which in the case of this dog drawing would be Heaven, but that is just happening in my head, so, my hope is that some drawing classes might allow some of those visualizations to be put on drawing paper. This dog has no expression and I know one of the things classes could teach me would be to give facial expressions to my subjects. This dog looks like he’s headed to the gallows rather than a happy place. All that being said, I feel I will always have to (and be able to) use words to express things that I am creating in the old noggin. But, drawing classes are something I want to pursue, if only for the new learning I will gain and the people I will meet.

DV: What about the application of your poetic sensibility to lyrics? Are you a songwriter too?

LI: I have written some rhyming poetry that would work really well as song lyrics, yes. But, I am not a music composer, so I’ll have to rely on others to put my verses to music. I really enjoy what was done by the talented Bill Bero. He put my poem “Fab” (about the Beatles) to his own musical composition and it’s wonderful. I’d love to do more of this type of collaboration.

DV: Wichita has an interesting history: Chisholm Trail, Wyatt Earp, Carrie Nation, George Tiller…. Has your locale ever inspired you?

LI: Absolutely: George Tiller the late-term abortion doctor who practiced and was also murdered in Wichita inspired “Babies.” The famous Dockum Drug Store Sit-In (one of the first organized lunch counter sit-ins by African-Americans) and my mother’s own views about racial equality inspired “This is a Good Thing.” The self-named serial killer Dennis Rader, BTK (bind, torture, kill) inspired “30 Years Without Slumbering.” The Mid-America All-Indian Center and my beautiful former Native American students have inspired several poems, including “Where Chief Once Stood” and some of my nature poems. Cowtown Museum and the Chisholm Trail inspired some Old West poems such as “The Old Westerns.” Wichita was also quite famous for its staggering number of brothels back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Haven’t written any poems about that yet, but I have a title in mind. Some interesting facts about Wichita: Wichita is the Air Capitol of the World with Cessna, Beech, Stearman, Boeing, Learjet, and Bombadier situated here. My poem “9/11” was inspired by the silence in the skies that day and the following two days. As a matter of fact, my current school was very close to McConnell Air Force Base and if you were outside of the school building, you could hear the big fighter jets being geared up in case there were any aircraft spotted in the skies (remember that all aircraft were grounded for several days.) The following businesses were founded in and grew internationally from Wichita: Koch Industries (yes, the Koch brothers live here,) Coleman (any campers?,) Mentholatum, White Castle, and Pizza Hut. I have not written specifically about Carrie Nation and the Carey House Bar, which is now the still standing Eaton Hotel or Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (my favorite antihero.) Earp and Holliday are known more for their escapades in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp worked for City Marshall Michael Meagher in Wichita, but left his policeman job after Meagher lost his bid for another term. The deck was already being stacked against Earp for horse thieving and just plain handling things in a violent way. This reputation began after his first wife died of typhoid. Guess he couldn’t handle the loss of her very well. So, I still have quite a bit to write about.

DV: And quite a dedicated chronicler in the person of Linda Imber! I don’t want to interefere with your work any longer, so I thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed our conversation as much as I did.

LI: Thank you so much for all the interesting questions. I am so glad to get to know you and your fascinating poetry. You really helped me think through my creative process. Best wishes to you and all your readers regarding all future creative works.

                                The Prince of Darkness wants to borrow my phone.