When poets die, other poets take it personally, almost as an affront. A lot of us "left behind" are thinking that poetry is the one thing keeping us alive and present, so what does it mean when one of our ranks chooses to end his or her life? There's an anger beneath the grief, you know? That anger and grief, in turn, breeds other poems from those of us left behind.
Allison JosephOnly after my father's death could I speak my own individual truths about him. In a sense, I had to turn him into a character, a figure I could control through language.
Allison JosephPart of elegy is confrontation - not just with the idea of death, but with the person who has died.
Allison JosephI'm educating myself more about world poetry. I know a lot about contemporary American poetry, so I felt I needed to learn more about figures like Borges, Akhmatova, Neruda, etc. I felt I needed a bigger lens to see poetry through. It really helps to see poetry as a world language, and not just something American.
Allison Joseph