Human suffering is articulated in language; communication is how we seek help, consolation, etc.

Matt Mason must be declared the poet laureate of the Midwest! No other native son celebrates the overlooked America, its unsung citizens (from the anonymous poets to the part-time English teachers), and its expansive indigenous landscape, as well as he does. Mason's poetry is humorous when he wants to be quirky, heartbreaking when he wants to be eloquent, and though he moves effortlessly into other moods and geographies, he always returns to his first and most enduring love (and to what he knows best)-his homeland.

I never try to force poems into a collection simply because they were written/published within a certain period of time. They will eventually find their perfect home.

Human suffering is articulated in language; communication is how we seek help, consolation, etc.

I always revise when I publish in a book. So versions in magazines are sometimes slightly different.

I turned to human suffering because - this may sound odd - animal suffering is more difficult for me to deal with.

I figure I write for people who are intelligent enough to do some labor. Lazy readers are not my ideal readers.