How young were you when
you first realized you could be a poet?
I started to
write at 1967, 52 years ago I’m now 72.5 years old. I went into exile due to
the Vietnam War era; then, typewriters, no internet, type poems one by one (no
photo copies), international coupons, snail mail only, stamps, 6 month wait and
95 out of 100 never responded, much less made a comment about your poems-just a
photocopied rejection letter. So for many years I continued to write but didn’t
send the poems out. In 2007 with the advent of the internet I revised old poems
and created new poems and have now been published in 38 different countries.
Why should anyone read
your poetry over the next ten poets?
I don’t worry about other poets or competition. I’m too old to give a damn @ 71.5 yrs. I proclaim believing in me. I don’t worry if there are too many groceries
stores or drug stores on the same corner, bring it on and come visit my small
shop I will stamp on you.
Is Dr. Seuss a legitimate
poet?
Dr. What? Dr. Who? He is not even in my memory bank. Legacy is
not necessarily determined by how many housewives buy Dr. Seuss children’s
book. Anapestic tetrameter consists of four
rhythmic units called anapests, each composed of two weak syllables
followed by one strong syllable (the beat); often, the first weak syllable is
omitted, or an additional weak syllable is added at the end. Deception, do children give a damn? I’m more impressed with children without thought who write the
loveliest poems naturally with images from their heart as children tend to do.
Is poetry better than it
was 25 years ago? Explain!
Who really cares, time is
justice to itself not us. What is what
was then evaluated is in present a waste of poetic time. Oh yes, review and love but never get stuck
there less you lived there in time.
What is your single
weakness as a writer?
As a child 8-9 yrs. old I
had a rare cancer disease bone cancer in my legs. I was carried around on my mother and father
backs in pain, I rolled on the floor both legs in casts. I missed most of grades 1-3. So I missed grammar, syntax, and pronunciation. To this day
I listen to enunciation
of words, look for new words that are primarily action verbs, see how words are
put together, pulled apart by syllables to hear how they sound and why I’m
mispronouncing them.
If you could write a poem
to your President, would he like it?
At my age, 71 plus, I
don’t much care about what the President thinks much less write a poem to
him. Yes policies do affect my living
patterns, my financial security to a degree, and I certainly still have strong
opinions about public and international affairs, however, as long as he doesn’t
step on my toes personally, kick me out of the country, or screw too much with
my mutual funds who cares? I fought one
war with resistance, and acted upon it, one stance leaving this country against
an unjust war, Vietnam, is more social action in one act then most people will
perform in a lifetime. Now days I’m more
concerned about quiet, few phone called, allowing me time to work on my words.
Does poetry really change
thought or is that just hype?
This is the best question
to pounder of all the other questions above.
I guess it depends on your personal definition of purpose on this
limited time on earth. We all carry a
personal torch that burns, when, how, motive you act upon it is the motivation
rightly or wrongly. My cause and disgust
ultimately was Vietnam and exile, it took 10 years in exile to resolve the
fundamental issue revolving into a lifetime of left over feelings, rejection
and acceptance for those actions. Change
is in your mind, compulsion of desire for change are the actions and beliefs of
others that have influence on your patterns your dreams. Does poetry really change thought or is it
your actions resulting in the power of those words that change thought and
alter history, legacy?
How long does it take you
to write a poem?
How long does it take you
to live your life or just one day of it or even one hour? I have some poems on first write that have
stood the test of time, I have other poems with editorial suggestions and my
changes that have lead up to eight revision on one poem that comes to mind. A poem can be stagnant or ever evolving. I have a few box full of old partial poems
always there open for review or die on old yellow paper or napkins from 10-35
years ago. Where do I place time on
these things? Life chances, events
unfold, social structure evolves so should poems but some things remain where
they were born to stay there with a smile of justice done indeed. I have computer files and old boxes full of
what I call “starter poems.”
Do you have a single favorite poem written by yourself?
Now this is a bit of a smart-ass question. I have around 500 completed poems, and
hundreds of starter poems…and you want me to pick one favorite poem out of all
of life and its passages? If I was
forced into a corner with my nose in that corner, or someone squeezing my
testicles sharp in pain I would have to say a poem back in exile days may be my
favorite. “If I Were Young Again” is a symbolic poem and real experience of
Michael Lee Johnson while self-exiled in Alberta, Canada for 10 years resulting
from the Vietnam War. It can be found on
YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmnMyE78xCE&t=21s
If I Were Young Again (V3)
Piecemeal summer dies:
long winter spreads its blanket again.
For ten years I have lived in exile,
locked in this rickety cabin, shoulders
jostled up against open Alberta sky.
If I were young again, I’d sing of
coolness of high
mountain snow flowers, sprinkle of night
glow-blue meadows;
I would dream and stretch slim fingers
into distant nowhere,
yawn slowly over endless prairie miles.
The grassland is where in summer silence
grows;
in evening eagles spread their wings
dripping feathers like warm honey.
If I were young again, I’d eat pine
cones, food of birds,
share meals with wild wolves;
I’d have as much dessert as I wanted,
reach out into blue sky, lick the clouds
off my fingertips.
But I’m not young anymore and my thoughts
tormented
are raw, overworked, sharpened with
misery
from torture of war and childhood.
For ten years now I've lived locked in
this unstable cabin,
inside rush of summer winds,
outside air beaten dim with snow.
-1985-
(R 11-12)
In 50 words or less how
do you give birth to a poem? How is it
conceived and delivered?
A poem is a spirit that
comes out of frustration or naturally if drunk or looking at a loved willow
tree in the summer wind thunder and rain.
How do you deliver a baby poem in clinical conditions like this without
the nurses thinking you insane?
Would you work hard if
you were published? What motivates you?
I am published internationally in 38 countries and I do work hard
at it, so we have covered that part this question. I’m motivated my closings: social injustices gone wrong in turmoil,
marriages soured, dreams gone bad, flowers, birds eating seed, praying for what
I don’t know, having a belief that I will never understand it all or why I’m
her or you, when I can’t make sense of death of those younger than me or anyone
at all. Oh, motivation is when an editor
says I need your interview in 48 hours or less.
Would you write a more profound poem on the beach or in the
desert and why?
I have written poems about
both beaches and desert territory. I
seldom have lived near either for any length of time being a Midwest person
most of my life. A profound poem is more
about who/or what it’s about then where accept for the imagery so powerful
behind the words.
In your poetry career have you ever written a verse for your
mother? Give a line and explain.
I had a father of his
generation, welder, boxer, coon fox hunter and it was seldom good. He taught me to love nature though he often
killed it, a true oxymoron. My mother
was not perfect but she loved life and was a totally giving human being. Often in exile she bailed me out of
financially, spoke about Jesus as my Father.
My father died at 69, my mother lived in Christ until 98.5 years. She had macular degeneration for 8-10 years
before she passed. She rode a stationary
bike blind for 45 minutes each day and wondered why? My response was “mom, if not riding that bike
you may have been gone years ago.” She
also walked blinded 16 times each day from one end of the hallway in her condo
to the other and back again, just feeling the walls on each side as she moved
down that path. Yes, I wrote on poem about my mother Edith and it’s full of
grammatical (dangling particles-whatever that is). Thankfully, poetry allows “screw ups” in
purpose of meaning. My mother’s favorite
song was ‘I Come To The Garden Alone’…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhWOKhGdUZY.
Mother,
Edith, at 98 (V4)
By Michael Lee Johnson
Edith, in this nursing home you're
blind with macular degeneration─
I come to you with your blurry
eyes, crystal sharp mind,
your countenance of grace─
as yesterday's winds,
I have chosen to consume you
and take you away.
"Oh, Jesus, where did
you disappear to,"
she murmured over and over again
in a low voice
dripping words
like a leaking faucet:
"Oh, there He is, my
Angel of the coming."
On YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0x5K-qL9do
If you
have $200,000 to put in the writing community, where would the first thousand
dollars go?
This is the most
difficult question of all the above since who or whom I love are not
organized-and likely I would be dead unable to research unless Jesus has a
computer in heaven or hell where ever I end.
But in poetry style it would go to my members of my Facebook poetry
groups selecting each member privately, to the sites loving lonely pets at
nearby shelters (cats and dogs), and to Carol Marcus and my daughter Dawn to
keep my legacy alive after I pass.
Bio:
Michael
Lee Johnson lived 10 years in Canada during the Vietnam era and is a dual
citizen of the United States and Canada.
Today he is a poet, freelance writer, amateur photographer, and small
business owner in Itasca, Illinois. Mr. Johnson published in more than
1092 new publications, his poems have appeared in 38 countries, he edits,
publishes 10 poetry sites. Michael
Lee Johnson, has been nominated for 2 Pushcart Prize awards poetry 2015/1 Best
of the Net 2016/2 Best of the Net 2017, 2 Best of the Net 2018. 194
poetry videos are now on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/poetrymanusa/videos. Editor-in-chief poetry anthology, Moonlight Dreamers
of Yellow Haze: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530456762; editor-in-chief poetry anthology, Dandelion
in a Vase of Roses available here https://www.amazon.com/dp/1545352089. Editor-in-chief Warriors with Wings: the Best in
Contemporary Poetry, http://www.amazon.com/dp/1722130717.
