What career did you retire from? I was a freelance court reporter.Oh, so that’s totally different.It’s all language, but it’s a different approach to language. You’re always listening. Your first book of poetry came out in 2013. How did you feel when it was done? I was so excited I could not contain myself. They’re sitting right in front of me! It’s not anything I ever expected. It was a major excitement for me. What topics do you explore in your books? Both books are really personal stuff. I’m a confessional-type poet, kind of like Sharon Olds. I like that sort of thing; I don’t shy away from it. The first book is really personal, and the second is a little less so. Why is poetry today important? I’m always repeating this: the problem with American poetry is T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. The problem is that so much for so long had been this formal kind of work, which is okay, it is what it is, but........MORE
