As we near the end of National Poetry Month, I’m very happy to feature my interview with award-winning poet Sage Cohen and her new book, Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read and Write Poetry.

Not only is Cohen widely published, she has taught poetry at universities, hospitals and writing conferences. Cohen received a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. in creative writing from New York University.

Thank God for Sage. As you read the interview, you’ll see she’s saved me from lifelong humiliation of being a not so great poet. She’s smart, inviting and creative – I know you’ll agree.

Laura Cococcia: We’re so excited to feature you and your new book Writing the Life Poetic during National Poetry Month! Let’s start at the beginning – why poetry?

Sage Cohen: Why not poetry?! We all have our chosen lenses for making sense of our lives and our worlds; mine has always been poetry. I suspect that more people would enjoy exploring their emotions and experiences through the lens of poems if they felt more comfortable there. My goal was that Writing the Life Poetic offer a friendly invitation into the adventure of poetry–so that anyone who reads it is assured that poetry is available to them.

Laura Cococcia: I’m a writer, but I’ve only written one poem in my life entitled “Ode to Cupcakes.” It’s really bad. Do you have any advice on how can I improve my poetry writing skills? Is there any hope for me?

Sage Cohen: “Ode to Cupcakes”–I’m so curious about how a cupcake inspired your one and only poem! And I’m also curious about why there was no second or third poem. I suspect that someone gave you the idea that your poem was bad, rather than pointing out what was alive and surprising about it.

Of course there is hope for you! I think the best way to tune up our poetry engines is to increase our enjoyment of poetry writing and reading. If we’re having fun, we’re more likely to keep at it–and the more we experience and create poems, the better we get.

I have two primary suggestions for you–and anyone who wants to develop their poetry craft:

1. Read the poems you love. By simply paying attention to poems that you admire, you are cultivating your poetic intelligence and stocking your craft toolbox.

2. Consider the poems you write to be practice. I’ve been writing for more than 20 years, and I still look at my poetry that way. It takes the pressure off. Because who wants to try again after writing a “bad” poem? If each poem is just a warm-up for the next, there’s always reason and momentum to keep going. And when we look at our poems this way, nothing is ever wasted; each poem is compost for the next. The more we write, the more fertile our poetic possibilities become.

Laura Cococcia: You write a lot in your blog and elsewhere about how your goal is to make poetry accessible to everyone. Is there any particular strategy you use in your poetry to help connect with the masses?

Sage Cohen: You are correct that my goal in teaching–and in authoring Writing the Life Poetic–is to help everyone tune into the poetry of their lives–and start getting it down on the page. I offer a mix of content, process and craft ideas designed to help readers:

* Find the inspiration they need to put pen to paper immediately
* Transform the raw materials of experience and emotion into language
* Build skills and confidence in their poetic voice
* Learn some key craft techniques and enjoy experimenting with them
* Engage in (or breathe new life into) a writing and reading practice
* Get excited about the possibilities of poetry

My greatest hope is that readers will learn enough about what they like to write and read–and how to go about it–that they’ll have a solid foundation for a lifetime of poetry adventure!

When writing poetry, my goal is somewhat different. I do not aspire to write poems that connect with the masses. I am simply striving to write the best poems I know how to write.

Laura Cococcia: Time for my traditional question: what advice do you have for aspiring writers and poets who want to step up their writing practice?

Sage Cohen:
1. Experiment with writing process until you find a rhythm that invites you to return to the page.
2. Use freewriting to tap into the language and themes that are streaming beneath your thinking.
3. Write about whatever is most alive for you–even if it seems trivial or unimportant.
4. Trust that your own life experience is more than enough fodder for your poetry fires.
5. Read everything you can.
6. Tune in to your life–listen to the language being spoken around you. Let it stir and surprise you. Write it down.
7. Expect to have fun with poetry, and always steer your writing craft in this direction.

Laura Cococcia: Finally, is there a favorite poem of yours you’d like to share with us?

Alchemy: by Sage Cohen
Consequence and its heavy metals strive toward transformation
while imprecisely, a silent pine resonates with lake.

Among the assurances of proximity and place, she floats out,
weightless, over the lake’s flat gaze. Heavy arms repeated and relieved.

Birds shape themselves to wind. The trees shift,
shimmering as snow sifts its silences.

Shadows send their slender semiselves out like wishes
that have not yet learned to lift. I sit doubled beside the pine.

A woman pleads with me from within the lake: Leave –
Listening to her is like eating a peach right down to the pit.

Everything green folks to gold and starts again.
Leaden is the death that does not find its way forward.

Harmony must first have been an opposition that stumbled
into agreement slightly above the departure.

**
Many thanks to Sage for sharing her poetry expertise, practice and guidance. And if you’d like a comprehensive adventure in establishing and enjoying a poetry writing practice, I’d recommend reading Writing the Life Poetic. It’s good company for your creative journey.

You can read more about Sage Cohen and Writing the Life Poetic at her Web site: www.sagesaidso.com and blog: http://www.writingthelifepoetic.typepad.com/.