Looking at today’s version of the “prose poem,” it has taken on a wide variety of interpretations. The undercurrent, however, remains the same. Freedom of inward thought. As an editor, I see most prose poems as “non-conversational.” A reader takes delight in them as quiet soliloquys, or a highly personal meditation. I also see it as an expression of a startling and often embellished experience; fiction becomes secondary. In the U.S., some argue the difference between “flash fiction” and “prose poems.” I don’t see “flash fiction” as an extension of a “prose poem.” But I do see it as an abridged version of short fiction.

How do you feel about political poetry?

Paul B. Roth
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR

I know it’s been said before, but isn’t everything political? No matter what one reads, writes, or says, no one escapes the gravitational pull of one political direction or another. Even without political intent, poets are labeled when they join the protest of some wrongdoing.

Beginning with Plato and his idea that poets be put out of the city at nightfall for fear of their subversive influence on the people, poets have endured incarceration, torture and murder in nations where the freedoms most democracies truly enjoy are not given a second thought.

What are some of your favorite political poems or poets?

I immediately think of William Blake: he is not so much a political poet, but a great poet who, by way of a long lineage of philosophical skepticism, challenged the prevailing and often ruthless religious and political attitudes of his times. And the Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda — who wrote many political type poems for good reason at particular times in Chile’s tumultuous and frightening past. I think of his “United Fruit Company” poem and the influence it had on me at a very young age. It “opened” my eyes to the world.

Another favorite poet of mine is the contemporary North American poet, the nanogenerian, Duane Locke, who writes meaningful political poems but is, in no way, considered a political poet in the strictest definition. However, when I think of his “Samson at Gaza the Day Before the Atomic Destruction” or “For Someone Who Has Known the Despair of Hope,” both come as close, in my opinion, to anarchy poetry as is possible.

Also, the Bolivian writer/poet, Nicomedes Suaréz-Araúz’s book Edible Amazonia is as political as one can get when dealing with a very specific issue: the decimation of the Amazon region that touches so many Latin American nations. How it’s been dissolved and carved up like so many rhomboids of pig thighs. Speaking of those in America who have been incarcerated for various offenses, those who have had to pay their debt with their life’s time, and those who champion the causes or rights of someone else for many years, I can’t forget to mention the recently deceased poet Leonard J. Cirino. His immersion within the prison system — to spread the benefits of writing creatively and educating those who were willing to listen, through his poems and essays — have truly rewarded so many for a good many years.

As an editor and a reader, how do you engage yourself in translation directly when there may be cultural and/or linguistic barriers?

I do think Neruda, when it came to translation, had it right when he expressed that he “lived on the other side of the page.” Although this is true, it hasn’t stopped me — or anyone interested in poetry, I imagine — from seeking out any and every scrap of translated material on a particular poet’s work.

As an editor, I always work closely with the translator, especially when executing a booklength project. Because I need to get a real feel for what makes the work so compelling, I also make it my priority to understand the culture and landscapes that the poet and the translator invite into their work, as well as the historical, political, and social perspectives that influence their linguistic sense…

It’s also my responsibility to offer suggestions that may enhance the text. Prior to publication, there’s always a lot of back-and-forth between the poet, the translator and me, making sure that everything is as close as it can be. It all makes for good learning.

Several writers and artists are now exploring the Internet as a venue for their work. What are your thoughts?

There are hundreds — probably thousands — of places to publish these days. It is interesting how so many folks still want to be published in a print magazine. The print endeavor remains one of great meaning and pursuit.

I find it difficult to know which journal to read; there are so many. You can take them on one at a time. After a while, some of them become more appealing and you bookmark them for future issues. There are also some excellent sources for a poet, in terms of surveying both print and online journals. One in particular that I always return to is NewPages.com.

Perhaps poetry will be a creative passion that will resist the “paperless world.” Attempts are made all the time, of course, with the likes of Kindle, for example. For me, there’s nothing like sitting down in that favorite chair, clicking on a soft reading light, and wafting the benzene aroma from the pages of a new poetry book. It is another world.