Gordon Taylor (he/him) is a queer emerging poet who walks an ever-swaying wire of technology and health care. A 2022 Pushcart Prize nominee, his poems have appeared in or are forthcoming in Narrative, Rattle Poet’s Respond, Nimrod, Arc, and CV2. Gordon was the winner of the 2022 Toronto Arts & Letters Club Foundation Poetry Award. He writes to invite people into a world they may not have seen.
You can read Date Jar in the April 2024 issue.
Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your poem? For instance, how or why you wrote it, or perhaps provide some extra context?
I was considering the rhythms of passion and commitment within the construct of monogamy. In the poem, two aspects of passion are being shared, within the speaker’s love relationship, a passion for domesticity – cooking and eating, cleanliness, clothing and order posed against something wilder under the surface. A strong and enormous, ravenous hungry passion the men in the poem have for each other. I often consider this in the context of choosing a “traditional” relationship versus another that is more unique and curated to the couple involved. As a queer person, these considerations resonate with me. The idea of sexual freedom versus the right to choose marriage.
Why was the poetic form the best fit for this particular piece of work?
The form of this poem arrived by magic. I think the variety of line lengths, gradually becoming smaller and smaller, while the passion expands was a good fit.
Do you have a collection of poetry or even a single poem that acts as a touchstone?
I was reading Ellen Bass’s Indigo at the time. There are many poems in which the speaker is consider larger themes within the frame of “everyday” events and objects.
If you didn’t write poetry, how do you think you might access the same fulfillments that poetry offers in your life?
Oh my god! I can’t imagine it. Poetry is my first language; I think in line breaks. I guess if this wasn’t available to me, I’d have to cheat and become a singer, so I could participate in all the “phrasing” that goes on.
How do you revise your work?
I try to be aware of what the poem is essentially trying to interrogator show. Sometimes that is a particular question, a particular form. Any revisions would involve removing or adding words or lines that further the metaphoric consequence of the poem.
As a poet, what does creative success or achievement look like for you?
It’s that tingle in the spine that remains after the poem is done. The mystery that fills the white space.
We love the artistic underdogs, the experimentalists, the lovely weirdos — who or what might you get creative joy or energy from that others might not be aware of yet?
We should all be listening to the trees. They know everything.
What are you working on now?
Endlessly revising a collection of poems that chronicle a journey of illness and healing. The irony is not lost on me that the revision is endless. So is healing.
How or where or with what does a poem begin?
It is usually a single thought, jotted down while walking or listening to a friend speak. Or a line/lyric that comes to me from the poetry goddesses.
Are there other art forms that inspire or inform your poetry?
Movies and pop songs. The Dune series has inspired so many images in my work.
How do you make space for poetry in your daily routine?
I have two jobs, so making space is essential. I write before work or on weekend mornings. It’s the only time have. That being said, sometimes a poem will just appear as a gift in my consciousness, and I have to stop and type it into my phone.
What are you reading or watching or listening to lately that intrigues or inspires you?
Dune (the Bena Gesserit are fascinating), Call the Midwife (there are so many gems uttered in that series) and the Poem-A Day Podcast.
Have you ever received advice (or has there been something you’ve learned on your own) about writing or revising poems that has made you a better poet? What was it?
In narrative poems, it’s important only to include what has metaphoric consequence. Something that I’ve intuited on my own through workshops is that a good editor will share what a poem COULD be, not what it SHOULD be.
Do you belong to a writer’s group? If not, where do you find poetry community and feedback?
I do participate in a group called Stillpoint, run by Kate Marshall Flaherty. She is a spectacular poet and facilitator.
How did you begin writing poetry? Was there a specific inspiration or reason?
As a teenager, I was depressed, and trying to find my way as a queer person in an intolerant time. A teacher of mine noticed and dropped poetry collections on my desk. “Imitate this” she would say. And being generally obedient, I did. That is how it began. Imitating Gertrude Stein, Richard Brautigan and Michael Ondaatje.
In terms of poetic style or craft, is there a big question you are trying to find an answer for?
How to say the thing. Always the thing. What is the thing? How can we describe it? How can we share it?