Taylor Marshall is a writer based out of Regina, Saskatchewan on Treaty 4 lands. Taylor is a creative writing major and is currently working on a historical fiction novel as part of her graduate thesis project at the University of Regina. Taylor’s writing often ruminates on mercurial possibilities of selfhood along with the accompanying internal and external metamorphoses reflective of grief, change, and death.
You can read Morse Melody in the January 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?
This poem presented itself whilst I was sitting at the kitchen table one cold Saskatchewan winter morning. I had just been introduced to the poetic form of the Glosa, in which a poet takes part of an existing poem and builds it into their own creation. I was simply enchanted by the possibilities of this form! Right away, I came across John Koethe’s poem “What the Stars Meant” and I knew I would be building off of this piece in particular. I allowed myself to simply sit with free association with the chosen stanza from his poem and I arrived at the exploration of death, grief, surrender, and both the poet’s and the natural world’s relationships to these concepts and very human experiences.
If you didn’t write poetry, how do you think you might access the same fulfillments that poetry offers in your life?
I am a bit of a late bloomer with poetry writing. I have read and adored poetry my entire life, but only since 2023 have I finally had the courage to pick up the pen. But how I wish I had dived in sooner with formal and informal verse! Up until this point in my life, I have been blessed to have the space, time and privilege to play, perform, and write music, and this has been a huge well of creative and personal fulfillment that has sustained me greatly before my inevitable meeting with poetry writing.
What are you working on now?
Right now I am still playing around with and revising my debut poetry chapbook. If I am unable to secure a third-party publisher, I am exploring the possibility of self-publishing, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time! I am also trying to complete a historical-fiction novel manuscript this year that incorporates lyrical poetry.
How or where or with what does a poem begin?
I’m afraid it is a bit of a mystery to me still, and as I come into my creative practice more fully, I am inclined to agree with Plato these days in terms of concepts of creativity and how a poem or piece of art comes into being. The initial spark and idea, or lines that flow forth (almost of their own accord) certainly feel like they have their own autonomy and you as the writer are simply the vessel being guided. It is in the tweaking, revising, and editing stage that I feel the most autonomy or control with a poem, but as for its beginning, I truly think that comes from the “in-between”.
How do you make space for poetry in your daily routine?
This is something that is still in progress. I am undisciplined right now in the sense that I madly dash to write or jot lines and ideas down at random times of the day or week when inspiration strikes; however, in 2024 I would like to embody the realization of how powerful it is to have a daily writing practice (poetry or otherwise). With this being said, I usually read poetry every day or at the very least every other day, even if it is a quiet, five minute interlude to read some lines, new or old. It really brings the soul quiet sustenance in this ever changing and zooming world.
Do you belong to a writer’s group? If not, where do you find poetry community and feedback?
Informally, yes. I meet about two or three times a year with a group of fellow writers and students who are interested in developing their craft. This has been something new to me since 2023 and has been incredibly helpful and nourishing in terms of stepping more fully into a writing practice. It is always helpful to get feedback and insights that you yourself are unable to distinguish in your close relationship to the piece, as the writer. I love discovering new things about my own works in these writer’s groups and likewise offering insights for my peers with their projects.
In terms of poetic style or craft, is there a big question you are trying to find an answer for?
As of yet, I still feel like I am just taking off my training wheels when it comes to poetry writing and so I feel a bit green in terms of developing serious questions when it comes to style and craft. I can only speak to the instinctual impulses in my writing at the moment, for example reoccurring imagery and thematic patterns of personal gravitation – I can never seem to escape the natural world (gladly), woman-centered preoccupations, and the Self/Selves, for example.
But I suppose I am simply trying to get my hands as dirty as I can and dive into the nitty-gritty of technique and form presently, so that I can have a solid foundation and the confidence to free-fall and experiment more as time progresses.
This is actually something I accredit to one of my respected professors and mentors in poetry, Dr. Medrie Purdham, who illustrated to me how powerful it can be for a poet once you have a sound understanding of form. From there, one has more freedom to bend shape, sound, and ideas – which to me is truly exhilarating and a stage of writing that I really look forward to inhabiting one day.