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Spotlight

Priscilla Fagan

Spotlight this month is with Tom Spencer, poet and all-around remarkable individual. I had the pleasure of meeting Tom and his wife three years ago at WVU's first ever get-together in Norfolk, Virginia. Whatever we talked about, Tom would always say, "there's a story there someplace." I knew this would be a superb interview and when Tom is involved, there is always a story to tell. I hope you enjoy visiting with Tom as much as I have.

Priscilla

T-Zero: We know you're a native of Indiana, discovered your love for poetry at a young age, served in the military, owned your own sewing machine retail store and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1995 from Purdue. When did you find time to continue with your poetry?

TS: I have always found time to both write poetry and read poetry. For many years there was more of an emphasis on the reading of poetry than the writing. The reading was to access the world of emotions and foibles with the authors. The writing was a form of therapy to cope with a sometimes-unkind world.

T-Zero: You've been a member of WVU for a number of years. Can you tell us how the Internet and WVU have helped you with your writing or has it? Have you found other avenues the Internet has opened up for you?

TS: The Internet has helped me in my writing by allowing me access to the Writers' Village. The Writers' Village is a print-friendly venue, a basic down-to-business, let's-learn type of forum exposing the aspiring writer to peer editing and unlimited growth potential. Most sites on the Internet are so involved with the chrome and sparkle of graphics and legerdemain visuals and fonts that they overshadow the value they set out to promote. I belong to only two sites. Both sites are learning-orientated as opposed to show-off sites that I have tried to access and understand without success.

T-Zero: You facilitate a couple of courses at WVU also, which shows your love and knowledge of literature and the Masters. How did this come about?

TS: In the late sixties and early seventies I lost the ability to read standard print. This was a devastating experience to someone that loved to read. I eventually found out about the talking book program in place via the grace of the Library of Congress. Reading was my way out of a deep multi-year depression, a depression over not being able to read the books I loved to read. With the new-found freedom of the Talking Book I was able to read once again. By the late eighties the local library didn’t even request a book list. They sent the next book on the shelf. I was overcompensating for the years of reading I missed by reading sixteen to eighteen books a month on whatever subject matter the library sent.

T-Zero: I know you write many different types of poetry and use your experiences in many of the themes. Do you prefer any particular form of poetry to another?

TS: If you are referring to reading experience that I use in writing poetry then you are correct in my use of my experience. I write poetry and prose by "placement" as I have dubbed it. Placement is where I put myself (from within my mind) in the position of the protagonist. That is, if I were to desire to write a poem about a mountain lion, I try to become the mountain lion and picture the world from the eyes and the inner being of the lion.

I prefer the sonnet structure as my foundation for all poetry. The sonnet structure is rigid, yet an outline to work with. Most all of my poetry starts off in sonnet structure. The first quatrain will introduce the protagonist. The second quatrain will introduce the scene and the antagonist. The third quatrain will expose the results of the interaction of the first two quatrains. The couplet will introduce the thought or "gem of knowledge" gained from the interaction of all the quatrains. If the piece does not conform to sonnet standards, I then expand on it transforming it into another form of structured poetry. You might say that it is a formula like the successful novel. You can use the same outline and derive many stories by changes in characters and place.

T-Zero: Favorite poets. Do you have one and if so how has that poet influenced you?

TS: If I choose a favored poet it would have to depend on the time of the season, the time of the year, and the time on the clock. I see something in every poet’s work that I enjoy. I would say my favorite poet is the world I live in. There is poetry everywhere.

T-Zero: If you could give advice to poets or writers just starting out, what would it be?

TS: Read Sappho to Dickinson, Homer to Ogden Nash, Kafka to Marquez. When you are finished, go back and read them again. Relate their world to your world. Write about what you observe, not what you personally feel.

T-Zero: Word Castles is your first book of poetry. What was the most difficult part in its production and do you have a favorite piece in the book?

TS: The most difficult part was to overcome my fear of punctuation mistakes. I wore out a Strunk and White, pressing it flat to read on the reading machine. My heart still jumps when I receive a note from my editor. I expect her to say, "Sorry there are too many punctuation errors; the publisher will not accept your book." I hope the reader reads the poetry and not the punctuation. The writing was easy; the editing was quite difficult for me.

I can’t really say I have a favored work in Word Castles. Each poem is a part of my being a part of the world I live in. The most touching to me is "Lost Love," a sonnet form poem about someone near to me that lost his wife. I wrote it from what I thought would be his point of view. The most fun one to write was "The Judge." It was a poem that seemed to write itself at a garden club meeting I was privileged to attend with a judge as their speaker.

T-Zero: Do you have any plans to do another book of poetry?

TS: I feel that my first work is the surface of my work in poetry. I write poetry everyday, I read poetry everyday. I would like to do a collection of sonnets; although I have been told that they would not sell to the general public, I think it would be an achievement well worth the effort. I am currently working on lyric poetry with a modicum of success. Yes I will publish my work as long as I have a publisher that wants to publish it.

T-Zero: As always I like to finish on the light side with the help of James Lipton. So here are your nine questions. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us.

T-Zero: What is your favorite word?
TS: "Surd," is my favorite word for the moment. It is silent; in poetry silence says the most.

T-Zero: What is your least favorite word?
TS: Rule, it is a challenge to defy and yet it has use.

T-Zero: What turns you on?
TS: A passionate reader.

T-Zero: What turns you off?
TS: Self pity.

T-Zero: What sound or noise do you love?
TS: The distant sound of a train on a cold snowless winter night.

T-Zero: What sound or noise do you hate?
TS: The ripping of metal as two automobiles try to occupy the same space.

T-Zero: What profession would you be in if not this?
TS: A professor of literature so I could justify reading at all times.

T-Zero: What profession would you hate to be in?
TS: Politician.

T-Zero: If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive?
TS: "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen."